Check back every Monday for the only regularly updated in-season prospect rankings on the internet | ||||||||||||||||
No. | Player | Pos | Notes | Age | Org | Level | Pts. | Pre. | ||||||||
1 | Phil Hughes | RHP | After solid start last Fri., has 22 K, 7 BB, 2 HR, and .228 BAA in 21.1 MLB IP | 21 | NYY | MLB | 98.8 | 1 ↔ | ||||||||
2 | Justin Upton | CF | He told me he likes challenges; .294/.368/.647 w/ 3 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR in 34 MLB ab | 19 | ARI | MLB | 95.9 | 3 ↑ | ||||||||
3 | Jay Bruce | CF | Didn't go yard last week; still .296/.362/.565 w/ 11 BB vs. 28 K in 115 AAA ab | 20 | CIN | AAA | 95.0 | 2 ↓ | ||||||||
4 | Clay Buchholz | RHP | Has 9 K in each of his last 3 AAA starts; could be big-league bound this week | 23 | BOS | AAA | 94.9 | 4 ↔ | ||||||||
5 | Joba Chamberlain | RHP | In a pair of 2.0 IP MLB relief outings (including MLB debut); 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K | 21 | NYY | MLB | 94.2 | 8 ↑ | ||||||||
6 | Colby Rasmus | CF | He's .286/.444/.686 through 35 Aug. ab; .252 overall Ave. remains misleading | 21 | STL | AA | 93.5 | 5 ↓ | ||||||||
7 | Evan Longoria | 3B | Not missing a beat in AAA; .303/.429/.576 w/ 3 2B, 2 HR through 33 at-bats | 21 | TB | AAA | 93.3 | 6 ↓ | ||||||||
8 | Brandon Wood | 3B | Missing his beat in AAA; hasn't walked in last 9 games; .267/.342/.486 in AAA | 22 | LAA | MLB | 92.4 | 7 ↓ | ||||||||
9 | Adam Jones | CF | Only saw action in 2 games last week: 0-for-4 in one, 3-for-4 w/ a 2B in other | 22 | SEA | MLB | 91.5 | 9 ↔ | ||||||||
10 | Cameron Maybin | CF | Showed his power critics up by homering in each of his first three AA games | 20 | DET | AA | 90.8 | 10 ↔ | ||||||||
11 | Andy LaRoche | 3B | A back injury caused him to miss nearly all of last week; .306/.391/.591 in AAA | 23 | LAD | MLB | 87.7 | 12 ↑ | ||||||||
12 | Clayton Kershaw | LHP | AA debut was solid but unspectacular: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, and 4 K | 19 | LAD | AA | 87.3 | 11 ↓ | ||||||||
13 | Homer Bailey | RHP | Close to a return after enduring his second strained groin of the year on 7/17 | 21 | CIN | MLB | 86.8 | 14 ↑ | ||||||||
14 | Fernando Martinez | CF | Hand contusion is now being reported as fractured hamate bone; sugery likely | 18 | NYM | AA | 86.2 | 13 ↓ | ||||||||
15 | Reid Brignac | SS | Went 5-for-18 (.278) w/ 2B, HR, 5 BB, and 4 K last week; .254/.315/.433 overall | 21 | TB | AA | 86.2 | 18 ↑ | ||||||||
16 | Andrew McCutchen | CF | Though he only had 1 XBH, went 7-for-24 (.292) last week; .255/.324/.375 total | 20 | PIT | AA | 85.9 | 17 ↑ | ||||||||
17 | Jeff Clement | C | In the midst of his second-hottest month this season: .294/.368/.500 in 34 ab | 23 | SEA | AAA | 85.8 | 19 ↑ | ||||||||
18 | Daric Barton | 1B | Hasn't hit a HR since 6/27 (6 total this year): he's hitting .297/.390/.441 overall | 22 | OAK | AAA | 85.4 | 16 ↓ | ||||||||
19 | Johnny Cueto | RHP | 22.0 IP, 22 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 21 K in AAA; Flyballs could be trouble in bigs though | 21 | CIN | AAA | 85.2 | 20 ↑ | ||||||||
20 | Jacob McGee | LHP | Imploded in his AA debut: 2.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 4 K; 149 K vs. 45 BB to date | 21 | TB | AA | 85.0 | 15 ↓ | ||||||||
21 | Will Inman | RHP | Has allowed 9 hits in 18.1 IP since being traded to SD; 155 K vs. 49 BB to date | 20 | SD | AA | 84.9 | 33 ↑ | ||||||||
22 | Ian Kennedy | RHP | Combined .178 BAA in 128.2 IP this season; 19 K vs. 5 BB through 17.0 AAA IP | 22 | NYY | AAA | 84.9 | 32 ↑ | ||||||||
23 | Carlos Gonzalez | RF | If he hit like he has in July/August in April/May, he'd likely be Top 10 on this list | 21 | ARI | AA | 84.5 | 27 ↑ | ||||||||
24 | Wladimir Balentien | RF | Dislocated a finger diving for the ball on Friday; could miss at least two weeks | 23 | SEA | AAA | 84.5 | 21 ↓ | ||||||||
25 | Neil Walker | 3B | In a HUGE power drought: .615 SLG in June, .301 SLG in July, .386 in August | 21 | PIT | AA | 84.5 | 22 ↓ | ||||||||
Honorables: Asdrubal Cabrera (84.4), Travis Snider (84.4), Chris Marrero (84.2), Carlos Triunfel (84.2), and Lars Anderson (84.2). | ||||||||||||||||
Graduated (final ranking): None. | ||||||||||||||||
Dropped Out of Top 25 (previous ranking): Travis Snider (23), Wade Davis (24), and Carlos Triunfel (25). | ||||||||||||||||
* Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production | ||||||||||||||||
** Only signed professional players with less than 130 pro at-bats or less than 50 pro innings are considered for our rankings | ||||||||||||||||
*** Ages are as of August 19th, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
**** Level is the highest level the player has reached | ||||||||||||||||
***** Pts. Is the player's score from my prospect ranking program | ||||||||||||||||
****** Pre. is the player's rankings from last week's Top 75. | ||||||||||||||||
<<< Our August 6th Top 75 Rankings | ||||||||||||||||
<<< Discuss these rankings | ||||||||||||||||
<<< How our rankings work |
Disclaimer
Our in-season 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 pre-season 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 preseason 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