Youngest Players by Level: High-A

November 9, 2008

                               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.