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 | Pitched 12.1 IP last week: 8 H, 10 K, 6 BB; don't measure MLB success by ERA | 21 | NYY | MLB | 96.4 | 1 ↔ | ||||||||
2 | Joba Chamberlain | RHP | Has pitched 9.0 innings since joining the Yankees on 8/7: 3 H, 15 K, 2 BB, 0 ER | 21 | NYY | MLB | 95.0 | 3 ↑ | ||||||||
3 | Justin Upton | CF | Overmatched; had 3 hits in 17 ab last week; 5 BB vs. 20 K in 20 MLB games | 20 | ARI | MLB | 94.8 | 2 ↓ | ||||||||
4 | Jay Bruce | CF | Leads MiLB in XBH (76): 43 2B, 8 3B, 25 HR; .319/.376/.584 in 505 combined ab | 20 | CIN | AAA | 94.4 | 4 ↔ | ||||||||
5 | Clay Buchholz | RHP | Started in Pawtucket on Weds.; mediocre line: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 3 ER | 23 | BOS | MLB | 94.4 | 5 ↔ | ||||||||
6 | David Price | LHP | Has been working out with Low-A Columbus; threw a bullpen on Saturday | 22 | TB | NCAA | 94.3 | 6 ↔ | ||||||||
7 | Colby Rasmus | CF | .405/.495/.845 w/ 13 BB vs. 12 K and 50% XBH (7 2B & 10 HR) in 84 August ab | 21 | STL | AA | 93.8 | 7 ↔ | ||||||||
8 | Evan Longoria | 3B | Just 1 of his 7 hits last week went for extra bases and 1 BB vs. 4 K (5 games) | 21 | TB | AAA | 93.3 | 8 ↔ | ||||||||
9 | Cameron Maybin | CF | Not enough MLB ab to draw any solid conclusions from; 1 BB vs. 10 K, though | 20 | DET | MLB | 91.6 | 9 ↔ | ||||||||
10 | Adam Jones | CF | "You can learn more by playing...I'm learning a lot just being around these guys." | 22 | SEA | MLB | 91.4 | 10 ↔ | ||||||||
11 | Brandon Wood | 3B | Remember when he hit 43 HR in 2005 (California League)? Has 20 this season. | 22 | LAA | MLB | 91.2 | 11 ↔ | ||||||||
12 | Clayton Kershaw | LHP | Utterly dominant in both his starts last week: 13.0 IP, 4 H, 18 K, 6 BB, 1 ER | 19 | LAD | AA | 88.3 | 14 ↑ | ||||||||
13 | Andy LaRoche | 3B | Returned from his back injury on Saturday; 0-for-5 with 2 BB and 1 K since | 23 | LAD | MLB | 87.7 | 12 ↓ | ||||||||
14 | Jacob McGee | LHP | Nearly matched Kershaw pound-for-pound: 13.0 IP, 10 H, 17 K, 2 BB, 3 ER | 21 | TB | AA | 86.5 | 20 ↑ | ||||||||
15 | Reid Brignac | SS | 6 BB vs. 6 K was big for him last week (0.56 BB/K this year): also had 3 XBH | 21 | TB | AA | 86.3 | 17 ↑ | ||||||||
16 | Homer Bailey | RHP | Got rocked in FSL rehab start: 3.0 IP, 8 H, 4 K, 2 BB, 6 ER; Sept-callup worthy? | 21 | CIN | MLB | 86.2 | 16 ↓ | ||||||||
17 | Andrew McCutchen | CF | Went 8-for-31 with 8 singles last week; continues to struggle against RHP | 20 | PIT | AAA | 86.0 | 15 ↓ | ||||||||
18 | Johnny Cueto | RHP | Rebounded from horrendous last start w/ this gem: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 11 K, 2 BB, 2 ER | 21 | CIN | AAA | 86.0 | 22 ↑ | ||||||||
19 | Jeff Clement | C | Had a solid week, but McGee, Brignac, and Cueto were all more impressive | 24 | SEA | AAA | 85.4 | 16 ↓ | ||||||||
20 | Rick Porcello | RHP | 07's 27th overall pick may have gone as high as No. 2 without bonus demands | 18 | DET | HS | 85.3 | 19 ↓ | ||||||||
21 | Travis Snider | RF | .310/.372/.516 in 426 MWL ab; Jay Bruce went .291/.355/.516 there in 2006 | 19 | TOR | A | 85.2 | 20 ↓ | ||||||||
22 | Matt Wieters | C | Selected 5th overall in '07; soid bet to stick behind the plate, potential impact bat | 21 | BAL | NCAA | 84.8 | 21 ↓ | ||||||||
23 | Asbrubal Cabrera | SS | Continues to prove himself as a MLB 2B; now .318/.340/.477 through 44 ab | 21 | CLE | MLB | 84.7 | 24 ↑ | ||||||||
24 | Carlos Gonzalez | RF | Played first AAA game on Saturday; went 4-for-10 w/ 2 2B over the weekend | 21 | ARI | AAA | 84.6 | NR | ||||||||
25 | Fernando Martinez | CF | Hand contusion is now being reported as fractured hamate bone; sugery likely | 18 | NYM | AA | 84.5 | 25 ↔ | ||||||||
Honorables: Mike Moustakas (84.46), Ian Kennedy (84.34), Wladimir Balentien (84.29), Will Inman (84.28), and Josh Vitters (84.26). | ||||||||||||||||
Graduated (final ranking): None. | ||||||||||||||||
Dropped out of Top 25 (previous ranking): Will Inman (23). | ||||||||||||||||
* 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 September 2nd, 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 25. | ||||||||||||||||
<<< Our August 20th Top 25 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