With 50.1 dominant innings under his belt this season, Tim Lincecum has busted down the door and broken into the Top 5. Nick Markakis, Brian McCann, and Zach Grienkie's hot starts mean they'll keep moving up, while Colby Rasmus, Billy Butler, and Ryan Zimmerman continue to fall. Edinson Volquez makes his debut, tabbing the No. 23 spot on this list.
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| No. | Player | Pos. | Comments | Age | Org | Lvl | Pre. | |||||||
| 1 | Prince Fielder | 1B | Hard times (Apr: .250/.366/.455 in 114 PA) getting worse (May: .243/.293/.351 in 41 PA) | 24.0 | MIL | MLB | 1 ↔ | |||||||
| 2 | Hanley Ramirez | SS | Patience is a virtue: BB rate up to 12.9% after going 8.0%, 7.8% in 1st two MLB seasons | 24.3 | FLA | MLB | 2 ↔ | |||||||
| 3 | Felix Hernandez | RHP | In his last two starts, The King has allowed 24 runners to reach base in 10.2 innings | 22.0 | SEA | MLB | 3 ↔ | |||||||
| 4 | Jose Reyes | SS | Heating up after slow start: .240/.300/.410 line in Apr. up to .286/.381/.486 in May | 24.8 | NYM | MLB | 4 ↔ | |||||||
| 5 | Tim Lincecum | RHP | Young ace gives Giants fans something worth rooting for; has only walked 4 in last 21 IP | 23.7 | SF | MLB | 7 ↑ | |||||||
| 6 | Justin Upton | RF | His .326/.395/.530 start isn't hurting his already soaring stock; 11.2% BB rate is impressive | 20.6 | ARI | MLB | 6 ↔ | |||||||
| 7 | Ryan Braun | LF | After .324/.370/.634 rookie year, .281/.311/.503 isn't too impressive; did hit 2 HR on Sunday | 24.4 | MIL | MLB | 5 ↓ | |||||||
| 8 | Cole Hamels | LHP | K rate down 1.7%, BB rate up 1.7%; off to a very good start regardless (3.36 FIP) | 24.3 | PHI | MLB | 8 ↔ | |||||||
| 9 | Scott Kazmir | LHP | Take two: After allowing 3 ER in 4 IP in season debut, threw 6 shutout innings on Saturday | 23.7 | TB | MLB | 12 ↑ | |||||||
| 10 | Jay Bruce | CF | Minor's best hitting prospect is meeting expectactions: .328/.359/.565; 12-for-22 last week | 21.0 | CIN | AAA | 10 ↔ | |||||||
| 11 | Yovani Gallardo | RHP | Will miss remainder of 2008 season with a torn right ACL; surgery scheduled for Tuesday | 22.1 | MIL | MLB | 9 ↓ | |||||||
| 12 | B.J. Upton | CF | Ability to reach base same as '07, but big drop in power: .208 IsoP in '07 vs. .133 in '08 | 23.6 | TB | MLB | 11 ↓ | |||||||
| 13 | Evan Longoria | 3B | Heating up after slow start: .240/.300/.410 line in Apr. up to .286/.381/.486 in May | 22.4 | TB | MLB | 13 ↔ | |||||||
| 14 | Clay Buchholz | RHP | He's pitched like an ace so far this season: 23.4% K rate, 9.0% BB, 3.19 FIP through 38.0 IP | 23.7 | BOS | MLB | 15 ↑ | |||||||
| 15 | Brian McCann | C | His .377 OBP, .561 SLG looks like his '06 showing (.379/.572), not '07 version (.319/.452) | 24.1 | ATL | MLB | 21 ↑ | |||||||
| 16 | Nick Markakis | RF | Walk this way: Markakis has doubled his BB rate this season (9.2% in '07 vs. 18.6% in '08) | 24.4 | BAL | MLB | 23 ↑ | |||||||
| 17 | Zack Greinke | RHP | After posting 13.3% K rate in Apr. (36 IP), Greinke has shot up to 32.7% in May; solid No. 2 | 24.5 | KC | MLB | 24 ↑ | |||||||
| 18 | Alex Gordon | 3B | Starting to look more like the Gordon we expected in '07; off to decent .282/.346/.444 start | 24.2 | KC | MLB | 18 ↔ | |||||||
| 19 | Colby Rasmus | CF | Struggles continue: .205/.290/.349 with 9 XBH (3 2B, 6 HR); has a 12.8% BB rate, though | 21.7 | STL | AAA | 14 ↓ | |||||||
| 20 | Clayton Kershaw | LHP | 27.1% K rate, 8.3% BB rate, 2.00 FIP; to limit his innings, he came out of the pen on May 7th | 20.1 | LAD | AA | 19 ↓ | |||||||
| 21 | Joba Chamberlain | RHP | More walks (6.6% in '07 vs. 8.3% in '08), less K's (37.4% vs. 28.3%); still not starting | 22.6 | NYY | MLB | 20 ↓ | |||||||
| 22 | Chris Young | CF | What a difference a year makes: same power numbers, but BB rate up from 7.0% to 12.6% | 24.6 | ARI | MLB | 22 ↔ | |||||||
| 23 | Edinson Volquez | RHP | His 13.8% BB rate isn't great, but just everything else is -- 29.9% K, 60% GB, 2.56 FIP | 24.8 | CIN | MLB | NR ↑ | |||||||
| 24 | Billy Butler | DH | Kansas City power outage: Butler's .155 IsoP in '07 down to .082 in '08; BB% up to 9.5% | 22.0 | KC | MLB | 16 ↓ | |||||||
| 25 | Matt Wieters | C | Too good for A-ball: .355/.435/.618 (14.8% BB, 15.6% K) after 135 PA; 3 HR last weekend | 21.9 | BAL | A+ | 27 ↑ | |||||||
| Honorables: Matt Kemp (LAD), Chad Billingsley (LAD), Jeremy Hermida (FLA), Delmon Young (MIN), Matt LaPorta (MIL), and Johnny Cueto (CIN). | ||||||||||||||
| Graduated (final ranking): None. | ||||||||||||||
| Dropped out of Top 25 (previous ranking): Ryan Zimmerman (17) and Matt Cain (25). | ||||||||||||||
| * Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production | ||||||||||||||
| *** Ages are as of May 12th, 2008 | ||||||||||||||
| **** Level is the highest level the player has reached | ||||||||||||||
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Adam Loberstein can be reached at aloberstein@projectprospect.com. Adam Foster can be reached at adamf@projectprospect.com.