NEWSLETTER
Late last week, Baseball Prospectus released their Mid-Season Top 50 Prospect list, and three Cubs made the cut: Eloy Jimenez, Gleyber Torres and Ian Happ.
Baseball America has released a similar Midseason Top 100 Prospect ranking, and the same three Cubs prospects are on there (albeit in a different order).
However, before we get into the specifics, there are a couple of eligibility caveats to discuss up front (especially in light of the Cubs being represented by just three prospects in the top 100). First, BA did not include any prospects that were not in the Minor Leagues on June 21 (the mid-way point for Minor League seasons). That means that Willson Contreras and Albert Almora Jr. were not eligible for the list. And second, 2016 draftees and July 2 international signees were also ineligible. Although the first caveat would likely make the Cubs better represented on the list, the second would probably push most of them down a few spots. Take that as you will.
Here are the Cubs in BA’s Mid-Season Top 100 Prospect Rankings (with BA’s preseason ranking in parenthesis):
27. Gleyber Torres, SS (Prev: 41)
37. Ian Happ, 2B (Prev: 87)
46. Eloy Jimenez, OF (Prev: Unranked)
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As you can see, each of the Cubs’ (increasingly unanimous) top prospects have made huge strides since the beginning of the year. Torres moved up fourteen spots, Happ moved up fifty and Jimenez wasn’t even ranked before this season began. That said, this is quite a different order than BP’s ranking, where they are clearly much higher on Jimenez. (But hey, after what he did yesterday … )
To be clear, Happ (top 50) and Torres (top 30) are ranked in just about the same relative numerical location as usual, but Jimenez managed to make it all the way into BP’s top 30. Even still, making the leap from outside the top 100 to a top 50 prospect in half a season is not easy to pull off. Consider his ranking a very big compliment.
Because these three prospects were the exact same ones from Baseball Prospectus’ list, I’ll point you to our previous post for more on their background/season/future outlook. In the meantime, here is an updated look at their offensive statistics from the first half of 2016:
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