NEWSLETTER
Baseball America today released a more complete top-100 prospect update, which incorporates early-season performances and scouting. The Chicago Cubs fare quite well, even as Michael Busch has graduated from the list.
And the re-ranking is quite significant …
20. Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF
22. Cade Horton, RHP
28. Matt Shaw, 3B
40. Owen Caissie, OF
47. Jefferson Rojas, SS
91. Kevin Alcántara, OF
93. Moises Ballesteros, C
HELLO, JEFFERSON ROJAS.
I mentioned a couple weeks ago when Rojas was added to the top 100 as part of a group of graduations (they just slide into the back of the list), he was likely to move up quite a bit when the full list was actually re-ranked. But even as I do believe he deserves to be a top-50 prospect, I didn’t think he would in fact rocket up that quickly! So this ranking is AWESOME to see.
It’s also awesome to see Moises Ballesteros added to the list, as the 20-year-old backstop is simply hitting way too well at Double-A not to be a universal top-100 prospect at this point. Currently, Ballesteros is hitting .288/.403/.519/177 wRC+ with a .231 ISO and matching 14.5% walk and strikeout rates. His offensive performance – as a 20-year-old at Double-A! – has basically been perfect. We all know the question with him is whether he can stick behind the plate, which is why he’s ranked 93 on a list like this instead of 33. As soon as more scouts feel confirmed that he can be a big league catcher (even a below-average one), he’s going to rocket right up alongside Rojas.
