Two Top 100 Prospects Highlight 2019 South Atlantic League All-Star Rosters
Image credit: Ronny Mauricio (Photo by Tom Priddy/Four Seam Images)
An Orioles fireballer and a Mets wunderkind are just two of the high-upside prospects who will be on display on June 18, when the South Atlantic League holds its all-star game in Charleston, W.V.
The Northern Division roster’s clear star is Orioles righthander Grayson Rodriguez, who has allowed just 24 hits in his 43 innings. His 1.47 ERA would be among the circuit’s best if he qualified for the title. His rate of 12.77 strikeouts per nine innings places him third in the league, and he’s dominated the competition with one of the best fastballs around. The pitch touches the mid-90s and has helped him accumulate a 15 percent swinging-strike rate.
Rodriguez will be backed up on the Northern staff by a trio of his teammates, including righthander Ofelky Peralta and lefthanders Zach Matson and Drew Rom. That group has struck out 159 in 114.1 innings to front a Delmarva team that leads the league with 587 strikeouts.
The Greensboro Grasshoppers are sending a quartet of position players (in addition to pitchers Brad Case and Alex Manasa) that includes slugging infielders Rodolfo Castro and Mason Martin. Martin, in particular, has crushed the SAL with a barrage of power that allowed him to homer in five straight games early in the season, electrify a home crowd last month with walk-off three-run home runs in both ends of a doubleheader and pace with league with 16 homers.
The Southern Division is headlined by Mets phenom Ronny Mauricio, who isn’t putting up gaudy numbers but entered the season as the league’s second-youngest player. The 18-year-old Mauricio isn’t hitting for much power but has produced a .280/.324/.353 line through 51 games. He ranks No. 81 on the most recent iteration of the Top 100 and has some of the highest upside in the Mets’ system.
Mauricio will be joined on the Southern infield by Red Sox prospect Triston Casas, a 2018 first-round choice whose strong start has put him on the cusp of the Top 100. His .492 slugging percentage is ninth in the league, and he’s shown well in his first extended taste of pro ball after an injury last summer limited his debut season to just four at-bats in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League.
The Southern pitching staff features several high-octane arms who could easily put up zeroes for an extended stretch. That group includes Royals prospects Jonathan Bowlan, Jon Heasley and Austin Cox, who have combined to whiff 171 hitters in 160.2 innings. Cox, who paced the NCAA in strikeouts in 2018, entered the year as the No. 16 prospect in Kansas City’s system.
That group will be joined by two Charleston arms who have dominated the competition as part of a very talented RiverDogs rotation. Luis Gil, who came over from the Twins in the deal that sent Jake Cave to Minnesota, has shown a fastball some evaluators have ranked as an 80 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale, and teammate Alexander Vizcaino has used a vastly improved changeup to produce 17.7 percent swinging-strike rate and whiff 62 in 50 innings.
NORTHERN ROSTER
| Name | Position | Team | MLB Org |
| PITCHERS | |||
| Grayson Rodriguez | RHP | Delmarva | Orioles |
| Dayeison Arias | RHP | West Virginia | Mariners |
| Brad Case | RHP | Greensboro | Pirates |
| Clay Chandler | RHP | West Virginia | Mariners |
| Johan Dominguez | RHP | Kannapolis | White Sox |
| Kyle Glogoski | RHP | Lakewood | Phillies |
| Alex Manasa | RHP | Greensboro | Pirates |
| Zach Matson | LHP | Delmarva | Orioles |
| Bryan Pall | RHP | West Virginia | Mariners |
| Ofelky Peralta | RHP | Delmarva | Orioles |
| Drew Rom | LHP | Delmarva | Orioles |
| CATCHERS | |||
| Jake Anchia | C | West Virginia | Mariners |
| Daniel Fajardo | C | Delmarva | Orioles |
| Grant Koch | C | Greensboro | Pirates |
| INFIELDERS | |||
| Mason Martin | 1B | Greensboro | Pirates |
| Rodolfo Castro | 2B | Greensboro | Pirates |
| Jonathan Ornelas | 3B | Hickory | Rangers |
| Adam Hall | SS | Delmarva | Orioles |
| Curtis Terry | INF | Hickory | Rangers |
| Gilbert Lara | INF | Hagerstown | Nationals |
| OUTFIELDERS | |||
| Jacob Rhinesmith | RF | Hagerstown | Nationals |
| Lolo Sanchez | CF | Greensboro | Pirates |
| Ian Dawkins | LF | Kannapolis | White Sox |
| Pedro Gonzalez | OF | Hickory | Rangers |
| Doran Turchin | OF | Delmarva | Orioles |
| DESIGNATED HITTER | |||
| Seamus Curran | OF | Delmarva | Orioles |
SOUTHERN ROSTER
| Name | Position | Team | MLB Org |
| PITCHERS | |||
| Luis Gil | RHP | Charleston | Yankees |
| Jake Bird | RHP | Asheville | Rockies |
| Jonathan Bowlan | RHP | Lexington | Royals |
| Seth Corry | RHP | Augusta | Giants |
| Austin Cox | LHP | Lexington | Royals |
| Jon Heasley | RHP | Lexington | Royals |
| Alexander Martinez | RHP | Asheville | Rockies |
| Jose Montilla | RHP | Rome | Braves |
| Jesus Tona | RHP | Augusta | Giants |
| Alexander Vizcaino | RHP | Charleston | Yankees |
| Thad Ward | RHP | Greenville | Red Sox |
| CATCHERS | |||
| Logan Brown | C | Rome | Braves |
| Willie MacIver | C | Asheville | Rockies |
| Josh Breaux | C | Charleston | Yankees |
| INFIELDERS | |||
| Devlin Granberg | 1B | Greenville | Red Sox |
| Greg Cullen | 2B | Rome | Braves |
| Triston Casas | 3B | Greenville | Red Sox |
| Terrin Vavra | SS | Asheville | Rockies |
| Mickey Gasper | INF | Charleston | Yankees |
| Ronny Mauricio | INF | Columbia | Mets |
| OUTFIELDERS | |||
| Trey Harris | RF | Rome | Braves |
| Michael Gigliotti | CF | Lexington | Royals |
| Canaan Smith | LF | Charleston | Yankees |
| Ismael Monguia | OF | Augusta | Giants |
| Josh Stowers | OF | Charleston | Yankees |
| DESIGNATED HITTER | |||
| Chase Vallot | DH | Lexington | Royals |
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