RoboScout Top MLB Prospects At Every Level On July 21, 2024
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Phew, what a week! Although for many fans, it was a true “break” from meaningful baseball, for the Baseball America team, it was one of the busiest weeks of the year with the Futures Game, Prospect Pad and, of course, the MLB Draft.
There were still minor league games all week. RoboScout watched them all—and has crunched some more stuff, Statcast, and projection numbers for you.
There has been some movement in the Dominican Summer League rankings–this makes sense as the sample size is still significantly smaller than in the other leagues and Statcast data is still stabilizing–but the upper levels have been reasonably consistent. Once the draftees start debuting, expect some interesting movement–especially in Low-A and High-A. Can’t wait!
As a reminder, the RoboScore is the value (0 to 100) assigned per level by RoboScout based on 2024 statistical performance and projecting fantasy value (without considering defensive position or ability). The RoboCast number is the RoboScore but with statcast blended in and then transformed to the 0 to 100 scale.
Dominican Summer League Hitters (min 30 PA)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Emil Morales | LAD | 100 | 100 |
2 | Edward Florentino | PIT | 95 | 98 |
3 | Jesus Made | MIL | 94 | 98 |
4 | Jose Anderson | MIL | 99 | 96 |
5 | Rainiel Rodriguez | STL | 94 | 95 |
6 | Luis Pena | MIL | 90 | 92 |
7 | Eduardo Beltre | MIN | 86 | 92 |
8 | Yolfran Castillo | TEX | 83 | 88 |
9 | Juan Ortuno | MIL | 85 | 87 |
10 | Elvin Garcia | BAL | 79 | 86 |
11 | Jaset Martinez | CIN | 77 | 85 |
12 | Estivel Morillo | CLE | 89 | 85 |
13 | Adriander Mejia | BAL | 75 | 85 |
14 | Juneiker Caceres | CLE | 88 | 84 |
15 | Jirvin Morillo | CIN | 78 | 84 |
16 | Stiven Martinez | BAL | 82 | 83 |
17 | Rafael Flores | TOR | 68 | 80 |
18 | Justin Gonzales | BOS | 76 | 80 |
19 | Jesus Alexander | SFG | 68 | 79 |
20 | Gabriel Rodriguez | CLE | 75 | 78 |
Emil Morales (Dodgers) is now the top-ranked DSL hitter with a 178 wRC+ along with seven homers and seven steals through 127 plate appearances. His contact rate is still below average, but it’s outweighed by his contact quality, which is pretty much the best in the league. He has the highest barrel rate of any DSL hitter with at least 70 plate appearances, ranking just ahead of Eduardo Beltre (Twins). Morales has the eighth-highest expected wOBA on contact.
Cardinals catcher Rainiel Rodriguez has one of the higher xWOBAcons. The DSL all-star ranks fifth on RoboScout’s list. The 17-year old Dominican backstop also has seven home runs, showing his plus game power. Rodriguez’s maximum exit velocity of 108 mph is already higher than max exit velos for well-regarded players such as C.J. Kayfus (Guardians), Michael Arroyo (Mariners), and Colt Emerson (Mariners). The raw power is already present albeit against inferior pitching. Rodriguez does show a bit more chase than league average but has an average contact rate so far in his 107 plate appearances. His defense lags behind the bat, but he does have a strong arm.
Considering their place on the defensive spectrum, Morales, Jesus Made (Brewers), Luis Pena (Brewers), and Eduardo Beltre (Twins) look like the class of the DSL. Consider all four top 200 fantasy prospects.
Complex League Hitters (min 60 PA)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Franklin Arias | BOS | 98 | 100 |
2 | Yeremi Cabrera | TEX | 99 | 99 |
3 | Robert Calaz | COL | 100 | 99 |
4 | Eric Bitonti | MIL | 90 | 93 |
5 | Eduardo Tait | PHI | 98 | 91 |
6 | Pablo Guerrero | TEX | 88 | 88 |
7 | Eduardo Quintero | LAD | 82 | 87 |
8 | Yoeilin Cespedes | BOS | 83 | 86 |
9 | Starlyn Caba | PHI | 81 | 85 |
10 | Javier Mogollon | CHW | 86 | 84 |
11 | Edgleen Perez | NYY | 73 | 82 |
12 | Engelth Urena | NYY | 73 | 81 |
13 | Brailer Guerrero | TBR | 75 | 80 |
14 | Welbyn Francisca | CLE | 81 | 80 |
15 | Felnin Celesten | SEA | 74 | 79 |
16 | Braylin Morel | TEX | 84 | 79 |
17 | Miguel Rodriguez | BAL | 73 | 78 |
18 | Dameury Pena | MIN | 77 | 78 |
19 | Aroon Escobar | PHI | 69 | 77 |
20 | Jhonny Severino | PIT | 73 | 77 |
21 | Yasser Mercedes | MIN | 70 | 77 |
22 | Luis Merejo | CLE | 71 | 76 |
23 | Jeremy Rodriguez | NYM | 83 | 75 |
24 | Carlos Tavares | WSN | 69 | 73 |
25 | Demetrio Crisantes | ARI | 62 | 73 |
With a huge week where he smashed two home runs and stole nine(!) bases, Franklin Arias (Red Sox) now finds himself at the top of the Complex League Hitters list. RoboScout has liked Arias for a while–without even knowing that he is playing above-average defense at shortstop–because also under the hood, he is making discriminate swing decisions, making contact at a near 80% rate, and making solid quality of contact with an xwOBAcon higher even than that of org mate Roman Anthony (Red Sox). He’s one of my favorite breakouts this year and a Top 75 fantasy prospect with 20/20 potential and good bat-to-ball skills.
Converted Yankees catcher Engelth Urena is flying up the charts on account of his 185 wRC+ since June 3. An outfielder earlier in his career, Urena’s defense hasn’t quite caught up to the bat, although he lost significant development time from a broken hand and a knee injury the past two years. In 2024, however, the 19-year old Dominican has shown plus swing decisions and a plus contact rate all season with his quality of contact steadily improving as the season has worn on, showing 25+ home run power. Although the bat is solid, his fantasy value will likely hinge on whether he can stick at catcher because the profile is not quite in the vicinity of other first base or left field prospects.
Braves shortstop John Gil is another interesting name outside the top 25. He is showing an excellent blend of power and speed while playing solid defense. Gil has really turned it on over the last six weeks, hitting all of three of his home runs and stealing 18 of his 26 bases over his last 122 plate appearances. Although the 18-year old is showing elite swing decisions, with average to above-average contact, the quality of contact lags the hit tool even though he has raised his 90th percentile exit velocity to 102.5 mph, 3 mph higher than in 2023. He’s an exciting but raw fantasy prospect who should be seeing full-season ball shortly. Put him on your watch list.
Complex League Pitchers (min 12 IP)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Yordy Herrera | STL | 100 | 100 |
2 | Trevor Harrison | TBR | 93 | 98 |
3 | Christian Zazueta | LAD | 87 | 91 |
4 | Samuel Sanchez | LAD | 92 | 91 |
5 | Sean Linan | LAD | 90 | 90 |
6 | Ovis Portes | BOS | 84 | 90 |
7 | Hayden Robinson | MIL | 93 | 89 |
8 | Joseph Yabbour | NYM | 82 | 89 |
9 | Keyner Benitez | MIA | 98 | 89 |
10 | Jefferson Jean | OAK | 86 | 88 |
11 | Juan Valera | BOS | 85 | 87 |
12 | Jacob Bresnahan | CLE | 92 | 87 |
13 | Johan Simon | TOR | 79 | 86 |
14 | Jogly Garcia | CLE | 82 | 86 |
15 | Alix Hernandez | SFG | 84 | 86 |
16 | Adrian Herrera | CIN | 81 | 85 |
17 | Jesus Carrera | HOU | 85 | 84 |
18 | Sandy Ozuna | COL | 89 | 84 |
19 | Zander Mueth | PIT | 77 | 83 |
20 | Rafael Gonzalez | HOU | 79 | 83 |
21 | Nelfy Ynfante | STL | 90 | 82 |
22 | Jordarlin Mendoza | NYY | 76 | 82 |
23 | Luis Reyes | CHW | 84 | 82 |
24 | Luis Morellis | CIN | 85 | 82 |
25 | Enniel Cortez | MIL | 85 | 81 |
Jefferson Jean (Athletics) enters the top 10 this week with a 41% strikeout rate—the second-highest mark for anyone averaging more than two innings per appearance. The bad news is that it comes with a 16.7% walk rate so he obviously needs to work on the control. The arsenal though is quite solid as the 19-year old righthander has a 95-97 mph fastball with over a foot of armside run, an 83 mph slider with two-plane break, and a show-me changeup that he needs to work on. If he can harness the command, he can jump up rankings.
Low-A Hitters (min 60 PA)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Leodalis De Vries | SDP | 100 | 100 |
2 | Michael Arroyo | SEA | 92 | 98 |
3 | Axiel Plaz | PIT | 97 | 97 |
4 | Colt Emerson | SEA | 87 | 95 |
5 | Aidan Smith | SEA | 89 | 95 |
6 | Lazaro Montes | SEA | 98 | 94 |
7 | Blake Mitchell | KCR | 84 | 93 |
8 | Kevin McGonigle | DET | 83 | 90 |
9 | Jonny Farmelo | SEA | 78 | 88 |
10 | Demetrio Crisantes | ARI | 75 | 87 |
11 | Josue De Paula | LAD | 73 | 86 |
12 | Jeral Perez | LAD | 75 | 85 |
13 | Ralphy Velazquez | CLE | 77 | 83 |
14 | Jaison Chourio | CLE | 74 | 83 |
15 | Walker Jenkins | MIN | 70 | 82 |
16 | Zyhir Hope | LAD | 67 | 81 |
17 | Jesus Baez | NYM | 76 | 81 |
18 | Alfredo Duno | CIN | 74 | 81 |
19 | George Wolkow | CHW | 81 | 80 |
20 | Rosman Verdugo | SDP | 73 | 78 |
21 | Arjun Nimmala | TOR | 74 | 78 |
22 | Logan Wagner | LAD | 63 | 78 |
23 | Yophery Rodriguez | MIL | 78 | 77 |
24 | Angel Genao | CLE | 65 | 76 |
25 | Bryce Eldridge | SFG | 66 | 76 |
We have a new top hitter in Low-A. Preseason favorite Leodalis De Vries (Padres) has been on a tear with six home runs, eight stolen bases and a 120 wRC+ since June 3 as the youngest hitter in the league. De Vries has a xwOBAcon over .400 with league-average contact and chase rates. No wonder RoboScout is infatuated.
If you’re interested in power, look no further than White Sox outfielder George Wolkow. He has eight home runs since his promotion to full-season ball on June 4. The 6-foot-7 behemoth generates otherworldly power at 18 years old, evidenced by the 43.5% strikeout rate, but it comes at a cost. Under the hood, it might be even worse than the surface stats, as he has a sub-50% contact rate and a chase rate that is a standard deviation worse than league average. Right now, the immensity of the power supersedes the flaws in the profile–but the track record associated with this type of swing-and-miss is not great. Since 2006, essentially only Bobby Dalbec at age 22 in 2017 and Domingo Santana at age 17 in 2010 had strikeout rates near this level in Low-A–and they still struck out at “only” a 37% rate–and made it to the major leagues.
Low-A Pitchers (min 15 IP)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Matt Wilkinson | CLE | 100 | 100 |
2 | Jonah Tong | NYM | 91 | 95 |
3 | Quinn Mathews | STL | 85 | 94 |
4 | Alejandro Rosario | TEX | 84 | 93 |
5 | Jarlin Susana | WSN | 80 | 92 |
6 | Santiago Suarez | TBR | 79 | 90 |
7 | Didier Fuentes | ATL | 81 | 90 |
8 | Grant Taylor | CHW | 77 | 89 |
9 | George Klassen | PHI | 78 | 88 |
10 | Travis Sykora | WSN | 82 | 87 |
11 | Eliazar Dishmey | MIA | 73 | 86 |
12 | Yujanyer Herrera | MIL | 83 | 85 |
13 | Sean Linan | LAD | 84 | 84 |
14 | Kohl Drake | TEX | 82 | 82 |
15 | Thomas White | MIA | 72 | 82 |
16 | Ovis Portes | BOS | 70 | 81 |
17 | Mavis Graves | PHI | 85 | 80 |
18 | Welinton Herrera | COL | 69 | 79 |
19 | Gary Gill Hill | TBR | 78 | 79 |
20 | Jace Kaminska | COL | 74 | 79 |
21 | Isaiah Lowe | SDP | 67 | 79 |
22 | Noble Meyer | MIA | 67 | 78 |
23 | Jackson Nezuh | HOU | 66 | 77 |
24 | Jose Gonzalez | TEX | 70 | 77 |
25 | Alimber Santa | HOU | 66 | 77 |
Since June 1, the highest swinging strike rate of starting pitchers in Low-A are Travis Sykora (Nationals), Tommy Vail (White Sox)–a 25 year old lefthander–and Jojo Ingrassia (Red Sox). Ingrassia, a 21-year old lefthander, has a 40% strikeout rate and the second highest swinging strike rate at the level behind only Jonah Tong (Mets) who is of course at High-A Brooklyn now.
Under the hood, Ingrassia has above-average extension from a low three-quarter slot, allowing his 93 mph four-seam fastball to play up and contributing to both his 83 mph slider and his above average-to-plus split finger to each generate whiff rates over 50%. He probably needs to clean up the mechanics as his release heights have a four-inch variance, which advanced hitters will probably pick up on, but for now, the 14th-round selection out of Cal-State Fullerton in 2023 has been showing all the traits of a potential midrotation starter. Note the Red Sox just placed him on the injured list with elbow inflammation. He’s a deep league watchlist candidate until we learn more about the injury.
Since we’re on the topic of lefties for Low-A Salem with a low release slot and big extension, Noah Dean (Red Sox) and his five-pitch mix grades out with even better stuff than Ingrassia. Since June 3, both pitchers have strikeout rates over 39% and ground ball rates over 52%, but Dean has a 10% walk rate (compared to Ingrassia’s 7%) and is also two years older, slightly diminishing his peak projection. If the fifth-round draft pick of 2022 out of Old Dominion can get the walk rate into the single digits, he has a chance to be a back of the rotation starter, or, failing that, should be an effective weapon out of the bullpen.
High-A Hitters (min 60 PA)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Michael Arroyo | SEA | 96 | 100 |
2 | Luke Keaschall | MIN | 90 | 97 |
3 | Lazaro Montes | SEA | 100 | 95 |
4 | Luke Adams | MIL | 88 | 94 |
5 | Sal Stewart | CIN | 83 | 91 |
6 | Xavier Isaac | TBR | 87 | 90 |
7 | Carter Jensen | KCR | 84 | 89 |
8 | Sebastian Walcott | TEX | 88 | 87 |
9 | Alex Freeland | LAD | 75 | 85 |
10 | Samuel Zavala | CHW | 80 | 84 |
11 | Brayden Taylor | TBR | 77 | 82 |
12 | William Bergolla | PHI | 79 | 81 |
13 | Henry Bolte | OAK | 74 | 80 |
14 | Ricardo Olivar | MIN | 69 | 79 |
15 | Cooper Ingle | CLE | 69 | 79 |
16 | Cutter Coffey | BOS | 73 | 79 |
17 | C.J. Kayfus | CLE | 68 | 78 |
18 | Jhostynxon Garcia | BOS | 68 | 78 |
19 | Charles McAdoo | PIT | 68 | 78 |
20 | Jefferson Rojas | CHC | 71 | 78 |
21 | Yohendrick Pinango | CHC | 70 | 77 |
22 | Angel Genao | CLE | 69 | 76 |
23 | Kristian Campbell | BOS | 63 | 76 |
24 | Jesus Rodriguez | NYY | 67 | 75 |
25 | Cam Collier | CIN | 74 | 75 |
Since June 3, only Jhostynxon Garcia (Red Sox) and Nick Cimillo (Pirates) have hit more home runs than Allan Castro‘s (Red Sox) nine. Castro, a 21-year old outfielder signed out of the Dominican Republic, has taken a step forward in actualizing his game power, raising his 90th percentile exit velocity from 103.4 mph to just under 106 mph in 2024.
He always had good raw power–he had a 115 maximum exit velocity in 2023 and has registered a 111 mph this year–and coupled with his league average or better contact rate and chase rates, he finds himself just outside the top 25 after putting up the ninth-highest wRC+ in Low-A since June 3 for hitters with more than 100 plate appearances. RoboScout sees him as a slightly below-average hitter in the major leagues but capable of 20 to 25 home run seasons–though if he is only a fourth outfielder, he might never get the playing time to reach that ceiling.
Luke Adams (Brewers) has quietly put up an excellent year at High-A with nine home runs, 21 stolen bases and a 154 wRC+ over 312 plate appearances as a just-turned 20-year old. Playing mostly third base–but likely having to move across the diamond to first base–Adams has shown excellent on-base ability with better-than-league-average contact and chase rates and an excellent 106 mph 90th percentile exit velocity. Unfortunately, he hasn’t optimized his launch angles. Adams has the league’s 91st percentile for exit velocity, but his barrel rate and xwOBAcon are barely league average. Still, on account of his surface stats, RoboScout sees his peak MLB projection to be similar to Luke Keaschall (Twins)— with fairly similar underlying metrics as well. Purely from the data, he is a solid top 50 to 75 fantasy prospect.
High-A Pitchers (min 15 IP)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Noah Schultz | CHW | 87 | 100 |
2 | Matt Wilkinson | CLE | 100 | 100 |
3 | Quinn Mathews | STL | 90 | 98 |
4 | Luis Perales | BOS | 85 | 98 |
5 | Owen Murphy | ATL | 88 | 97 |
6 | Chase Dollander | COL | 86 | 97 |
7 | Zebby Matthews | MIN | 80 | 92 |
8 | K.C. Hunt | MIL | 89 | 90 |
9 | George Klassen | PHI | 79 | 88 |
10 | Jonah Tong | NYM | 85 | 88 |
11 | Kohl Drake | TEX | 87 | 86 |
12 | Thomas White | MIA | 76 | 85 |
13 | Jedixson Paez | BOS | 92 | 84 |
14 | Jaden Hamm | DET | 83 | 84 |
15 | Winston Santos | TEX | 73 | 83 |
16 | Alessandro Ercolani | PIT | 69 | 82 |
17 | Moises Chace | BAL | 68 | 81 |
18 | Brandyn Garcia | SEA | 69 | 81 |
19 | Edgar Portes | BAL | 68 | 80 |
20 | Sean Sullivan | COL | 84 | 80 |
21 | Austin Peterson | CLE | 76 | 79 |
22 | Lazaro Estrada | TOR | 66 | 79 |
23 | Nolan McLean | NYM | 66 | 79 |
24 | Ben Shields | NYY | 72 | 78 |
25 | Owen Wild | TBR | 73 | 78 |
There has been very little movement in the High-A ranks since last week so instead I’ll mention again how Jedixson Paez (Red Sox) is proving to be a difficult evaluation for RoboScout. On the surface, there has not been a hotter pitcher since June 1. Paez has a 42% strikeout rate and a 4% walk rate over his six starts during that time, averaging nearly five innings per outing. The 38% strikeout minus walk rate is nearly 6% more than the starting pitcher with the second highest mark: Ben Shields (Yankees) with a 33% mark.
The difficulty is that similar to Matt Wilkinson (Guardians) and Yu-Min Lin (Diamondback), the surface stats are excellent but the arsenal doesn’t wow. However, what he lacks in arm speed—his fastballs sit 90 to 92 mph and his slider is 81 mph—he makes up for with big horizontal movement paired with well above average extension. He has an extremely fun pitching profile–and, from the data, a top 150 fantasy prospect in RoboScout’s opinion.
Double-A Hitters (min 60 PA)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Emmanuel Rodriguez | MIN | 100 | 100 |
2 | Agustin Ramirez | NYY | 89 | 90 |
3 | Luke Keaschall | MIN | 85 | 89 |
4 | Moises Ballesteros | CHC | 88 | 88 |
5 | Ryan Clifford | NYM | 85 | 85 |
6 | Matthew Lugo | BOS | 79 | 84 |
7 | Carson Williams | TBR | 83 | 82 |
8 | Cole Young | SEA | 81 | 81 |
9 | Deyvison De Los Santos | ARI | 82 | 80 |
10 | Roman Anthony | BOS | 77 | 80 |
11 | Alex Freeland | LAD | 74 | 80 |
12 | Hao-Yu Lee | DET | 79 | 80 |
13 | C.J. Kayfus | CLE | 75 | 79 |
14 | Kristian Campbell | BOS | 72 | 79 |
15 | Edgar Quero | CHW | 75 | 78 |
16 | Jacob Wilson | OAK | 67 | 75 |
17 | Marcelo Mayer | BOS | 71 | 75 |
18 | Colby Thomas | OAK | 70 | 75 |
19 | Charles McAdoo | PIT | 70 | 74 |
20 | Samuel Basallo | BAL | 80 | 73 |
21 | Tyler Locklear | SEA | 66 | 73 |
22 | Harry Ford | SEA | 70 | 72 |
23 | James Triantos | CHC | 70 | 71 |
24 | Alejandro Osuna | TEX | 65 | 70 |
25 | Kahlil Watson | CLE | 66 | 68 |
Will you look at that? Kahlil Watson (Guardians) cracks the top 25 at Double-A for the first time all season as he attempts to rehabilitate his prospect pedigree. On the season, the 21-year old has 13 home runs and 10 stolen bases with a 108 wRC+. He has done most of his damage over the last six weeks with seven homers in his last 103 plate appearances. His power is unquestioned—he has a 104.7 mph 90th percentile exit velocity—but there have always been concerns with the swing-and-miss. He is sporting a 30% strikeout rate with a 69% contact rate, which places him in the same contact vs 90thEV cluster as Ryan Clifford (Mets), Carson Williams (Rays) and Joe Mack (Marlins). If you like their prospect profile–though with slightly lower defensive value–he is a shorter step down to them than you would have thought, even a month ago.
Double-A Pitchers (min 15 IP)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Noah Schultz | CHW | 100 | 100 |
2 | Zebby Matthews | MIN | 97 | 97 |
3 | Bubba Chandler | PIT | 87 | 89 |
4 | Jackson Jobe | DET | 85 | 88 |
5 | Logan Henderson | MIL | 90 | 86 |
6 | Braxton Ashcraft | PIT | 87 | 84 |
7 | Jacob Misiorowski | MIL | 80 | 84 |
8 | Tink Hence | STL | 92 | 83 |
9 | Thomas Harrington | PIT | 83 | 80 |
10 | Quinn Mathews | STL | 80 | 80 |
11 | Chandler Champlain | KCR | 92 | 79 |
12 | Ben Casparius | LAD | 77 | 79 |
13 | Blade Tidwell | NYM | 75 | 79 |
14 | Austin Peterson | CLE | 83 | 78 |
15 | Carson Palmquist | COL | 81 | 78 |
16 | Troy Melton | DET | 75 | 77 |
17 | Nolan McLean | NYM | 73 | 77 |
18 | Emiliano Teodo | TEX | 78 | 77 |
19 | Zach Penrod | BOS | 84 | 76 |
20 | Yilber Diaz | ARI | 80 | 76 |
21 | Kyle McGowin | CHC | 78 | 76 |
22 | Caden Dana | LAA | 79 | 75 |
23 | Brandon Young | BAL | 85 | 75 |
24 | Mason Adams | CHW | 84 | 74 |
25 | Tyler Stuart | NYM | 75 | 74 |
Last year, Alex Pham (Orioles) put himself on the map with a solid 13.3 K/9 at High-A Aberdeen and earning the promotion to Double-A Bowie where he pitched 60 innings with a strikeout minus walk rate of 16%. Repeating the level in 2024, he has a strikeout minus walk rate of 20%. He has really dominated over the last six weeks with a 26% mark.
His four-seam fastball sat 91.9 mph topping out at 93 mph with a 20 inches of IVB last year. This year, he’s getting even more ride at 21 inches–the fifth-highest induced vertical break in full-season ball–while now sitting 92.4 mph and topping out at 96 mph. He threw both a slider and a cutter last year–in addition to a curveball with heavy downward action–but this year he is leaning much more on the cutter which sits 86 mph and generates over 40% whiffs. Don’t be fooled by the superficial 5.38 ERA – his xFIP on the season is 3.42, which is lower than Hayden Birdsong (Giants) who was called up to San Francisco earlier this year. All in all, it’s a back of the rotation mix. He should begin accumulating innings for Triple-A Norfolk by August if he isn’t packaged in a trade the next few days.
Noah Schultz (White Sox) looked human at the Futures Game and RoboScout is wondering if fatigue is beginning to set in, as the lefthander has only struck out 23% of batters in his last five starts after having a 38% rate in High-A. On June 3rd, his slider sat 82.8 mph with 13.1 inches of glove-side run with a spin rate of 2895 rpm. Since then, his slider has sat 82.5 mph with 11.7 inches of horizontal run—nearly fewer 1.5 inches—with a spin rate around 185 rpm lower and released from a height that is one inch lower. Hopefully this is not portending an issue—and is something to watch for over the next few weeks. RoboScout has digital digits crossed on behalf of the second highest ranked minor league pitcher for 2024, behind only Paul Skenes.
Triple-A Hitters (min 60 PA)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | James Wood | WSN | 100 | 100 |
2 | Jackson Holliday | BAL | 98 | 97 |
3 | Coby Mayo | BAL | 89 | 94 |
4 | Jose Fermin | STL | 81 | 89 |
5 | Kyle Manzardo | CLE | 80 | 86 |
6 | Miguel Vargas | LAD | 78 | 86 |
7 | Andy Pages | LAD | 74 | 82 |
8 | Adrian Del Castillo | ARI | 73 | 82 |
9 | Agustin Ramirez | NYY | 78 | 82 |
10 | Jacob Wilson | OAK | 70 | 79 |
11 | Moises Ballesteros | CHC | 76 | 78 |
12 | Matthew Lugo | BOS | 70 | 77 |
13 | Niko Kavadas | BOS | 65 | 76 |
14 | Deyvison De Los Santos | ARI | 80 | 76 |
15 | Angel Martinez | CLE | 75 | 75 |
16 | Luis Matos | SFG | 66 | 75 |
17 | Jonatan Clase | SEA | 71 | 75 |
18 | Shay Whitcomb | HOU | 73 | 75 |
19 | Jordan Beck | COL | 64 | 75 |
20 | Chase Meidroth | BOS | 66 | 74 |
21 | Jace Jung | DET | 70 | 73 |
22 | Joey Loperfido | HOU | 64 | 73 |
23 | Orelvis Martinez | TOR | 70 | 72 |
24 | Heliot Ramos | SFG | 62 | 72 |
25 | Johnathan Rodriguez | CLE | 64 | 72 |
Although his brief 40 plate appearance major league debut didn’t go as planned–with a 63 wRC+ with no home runs–Johnathan Rodriguez (Guardians) has once again mashed since returning to Triple-A, with a 157 wRC+ and nine home runs in his 120 plate appearances since returning to Columbus. The slugger makes good swing decisions and has tremendous bat speed, projecting as a 25 home run bat in the major leagues. If you like his org mate and prospect “doppelbanger” Jhonkensy Noel, you should probably like Rodriguez just as much—even accounting for the fact that Noel is two years younger—because of the fact that he chases significantly less out of the zone than Noel.
Triple-A Pitchers (min 15 IP)
Rank | Name | Team | Robo | RoboCast |
1 | Paul Skenes | PIT | 100 | 100 |
2 | Christian Scott | NYM | 91 | 92 |
3 | David Festa | MIN | 88 | 81 |
4 | Jack Leiter | TEX | 76 | 79 |
5 | Tylor Megill | NYM | 80 | 79 |
6 | Chayce McDermott | BAL | 77 | 78 |
7 | Will Warren | NYY | 75 | 77 |
8 | Carson Spiers | CIN | 75 | 77 |
9 | Cade Povich | BAL | 86 | 77 |
10 | Tobias Myers | MIL | 73 | 77 |
11 | Slade Cecconi | ARI | 82 | 76 |
12 | Yilber Diaz | ARI | 79 | 76 |
13 | Chad Patrick | MIL | 76 | 76 |
14 | Elieser Hernandez | LAD | 73 | 75 |
15 | Braxton Ashcraft | PIT | 75 | 75 |
16 | Alek Manoah | TOR | 75 | 73 |
17 | Quinn Priester | PIT | 84 | 72 |
18 | Cristian Mena | ARI | 79 | 72 |
19 | Louie Varland | MIN | 72 | 71 |
20 | Albert Suarez | BAL | 75 | 71 |
21 | Reid Detmers | LAA | 84 | 71 |
22 | Matt Manning | DET | 67 | 71 |
23 | AJ Smith-Shawver | ATL | 69 | 70 |
24 | Jake Woodford | PIT | 72 | 69 |
25 | Josh Winckowski | BOS | 68 | 68 |
For fantasy managers who are desperate for starting pitching in redraft or in their dynasty league this year–Allan Winans (Braves) has been pitching quite well since June 1 with 42 strikeouts and only four walks in his last 41.1 innings. His 22.8% strikeout minus walk rate over that span is the seventh-highest among starting pitchers, behind such names as Shane Baz (Rays), Jeffrey Springs (Rays), David Festa (Twins), and Will Warren (Yankees). The stuff is still below-average, but the craftiness of his changeup-forward approach – his cambio gets whiffs and chases at a greater than 40% rate–might provide some reasonably cheap fantasy value if he returns to the Atlanta rotation, for example, to “control” Reynaldo Lopez’s workload through the dog days of summer.
Happy bidding!