Check back every Monday for the only regularly updated in-season prospect rankings on the internet | ||||||||||||||
No. | Player | Pos | Notes | Age | Org | Level | Pre. | |||||||
1 | Phil Hughes | RHP | Was able to remove his ankle boot last week; starting a throwing program | 21 | NYY | MLB | 1 ↔ | |||||||
2 | Yovani Gallardo | RHP | Pitching like a veteran in bigs despite only being 21; 2.71 K/BB and .200 BAA | 21 | MIL | MLB | 2 ↔ | |||||||
3 | Billy Butler | 1B | He's 8-for-27 (.296) w/ 2 2B and a HR since returning to bigs; 1 BB vs. 13 K | 21 | KC | MLB | 3 ↔ | |||||||
4 | Jay Bruce | CF | Batting .273/.319/.545 w/ 3 2B and 3 HR in 10 AA games; .317/.371/.580 total | 20 | CIN | AA | 4 ↔ | |||||||
5 | Clay Buchholz | RHP | Gave up four hits in 11.1 IP while striking out 15 and walking 3 last week | 22 | BOS | AA | 6 ↑ | |||||||
6 | Colby Rasmus | CF | Went 7-for-17 with 4 XBH and 3 BB vs. 5 K last week; 194/.308/.388 in June | 20 | STL | AA | 8 ↑ | |||||||
7 | Brandon Wood | 3B | Like last year, started slow then had a mammoth June: .303/.358/.615 w/ 8 HR | 22 | LAA | MLB | 9 ↑ | |||||||
8 | Evan Longoria | 3B | Despite going 8-for-27 last week, he had just 1 XBH (a 2B) and 8 K vs. 2 BB | 21 | TB | AA | 7 ↓ | |||||||
9 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | C | Eked out just 52 at-bats in June, but he hit .327/.352/.558 depite irregular PT | 22 | ATL | MLB | 10 ↑ | |||||||
10 | Justin Upton | CF | How can you call a guy who hit 1 HR in June the No. 1 prospect in baseball? | 19 | ARI | AA | 11 ↑ | |||||||
11 | Adam Jones | CF | Moved because Braun/Kershaw; a lackluster week: 8-for-26 w/ 0 BB vs. 9 K | 21 | SEA | MLB | 13 ↑ | |||||||
12 | Clayton Kershaw | LHP | Hit as hard as he has in more than a month on Fri.; 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K | 19 | LAD | A | 12 ↔ | |||||||
13 | Andrew Miller | LHP | Moved because Braun/Bailey; 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K vs. Twins last Sat. | 22 | DET | MLB | 15 ↑ | |||||||
14 | Cameron Maybin | CF | Seven of his 25 June hits went for extra bases (28.0%); .303/.396/.466 total | 20 | DET | A+ | 16 ↑ | |||||||
15 | Homer Bailey | RHP | Has 10 K vs. 19 BB in 23.1 IP, .314 BAA; positive sign is only 2 HR allowed | 21 | CIN | MLB | 14 ↓ | |||||||
16 | Fernando Martinez | CF | Hand injury sidelined him all last week; moved up due to Braun's graduation | 18 | NYM | AA | 17 ↑ | |||||||
17 | Andy LaRoche | 3B | Back after missing 4 days with sore shoulder; 6-for-9 w/ 3 XBH since return | 23 | LAD | MLB | 18 ↑ | |||||||
18 | Daric Barton | 1B | Continued hot hitting by going 10-for-27 last week; 2 XBH, 2 BB, 2 K as well | 21 | OAK | AAA | 20 ↑ | |||||||
19 | Jacoby Ellsbury | CF | Odds of his 1st MLB hit being a 1B were quite overwhelming; called up on Sat. | 23 | BOS | MLB | 21 ↑ | |||||||
20 | Adam Miller | RHP | Returned after missing 43 days with a finger injury; unhittable in first 3.0 IP | 22 | CLE | AAA | 25 ↑ | |||||||
21 | Wade Davis | RHP | 21 K vs. 3 BB in AA is a great sign (18.2 IP), but .250 BAA shows he's mortal | 21 | TB | AA | 28 ↑ | |||||||
22 | Will Inman | RHP | Responded from Mon.'s mashing w/ 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, and 6 K on Sat. | 20 | MIL | AA | 22 ↔ | |||||||
23 | Neil Walker | 3B | Finished June .363/.449/.615 even after 4-for-23 showing last week (3 XBH) | 21 | PIT | AA | 23 ↔ | |||||||
24 | Jacob McGee | LHP | When you K 3.5x as many batters as you walk, a bad outing can be excused | 20 | TB | A+ | 27 ↑ | |||||||
25 | Carlos Gomez | CF | Graduations + Slowey's struggles + doubling BB total = first Top 25 showing | 21 | NYM | MLB | 30 ↑ | |||||||
Honorable Mentions: Reid Brignac, Jeff Clement, Joba Chamberlain, Andrew McCutchen, Kevin Slowey, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Joey Votto. | ||||||||||||||
Graduated (final ranking): Ryan Braun (5) and Felix Pie (19). | ||||||||||||||
Dropped Out of Top 50 (previous ranking): Kevin Slowey (24). | ||||||||||||||
* Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production | ||||||||||||||
** Only players with less than 130 pro at-bats or less than 50 pro innings are considered for our rankings | ||||||||||||||
*** Ages are as of July 7th, 2007 | ||||||||||||||
**** Level is the highest level the player has reached | ||||||||||||||
***** Pre. is the player's rankings from last week's Top 50. | ||||||||||||||
<<< Click here to see our June 25th Top 50 Rankings |
Disclaimer
Our in-season Top 25 rankings are a tool that we’ve chosen to implement for the first time this season. We realize that this weekly exercise cannot be as thorough as creating a Top 100 prospect list – which involves months of thought and research. So why even bother publishing these rankings? For fun.
Just like any coaches poll or other in-season rankings, our rankings won’t be as concrete as the ones that can be made when you’re looking at something somewhat after-the-fact. (We’re still adjusting to the volatile nature of in-season rankings as well.) Lists will stray far from then maybe come back to looking like our previous prospect lists. A few odd names will work their way into the rankings--emphasis is on recent performance.
Think of these rankings like a giant coliseum battle. Everyone will be going after everyone; the air will be cluttered with dust. Then our Top 100 prospect list will be our take once the dust settles. Until then, just remember that's we're trying to judge a battle while it's still in progress.
We hope to provide an entertaining glimpse of our thought process, and a snapshot of how the prospect scene changes throughout the season.
A few other important notes: 1) More than ever, we’re going to begin relying on numbers for our rankings. Perhaps we could make better lists by regularly talking to people in the industry, but that’s not our style. 2) We’ll be balancing 2006 and 2007 numbers in order to draw upon the best sample that we see fit – the same methods will be applied to each prospect.
I am prepared to answer questions in more detail upon email request,
Adam Foster
Project Prospect Founder
adamf@projectprospect.com