Comparing the 2022 Top 100 Prospects to the 2023 Top 100

Image credit: (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Almost exactly one year ago, we rolled out the 2022 Baseball America Top 100 Prospects list. Now that the newest Top 100 has been unveiled, we wanted to check in on what happened to last year’s Top 100 Prospects.

There are 43 players from last year’s Top 100 who return to this year’s Top 100. Another 34 players from last year’s Top 100 have graduated from eligibility. That leaves 23 players from last year’s Top 100 who were eligible to be on this year’s Top 100 but were left off for whatever reason.

As you might expect, the prospects from last year’s Top 100 who are not on this year’s Top 100 are heavily skewed to players on the back of last year’s list. Of Top 50 prospects from last season, 24 remain on this year’s Top 100 and 22 have graduated. Only four players from last year’s Top 50 were Top 100-eligible this year and left off of the ranking.

Of the players from 80-100 on last year’s Top 100, six have graduated, six remain on this year’s Top 100 and eight are unranked this year.

We’ll start with a look at the players who were on both last year’s Top 100 and this year’s Top 100.

2022 Rank	Player	Pos	Team	2023 Rank	Difference
6	Grayson Rodriguez	RHP	BAL	6	0
7	Gabriel Moreno	C	TOR	12	-5
8	Shane Baz	RHP	TB	32	-24
10	Anthony Volpe	SS	NYY	14	-4
13	Francisco Alvarez	C	NYM	9	4
15	Marcelo Mayer	SS	BOS	10	5
16	Brennen Davis	OF	CHC	84	-68
17	Marco Luciano	SS	SF	37	-20
18	Noelvi Marte	SS	SEA	63	-45
19	Triston Casas	1B	BOS	29	-10
20	Corbin Carroll	OF	ARI	2	18
21	Tyler Soderstrom	C	OAK	35	-14
22	Zac Veen	OF	COL	51	-29
23	Diego Cartaya	C	LAD	18	5
24	Jordan Walker	3B	STL	4	20
26	Cade Cavalli	RHP	WSH	61	-35
28	Jordan Lawlar	SS	ARI	13	15
29	Robert Hassell III	OF	SD	57	-28
38	Bobby Miller	RHP	LAD	21	17
39	Josh Jung	3B	TEX	66	-27
40	Brett Baty	3B	NYM	33	7
41	Miguel Vargas	3B	LAD	30	11
42	Henry Davis	C	PIT	73	-31
49	Eury Perez	RHP	MIA	7	42
51	Matthew Liberatore	LHP	STL	79	-28
52	Taj Bradley	RHP	TB	44	8
53	Daniel Espino	RHP	CLE	19	34
54	Mick Abel	RHP	PHI	40	14
55	DL Hall	LHP	BAL	75	-20
58	Oswald Peraza	SS	NYY	62	-4
60	Gunnar Henderson	SS	BAL	1	59
66	Brayan Rocchio	SS	CLE	77	-11
68	George Valera	OF	CLE	72	-4
74	Max Meyer	RHP	MIA	90	-16
76	Michael Busch	2B	LAD	54	22
77	Elly De La Cruz	3B	CIN	8	69
79	Jackson Jobe	RHP	DET	83	-4
82	Royce Lewis	SS	MIN	43	39
87	Jasson Dominguez	OF	NYY	67	20
95	Kyle Harrison	LHP	SF	38	57
97	Curtis Mead	3B	TB	36	61
98	Colton Cowser	OF	BAL	41	57
99	Ryan Pepiot	RHP	LAD	55	44

Here is a look at which player’s from last year’s Top 100 have graduated from prospect eligibility.

2022 Rank	Player	Pos.	Team
1	Adley Rutschman	C	BAL
2	Julio Rodriguez	OF	SEA
3	Bobby Witt Jr.	SS	KC
4	Riley Greene	OF	DET
5	Spencer Torkelson	1B	DET
9	CJ Abrams	SS	SD
11	Keibert Ruiz	C	WSH
12	George Kirby	RHP	SEA
14	Oneil Cruz	SS	PIT
27	Reid Detmers	LHP	LAA
31	Alek Thomas	OF	ARI
32	Jose Barrero	SS	CIN
33	Nolan Gorman	3B	STL
34	Hunter Greene	RHP	CIN
35	Nick Lodolo	LHP	CIN
36	Aaron Ashby	LHP	MIL
37	Seiya Suzuki	OF	CHC
43	MJ Melendez	C	KC
44	Nick Pratto	1B	KC
45	Josh Lowe	OF	TB
46	Matt Brash	RHP	SEA
47	Michael Harris	OF	ATL
57	Shea Langeliers	C	OAK
59	Vidal Brujan	2B	TB
67	Bryson Stott	SS	PHI
69	Edward Cabrera	RHP	MIA
71	Joey Bart	C	SF
72	Jeremy Peña	SS	HOU
80	Roansy Contreras	RHP	PIT
84	Cristian Pache	OF	OAK
86	Joe Ryan	RHP	MIN
89	Geraldo Perdomo	SS	ARI
90	Jose Miranda	3B	MIN
91	Jarren Duran	OF	BOS

And here is a look at the players from the 2022 Top 100 who did not make our 2023 Top 100, with an explanation of why.

2022 Rank	Player	Pos.	Team
25	Jack Leiter	RHP	TEX
Leiter’s control and the quality of his fastball backed up in 2022. It will have to improve to get him back on track, but he still has the stuff to leap back into the Top 100 with a solid start to 2023.
30	Nick Yorke	2B	BOS
Yorke struggled to hit at High-A Greenville in 2022. That’s concerning because Yorke’s path to the majors relies very heavily on his bat, as his eventual defensive home is much more of a question.
48	Austin Martin	OF	MIN
The hope has long been that Martin would find a defensive home and start to hit for power. At this point, he’s moving down the defensive spectrum to the outfield or second base and he’s likely an on-base machine/singles hitter.
50	Nick Gonzales	2B	PIT
Gonzales isn’t all that far off of this year’s Top 100, but his power didn’t make the jump from High-A Greensboro to Double-A Altoona. As a bat-first second baseman, that is a concern.
56	Luis Campusano	C	SD
Campusano didn’t miss the Top 100 by much, and he’s not that far from graduating from prospect status. He’s battling with Pedro Severino to be the backup catcher in San Diego.
61	Brady House	SS	WSH
The hope for House is that his 2022 season was derailed by a back injury and Covid. He’ll be looking to bounce back in 2023 after posting a sub-.100 isolated power last season.
62	Kahlil Watson	SS	MIA
Watson posted strikeout rates that have to improve if he’s going to have a path to the majors. Watson was demoted from Low-A last year after fanning 35% of the time.
63	Cole Winn	RHP	TEX
Winn’s command disappeared in 2022, but there is hope that it stemmed from an early season ankle injury that affected his delivery.
64	Nate Pearson	RHP	TOR
Pearson has shown he can throw as hard as almost anyone when healthy, but he can’t stay healthy. A lat injury sidelined him for much of the 2022 season and at this point, he seems destined to be a reliever.
65	Tyler Freeman	SS	CLE
Freeman remains one of the Guardians’ better middle infield prospects, but his problem is he has plenty of company in one of baseball’s most loaded farm systems and his lack of power could make it hard for him to keep up.
70	Korey Lee	C	HOU
Lee has been passed by Yainer Diaz as the Astros’ catcher of the future. His arm remains one of the best in baseball.
73	Luis Matos	OF	SF
Injuries didn’t help, but Matos’ swing got out of sorts at times in 2022. He’s still quite young, but he needs to bounce back in 2023.
75	Orelvis Martinez	SS	TOR
Martinez’s bat speed and power are truly special, but it’s hard to remain on the Top 100 when you hit .203 with a .286 on-base percentage. His approach is going to have to improve.
78	Liover Peguero	SS	PIT
Peguero remains a very intriguing shortstop prospect, but upper-level pitchers found his vulnerabilities by giving him a heavy diet of breaking balls. He has to make adjustments to compensate.
81	Cristian Hernandez	SS	CHC
Hernandez found the Arizona Complex League to be a little tougher than was expected. He still has the tools to be an above-average shortstop, but he’ll have to improve his 30% strikeout rate.
83	Brandon Williamson	LHP	CIN
The 2022 season was a setback for Williamson as his control and stuff dipped. He is not far from the majors, and he did improve his slider, but he needs to have better command of his curveball and changeup.
85	Jordan Balazovic	RHP	MIN
Balazovic’s 2022 season was a disaster from start to (nearly) finish. His velocity and quality of his secondary offerings dropped and he was regularly hit hard. He has to try to get back to his 2021 form.
88	Quinn Priester	RHP	PIT
Priester’s four-seam fastball has proven to be a little less than expected, but the two-seamer he’s picked up to go with it is promising. He’s a well-rounded starter, but one who doesn’t have elite swing-and-miss stuff.
92	Ronny Mauricio	SS	NYM
Mauricio has shown he can hit for power, and he continues to demonstrate that he has a chance to stick at shortstop, even if he has no hope of moving Francisco Lindor off the position. But his sub-.300 on-base percentages are quite concerning.
93	Blake Walston	LHP	ARI
Walston’s velocity varies pretty dramatically from start to start and sometimes from inning to inning. The hope remains that if he gets stronger, he can mature into being a mid-rotation starter.
94	Heliot Ramos	OF	SF
Ramos struggled at the plate for most of 2022. He’s reached the majors now, but he has a swing that leads to a lot of mishits and stung ground balls, even if he has the power to hit 20-plus home runs.
96	Ryne Nelson	RHP	ARI
Nelson reached the majors last season and continues to project as a useful member of the D-backs rotation going forward. He’s not far from this year’s Top 100.
100	Gabriel Arias	SS	CLE
Arias struggled at the plate in his first stint in the major leagues, but he continues to be a smooth-fielding shortstop with a chance to be a solid contributor offensively.