All Levels: MLB / AAA / AA / A+ / A
| High-A | ||||||||
| Rk. | Player | Pos | Age | DOB | Org | Lg | TBF/PA | OPS/FIP |
| 1 | Carlos Triunfel | SS | 18.7 | 2/27/1990 | SEA | CAL | 479 | .706 |
| 2 | Ruben Tejada | SS | 19.1 | 9/1/1989 | NYM | FSL | 554 | .627 |
| 3 | Deolis Guerra | SP | 19.5 | 4/17/1989 | MIN | FSL | 591 | 5.45 |
| 4 | Edward Cegarra | SP | 19.6 | 2/27/1989 | KC | CAR | 445 | 4.86 |
| 5 | Rick Porcello | SP | 19.8 | 12/27/1988 | DET | FSL | 527 | 3.87 |
| 6 | Austin Gallagher | 3B | 19.9 | 11/16/1988 | LAD | CAL | 344 | .737 |
| 7 | Tim Alderson | SP | 20.0 | 11/3/1988 | SF | CAL | 581 | 4.34 |
| 8 | Jeanmar Gomez | SP | 20.1 | 10/2/1988 | CLE | CAR | 609 | 3.97 |
| 9 | Billy Rowell | 3B | 20.1 | 9/10/1988 | BAL | CAR | 409 | .683 |
| 10 | Christopher Marrero | 1B | 20.3 | 7/2/1988 | WAS | CAR | 287 | .847 |
| 11 | Marcus Lemon | SS | 20.4 | 6/3/1988 | TEX | CAL | 515 | .813 |
| 12 | Mark Diapoules | SP | 20.4 | 5/31/1988 | STL | FSL | 258 | 4.22 |
| 13 | Carlos Rivero | SS | 20.4 | 5/20/1988 | CLE | CAR | 456 | .791 |
| 14 | Jason Place | CF | 20.5 | 5/8/1988 | BOS | CAL | 537 | .674 |
| 15 | Cedric Hunter | CF | 20.6 | 3/10/1988 | SD | CAL | 641 | .867 |
| 16 | Trevor Cahill | SP | 20.6 | 3/1/1988 | OAK | CAL | 344 | 3.25 |
| 17 | Hector Rondon | SP | 20.7 | 2/26/1988 | CLE | CAR | 603 | 3.44 |
| 18 | Chih-Hsien Chiang | 2B | 20.7 | 2/21/1988 | BOS | CAL | 341 | .717 |
| 19 | Gustavo Nunez | SS | 20.7 | 2/8/1988 | DET | FSL | 164 | .662 |
| 20 | Brett Anderson | SP | 20.7 | 2/1/1988 | OAK | CAL | 311 | 3.43 |
| 21 | Hank Conger | DH | 20.7 | 1/29/1988 | LAA | CAL | 318 | .859 |
| 22 | Jhoulys Chacin | SP | 20.8 | 1/7/1988 | COL | CAL | 264 | 3.62 |
| 23 | Brandon Erbe | SP | 20.8 | 12/25/1987 | BAL | CAR | 578 | 3.35 |
| 24 | Tyler Robertson | SP | 20.8 | 12/23/1987 | MIN | FSL | 353 | 3.81 |
| 25 | Brent Brewer | SS | 20.8 | 12/19/1987 | MIL | FSL | 305 | .707 |
| 26 | Donovan Solano | SS | 20.8 | 12/17/1987 | STL | FSL | 445 | .697 |
| 27 | Nicholas Weglarz | LF | 20.9 | 12/16/1987 | CLE | CAR | 449 | .868 |
| 28 | Aneury Rodriguez | SP | 20.9 | 12/13/1987 | COL | CAL | 650 | 4.70 |
| 29 | Zachary McAllister | SP | 20.9 | 12/8/1987 | NYY | FSL | 348 | 3.39 |
| 30 | Alexander Torres | SP | 20.9 | 12/8/1987 | LAA | CAL | 233 | 4.21 |
| * TBF and PA are taken exclusively from 2008 | ||||||||
| ** Minimum of 30.0 IP or 100 PA | ||||||||
| *** OPS and FIP are park and luck adjusted '08 statistics from minorleaguesplits.com | ||||||||
Three years ago, Bill Rowell was the first high school hitter taken in his draft class -- 2006, or the Evan Longoria/Tim Lincecum year. Travis Snider has definitely claimed the title of top prep hitter from this draft class for the time being, but that has nearly as much to do with his fellow first round prep hitters struggling as Snider succeeding.
Rowell (9th on this list), Chris Marrero (10th), and Hank Conger (21st), along with Snider represent the prepsters from the first round of the 2006 draft class.The pitchers? Long gone or too old.
Clayton Kershaw, the 7th overall pick in 2006, flat out skipped High-A. Kasey Kiker was about three weeks too old to make the back end of this list. Jeremy Jeffress was over two months too old to make it. And Kyle Drabek would have tied for 29th had he remained healthy and made it to High-A.
Enough about the top prepsters from the 2006 draft class, how about the guys who are actually atop this list? Identical to our Youngest Players in Double-A list, the top four players on this list were international signees. And just like Fernando Martinez in Double-A, Carlos Triunfel is repeating as the youngest player in High-A. Both of these guys should jump up a level in 2009 provided that they stay healthy and make some moderate improvements.
Still focusing on the top part of the list, note that three 2007 prepsters ranked in the top third: Rick Porcello, who made his pro debut in High-A, Austin Gallagher, a third rounder who skipped High-A, and Tim Alderson -- he pitched 5.0 rookie ball innings in 2006 then opened 2007 in High-A.
As far as young players who had impressive showing in High-A go, we're mainly looking at pitchers: Porcello, Jeanmar Gomez, Trevor Cahill, Hector Rondon, and Brett Anderson to name a few. None of the hitters listed topped a .900 luck-adjusted OPS -- none of our Double-A youngesters passed that mark either. Marrero, Cedric Hunter, Hank Conger, and Nick Weglarz were the most successful young hitters in High-A last season.
The Indians have the most talent on this list, with four players -- Gomez, Carlos Rivero, Rondon, and Weglarz. No other organization has more than two players. Eleven organizations are not represented on this list.
Sean Halloran can be reached via spiritual channeling during lunar eclipses. Adam Foster can be reached at adamf@projectprospect.com.