Mauricio has developed as well as could have been rationally hoped when he signed. He had Tommy John in August of 2019 and rehabbed during a 2020 season that he would have missed anyway. This isnt an iron clad offensive profile (theres some vulnerability to up-and-away fastballs as a LHH and slightly more chase than average), but Rocchio is a damn fine hitter who looked like his usual self in what was his first season on the Cleveland 40-man. With a fastball like this, his floor is that of an impact reliever. Davis skills and offensive style are tailored like those of Evan Gattis. Rafaela is a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder with a very immature approach. Painters size creates suboptimal shape and angle on his fastball, but there will still be big league hitters who Painter can just overpower with his upper-90s velocity. Yorkes 2021 pro debut was a rousing success, as he hit .325/.412/.516 across two A-ball levels as a teenager. 2023 NCAA | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Every MCWS Most Outstanding Player from 1995-2022, article was published first on d1baseball.com, Louisiana Tech upsets No. Constant max-effort hacking often leads to lots of strikeouts, but Wiemer had mostly kept his Ks in check until 2022, when he punched out 30% of the time at Double-A Biloxi. According to a source, he was one of just three 18-year-old hitters to have an average exit velocity of 88 mph or higher in 2022, and Chourio played at least one level ahead of the other two (Red Sox outfielder Miguel Bleis and Astros prospect Luis Baez) for the entire season, and two and three levels ahead late in the year when he had a pot of High-A coffee and a shot of espresso at Double-A Biloxi. While he was already throwing quite hard, Ortiz came into even more velocity in 2022 and averaged 97 mph on his fastball, up two ticks from 2021. 7LSUSEC5LA1-3435 85CaliforniaPac-128CA9-29567046 Even though his career walk rates are extremely low (7%) for a complex-level prospect (where pitchers often struggle to throw strikes), Bleis chase rates are closer to average. During his time in New Yorks system, he underwent an overhaul to his mechanics and now throws with a more typical starters delivery, characterized by impressive flexibility in his shoulders and back. Louisiana Tech; 33. 3B Jake Gelof One of the best power hitters in the country, Gelof showed off his skills yet again, putting up video game numbers in week 1. Another reliever-turned-starter, Miami hopes that Palmquist is as successful in the rotation as he was last year in the bullpen, when he held opponents to a .143 batting average and had a 2.22 ERA and 75 strikeouts compared to just eight walks in 44.2 innings. For now, its amazing how sentient his feel to hit is considering his age and size. His split/changeup (it only has about 1,300 rpm of spin, definitely in split territory) has plus sinking action, but the direction of its lateral movement is highly variable. Hes also worked to make himself more lithe and athletic since first arriving on the Dodgers backfields shortly after he signed, when Dodgers coaches were asking a fresh-faced Vargas to make mid-game swing-changes that incorporated more movement into his conservative cut. Were taking the long view here and think Libby will find a way to be a fourth starter. Florida hosts rival Miami this weekend. The Pennsylvania native went six innings, allowed just two baserunners, and struck out eight against South Florida. Cartaya presents the Dodgers with a good problem, as they already have one of baseballs best catchers in place ahead of him and the two are set to overlap on the active roster during the next three to four seasons. Hes a compact-framed, contact-oriented middle infielder from a smaller conference, but Neto gets the most out of his body by taking very athletic, high-octane swings. The Preseason poll ranked the top 50 teams in the nation. R: Road. Acuas athleticism is too exciting to keep him off the list even though his approach is sometimes reckless and he doesnt impact the ball in the air. 30Coastal CarolinaSun Belt2SC1-10201733 When he returned to the mound in August, he leapfrogged his way up the minor league ladder. LHP Jac Caglianone No, this isnt a mistake, Caglianone does both at a very high level. He throws two plus secondaries a mid-80s changeup and a low-80s slider, each with good movement and high whiff-rates and hes shown the ability to locate each of his offerings, boasting strikeout rates over 34% at all three minor league levels. 4 Ole Miss in Oxford for the first time since 1989, LSU remains No. Teams 81-90 Most of his swings and misses over the last few years have been on fastballs running away from him, but in 2022, he displayed a more advanced ability to poke the barrel at balls on the outer edge of the plate, extending his short levers in an effort to slap outside pitches the other way. RHP Janzen Keisel The BYU transfer had a loud fall for the Cowboys, leading many to believe that he will be dominant this year. Quants and front office analyst types are more bearish, citing issues with Priesters fastball playability. An action-packed week one has come to an end, meaning its time to release our first Top 25 of the young season. Others that made big jumps into the Top 100 include Central Michigan (No. Hes filled out and gotten stronger while remaining agile enough to play shortstop, hes hit 20 homers each of the last two years as hes reached the upper levels of the minors, he won the Dominican Winter League MVP during the offseason, and hes done this despite missing his age-19 season due to the pandemic. His strikeout rate improved upon promotion to Triple-A, albeit in a smaller sample. He has one of the more picturesque swings in the minors and is extremely difficult to make whiff inside the strike zone. He dominated Double-A for a month before he was shut down with a knee injury at the end of April, and he started having shoulder issues during his rehab. A quality series against Charlotte is on tap this weekend. Because he participated in Team USA and showcase events from a very young age, Collier generated an inordinate amount of amateur data. Because fate was cruel to his playing time in college, his pro data sample is already much bigger than his college one, which has helped reveal that he has premium feel for the strike zone. At the plate, he takes a big (but balanced) stride, and can adjust his barrel depth by getting deeper into his lower half through contact. His speed makes him a defensive fit in center field but a lack of arm strength and the presence of young Alek Thomas in Arizona will likely push Carroll to left, where he might be the games best defender at that position. When an opposing pitcher releases the ball, the scoop in Johnsons bat head is pointing at the mound with his back elbow hiked way up above his shoulder in a position that seems to defy the rules of normal human physiology. The SEC also occupies six of the top eight spots, and nine of the top 20. Make no mistake, Brown does not suddenly have Verlanders command. Of course, he has game-changing arm strength. Carter has plus soft skills but doesnt have the power for stardom. He has a loose arm, a frame built for eating innings, and a repeatable delivery. Tiedemann was passed over as a SoCal high school hurler in the 2020 draft due in part to an ill-timed injury. Its prudent to bake this context into how one thinks about Marte, but there are also some statistical yellow flags evident in his regular season performance as well as some harsh realities to come to grips with regarding his trajectory on defense. Out of our newcomers, Notre Dame made the biggest vault, landing at No. lvarez has been one of the more hyped prospects in the Mets system since signing out of Venezuela in 2018 for nearly $3 million, and he has largely lived up to that hype. RHP Jackson Pace The 6-5 freshman righty made his presence known on Sunday, striking out four batters in a one-hit performance, lasting six innings. Cartayas exchange is absurdly fast for a player his size, and he actively hunts baserunners when they reach, a threat to throw to the bases at any time. Baltimore has tried him some at second and first base, but because hell show you a 70 arm on his best throws and runs pretty well, right field continues to feel like the best long-term fit even though Mayo hasnt played there yet. Hes shown the ability to induce significant swing and miss across all four offerings, both in and out of the zone, aided largely by his funky arm action. Berry is similar to Dodgers prospect Michael Busch when he was coming out, and is one of the favorites to be the first to reach the big leagues from his draft class, producing like a 2-WAR hitter even as a DH. C Justin Wilcoxen Wilcoxen is looking to build off of a strong season in 2022 and he is already off to a hot start. It isnt pretty, but some of the proof is in the data. The injury adds more volatility to a profile that already had some and might cause Jones to open 2023 in extended spring training, but its encouraging that Jordan Lawlar returned to normal after enduring a similar injury. He rounds out his four-pitch mix with a mid-70s curveball that he threw just 6% of the time at Triple-A, but which accounted for 19% of his 0-0 offerings in his seven big-league starts, outranked in usage only by his fastball. Abel has a strong natural proclivity for spinning his breaking stuff, and his low-to-mid-80s slurve is already an above-average pitch and could be a 70-grade shove machine at maturity. Teams not listed above are: 31. Even though both Davis and Rodriguez are near-ready catching prospects, they arent redundant, and in fact they complement each other well. Hence was picked up in the shortened 2020 draft, one of the youngest players taken that year, and in 2021 threw just eight innings on the complex, virtually all in relief. He had a paltry 7% swinging strike rate to go along with an amazing 90% z-contact% and 85% overall contact rate. It would be an above-average pitch were it simply in the low-to-mid-80s, but at this velocity, its a 70-grade weapon, and Espino has consistent feel for locating it down and to his glove side. There Painter showed more refinement, incorporating a handful of changeups into his outings and displaying an ability to vary breaking ball shape in different situations. It will be interesting to see how Tovars speed helps inflate his extra-base output in Coors Field; he might end up turning a lot of doubles into triples there. Hes a young, switch-hitting catcher with cartoonish offensive numbers (especially from a bat-to-ball standpoint) and uncommon defensive versatility, as hes played a bunch of second base and left field as well. When he can get the barrel out there, though, hes a threat to do extra-base damage the other way because of his bat speed. 1B Gavin Kash The Texas transfer made an immediate impact for the Red Raiders this past week while facing an experienced Gonzaga team. He also has sizable raw power thanks to his plus bat speed and a promising early-career bat-to-ball track record. He takes a little while to get his legs churning, but once hes moving, hes a plus runner and has generated some home-to-first times in the neighborhood of 4.1-4.2 seconds. Only recently converted to center field full-time, Chourio easily has enough speed to stay there (hes routinely 4.15 home to first), and his routes and ball skills are okay. Texas Tech faces stiffer competition this week, starting with a midweek series against Air Force and then a trip to Houston for the Shriners College Classic, highlighted by a Sunday showdown with Texas A&M. MLB:MVPs who played in college|Cy Youngs by college|Players thatwon a CWS andWorld Series With Kyle Hendricks out of the rotation with injury for the start of 2023, Wesneski seems like a candidate to slot in as the big league teams fourth or fifth starter if he shows well in camp. His mid-90s fastball missed bats up in the zone and above it, and he commanded all three secondaries, with above-average spin across the board. 6 overall and places behind only Phillies righty Andrew Painter among the game's top pitching prospects. The junior right-hander figures to get some starts for this talented club, especially with Teddy McGraws uncertainty. 56WashingtonPac-127WA2-15415469 A spindly, undersized athlete with a plus slider and mid-90s fastball, Jameson is on the starter/reliever line as Arizonas big league staff becomes more crowded with viable major leaguers. Bradley has, and hes done so while building an innings count that should help vault him into the Rays rotation at some point in 2023. The offensive bar in left is at roughly the same level as third base and if we project Vargas to be able to play a neutral left field (hes below average right now but looks better than he ever has at third), it actually buoys his overall profile because his third base defense was pulling it down. He checks literally every scouting box, and for as much as analytical boxes matter for a high school hitter, he checks those, too. This years 60 FV tier has some players who still show some hit tool red flags (Chourio, De La Cruz, Jones) that kept them from ever really being considered for the tier above. He looked the part last week against Bucknell, going 6.1 innings, striking out nine, and allowing just one run. Nebraska; 32. Rodriguezs changeup, which falls through a trap door just as it approaches the plate, is among the best secondary pitches in the minors, garnering a 42% chase and whiff rate in 2022. Theres still risk Rafaela walks the Cristian Pache path, as his issues are similar to the ones that have apparently undone the young Athletic, but more likely hes akin to Kevin Pillar, and there are scouts who think Rafaelas frame will continue to add strength such that he hits for more power than Pillar was able to. Other Teams Receiving Votes: Clemson (25-27), Baylor (31-20), Washington St. (26-23), California (29-26), Grand Canyon (39-21-1), California Baptist (40-16), Brigham Young (23-27), Abilene Christian (36-21), Sam Houston St. (30-25), San Diego (33-12), Auburn (25-27), Texas A&M (29-27), Kentucky (29-23), Coastal Carolina (27-24), Georgia Southern Plus, lvarez isnt nearly as chase-prone as Alfaro and has much more power than Bart, so he should outperform both. He returned in the spring of 2021, but tore his ACL and missed all of that season as well. Diaz is a bat-first catching prospect close to the big leagues. It was Merrills Arizona Fall League look, which came against more advanced arms, and his underlying hit data that really drove him up the prospect continuum. document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function () { The Volunteers jumped from No. 93MinnesotaBig Ten8MN1-444972100 Long Beach State; 47. Tradition is nice, but its more important to establish a tradition of consistent winning in the last decade, and especially in the last five years. After an Opening Day upset loss to New Mexico, the Beavers have run off six straight wins. RHP Ryan Hawks Hawks returns to Louisville for his senior season and figures to be a big part of the starting rotation. Hes performed as a young-for-the-level hitter at each stop despite a raw approach at the plate and uncertainty around his defense, with his third base fit in question due to middling arm strength. This cemented confidence in his feel to hit and also generated pre-draft conversations about whether there was a path for Jung to get to more power in games by pulling the ball more often, and whether that would hurt his ability to make contact. The current favorite to be selected first overall in the 2023 draft, Crews is coming off of hitting .362/.453/.663 with 18 home runs as a first-year player last season. High-risk hitters with huge tools are also welcome since FV is a subjective way to factor both ceiling and risk into the same grade. And Carroll can really motor: hes a no-doubt 80 runner and routinely posts sub-4.00 second times to first base. His left-handed swing is very uphill, the sort typically associated with strikeout issues, but his levers are so short that his swing is still fairly compact. Hes hit 57 home runs combined the last two years while running sub-30% groundball rates and average launch angles in the 22-25 degree range, both of which are extreme by big league standards. Hes added a hard slider/cutter to his amazing-looking curveball, but his fastball still doesnt miss bats and his report reads like Aaron Sanchezs did. He chased at a 37% rate in 2022, which isnt terrible in a big league context, but is pretty bad when viewed through the minor league lens, where fewer pitchers have chase-inducing stuff. Our annual Top 150 College Players list is an attempt to give readers an all-encompassing view of the best players in college baseball. His swing is like a right-handed version of Juan Sotos, capable of getting underneath the baseball in basically every part of the zone, in part because of the flexibility and athleticism in his lower half. Rafaela had a breakout 2022 season, hitting .299/.342/.539 mostly at Double-A Portland. Speaking of the slider, Allens has gotten much better in pro ball. He sometimes sets up to block breaking balls too quickly, tipping off baserunners and peeking hitters to whats coming. Hes not a great defender right now, and probably wont ever be better than a 40-grade glove, but Davis frames high strikes well and has plus raw arm strength. He might end up becoming the player the industry hoped Francisco Meja would become. Julien has perhaps the best plate discipline in the minors and can bang em when he actually swings. Ortiz is a slick shortstop defender with a plus hit tool and very little pop. 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