While Homer Bailey is pitching well enough to earn a spot in a big-league rotation, two young hurlers are quickly building the kind of resumes needed to take over his spot inside our Top 10 prospects rankings: Oakland's Trevor Cahill and Arizona's Jarrod Parker. Cahill owns a 34.8% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate through 36.0 California League innings. Parker has issued just two walks while striking out 19 Low-A hitters in 20.2 innings. Both of these righties are flashing top-of-the-rotation potential.
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| No. | Player | Pos. | Comments | Age | Org | Lvl | Pre. | |||||||
| 1 | Jay Bruce | CF | Went 3-for-20 w/ 1 XBH & 6 K last week; lowered vital line to .284/.308/.505 through 121 PA | 21.0 | CIN | AAA | 1 ↔ | |||||||
| 2 | Evan Longoria | 3B | Hasn't had a multi-hit game since 4/24, XBH since 4/27; he's .239/.345/.437 over 85 MLB PA | 22.4 | TB | MLB | 3 ↑ | |||||||
| 3 | Colby Rasmus | CF | The good: not many Ks (14.4%), lots of BB (15.1%); The bad: .157 IsoP and only 5% LD rate | 21.7 | STL | AAA | 2 ↓ | |||||||
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | LHP | Continues to improve on '07 success -- 4.4% fewer walks, not as many XBH; 27.7% K rate | 20.1 | LAD | AA | 4 ↔ | |||||||
| 5 | Joba Chamberlain | RHP | It's been over 9 months since his last start; longest MLB outing: 8 batters, longest MiLB: 25 | 22.6 | NYY | MLB | 6 ↑ | |||||||
| 6 | Matt Wieters | C | Cooling down -- just 1 XBH in 31 ab last week; still, .379 wOBA should get him to AA soon | 21.9 | BAL | A+ | 7 ↑ | |||||||
| 7 | Matt LaPorta | LF | AA XBH leader (20); 4 multi-hit games last week (5 starts); .333/.431/.716 overall (125 PA) | 23.3 | MIL | AA | 18 ↑ | |||||||
| 8 | Cameron Maybin | CF | Has 9 hits in last 19 ab (including 2 2B and a HR) after going 0-for-21 w/ 8 K from 4/23-4/29 | 21.0 | FLA | MLB | 9 ↑ | |||||||
| 9 | Johnny Cueto | RHP | Was lit up on 4/29: 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 2 K; still has solid overall K% (23.1) and BB% (4.2) | 22.2 | CIN | MLB | 8 ↓ | |||||||
| 10 | Homer Bailey | RHP | Maintaining 5.9% BB rate after walking 11.5% last year in AAA; giving up slightly more XBH | 22.0 | CIN | MLB | 11 ↑ | |||||||
| 11 | Travis Snider | LF | Homered 2x last week for his 1st & 2nd XBH since AA promotion; .222/.317/.435 this season | 20.2 | TOR | AA | 10 ↓ | |||||||
| 12 | Andrew McCutchen | CF | Leads under 27 IL hitters in wOBA (.398); May be ready to fill in if one of PIT's OF go down | 21.5 | PIT | AAA | 16 ↑ | |||||||
| 13 | Rick Porcello | RHP | Strikeout lovers brace yourselves: he may be a GB pitcher (66%) -- just 16.0% K (125 TBF) | 19.3 | DET | A+ | 13 ↔ | |||||||
| 14 | David Price | LHP | Threw 26 pitches last Friday (extended ST) in his first live action since 3/20 (elbow strain) | 22.6 | TB | NCAA | 14 ↔ | |||||||
| 15 | Jeff Clement | C | Torrid AAA start (.519 wOBA) earned him MLB job (DH/C); 3-for-14 in the bigs last week | 24.7 | SEA | MLB | 22 ↑ | |||||||
| 16 | Andy LaRoche | 3B | Back in AAA after spending a week in AA; the Dodgers' 3B job is wide open; hit a HR today | 24.6 | LAD | MLB | 15 ↓ | |||||||
| 17 | Jake McGee | LHP | Has allowed 3 HR in 10.2 IP since missing his 4/19 start w/ forearm soreness; 3.86 FIP in '08 | 21.7 | TB | AA | 12 ↓ | |||||||
| 18 | Trevor Cahill | RHP | Rising as rapidly as pitching prospect in baseball; 34.8% K, 5.1% BB, and 2.26 FIP (138 TBF) | 20.1 | OAK | A+ | 23 ↑ | |||||||
| 19 | Carlos Gonzalez | RF | Out since 4/28 due to an ankle sprain; was red-hot prior to injury: .338/.405/.507 over 80 PA | 22.5 | OAK | AAA | 25 ↑ | |||||||
| 20 | Jarrod Parker | RHP | Gaining momentum quickly; 20.9% K, 2.2% BB (91 TBF); 14 K vs. just 1 BB over last 15.0 IP | 19.4 | ARI | A | 31 ↑ | |||||||
| 21 | Chris Marrero | 1B | Finally heating up? 7 for his last 15 with 2 HR; '08 K% (17.7) is lower than '07 A+ K% (21.5) | 19.8 | WAS | A+ | 19 ↓ | |||||||
| 22 | Fernando Martinez | CF | Has yet to hit stride in AA this season: .254/.287/.349 after 136 PA; 2 XBH in last 42 at-bats | 19.5 | NYM | AA | 20 ↓ | |||||||
| 23 | Brandon Wood | 3B | Brought to big leagues on 4/28 following .383 wOBA AAA showing; 1-for-9 w/ 5 K so far | 23.1 | LAA | MLB | 24 ↑ | |||||||
| 24 | Justin Masterson | RHP | Hit hard in AA return: 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 5 K, 3 BB; still off to a sensational start -- 2.02 AA FIP | 23.1 | BOS | MLB | 26 ↑ | |||||||
| 25 | Brett Anderson | LHP | Teamed up with Cahill to form best duo of arms in minors?; 26.9% K, 5.2% BB, and 2.71 FIP | 20.2 | OAK | A+ | NR ↑ | |||||||
| Honorables: Angel Villalona (SF), Matt Antonelli (SD), Gio Gonzalez (OAK), Max Scherzer (ARI), Mike Moustakas (KC), and Jason Heyward (ATL). | ||||||||||||||
| Graduated (final ranking): Clay Buchholz (5). | ||||||||||||||
| Dropped out of Top 25 (previous ranking): Gio Gonzalez (17) and Angel Villalona (21). | ||||||||||||||
| * Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production | ||||||||||||||
| *** Ages are as of May 5th, 2008 | ||||||||||||||
| **** Level is the highest level the player has reached | ||||||||||||||
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Adam Foster can be reached at adamf@projectprospect.com.
