2020 Prospect Position Rankings: Righthanded Pitchers

Image credit: Nate Pearson (Photo by Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)

Each year, following the release of our Top 100 prospects, Baseball America ranks the top prospects in baseball by position. You can find our position-by-position rankings here.

Here are the top righthanded pitching prospects for 2020.

Best Fastball: Nate Pearson, RHP, Blue Jays. Even among a star-studded group, Pearson is a fairly easy choice. The hulking fireballer has topped out at 104 mph with his heater and touched triple-digits multiple times during the 2019 Futures Game in Cleveland. After some innings-management in 2019, this season will be huge for Pearson. He should be unleashed and full bore in a year that should see him make his big league debut and form another piece of an enviable core in Toronto that also includes Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette.

Best Breaking Ball: Shane Baz, RHP, Rays. The “third piece” in the trade that also brought Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow to Tampa Bay, Baz spent his first full pro season carving hitters with a powerful combination of fastball and slider. The pitch, which projects as a double-plus offering, shows two-plane break and helped Baz whiff 87 hitters in 81 innings at low Class A Bowling Green. He was impressive in the Arizona Fall League as well.

Best Changeup: Tony Gonsolin, RHP, Dodgers. the team’s ninth-rounder in 2016, made his major league debut in 2019 on the strength of a four-pitch arsenal led by a 70-grade changeup. The pitch, thrown in the mid-80s, features split-type action down in the zone to get swings and misses.

Sleeper: Luis Medina, RHP, Yankees. The Yankees system is stocked with power-armed righthanders, but Medina unquestionably has the group’s best stuff. He has gone through severe struggles with control and command but seemed to find something toward the end of the season with low Class A Charleston and high Class A Tampa. If he can continue on that path, he’ll vault up prospect lists all season long.