RoboScout Top MLB Prospects At Every Level On May 12, 2024

Rangers outfielder Yeremi Cabrera has only played three games – and none since May 7 – but has three home runs and two stolen bases over that time. That’s good.

Geoff Pontes has been singing the praises of Phillies No. 5 prospect Starlyn Caba, who is a defensive standout at shortstop. Well, with a home run and two stolen bases (though with three times caught) and a 187 wRC+, the 18-year-old is also showing promise with the bat. Keep an eye on his ground ball rate.

Rays No. 19 prospect Brailer Guerrero has also popped a homer and a handful of steals. Guerrero missed time in 2023 with a shoulder injury. Although he is showing promise as a power/speed threat, it’s more than likely that he will slow down and be more of a corner outfield slugger.

Mets No. 16 prospect Jeremy Rodriguez was acquired from the D-backs in 2023 for Tommy Pham and was a popular sleeper name coming into 2024. He looks like he could develop into a major league second baseman. So far in 2024, Rodriguez has a 195 wRC+ as a 17-year-old in his first 18 plate appearances.

Yankees catcher Edgleen Perez is the last name I want to discuss. A catcher under-listed at 5-foot-10, 155 pounds, Perez has a home run and a silly 266 wRC+ over his first four games. In 2023, the Venezuelan showed better-than-average swing decisions, contact rate and doubles power. Perez is showing the attributes to handle catching. If he can sustain this power, he will quickly rise in rankings.

Bryan Acuna (Twins) and Enmanuel Bonilla (Blue Jays) both look interesting in the early going already too, supporting their original scouting reports.

We’ve already seen 109 mph off the bat from Reds No. 17 prospect Sammy Stafura, far exceeding last year’s max (in only 53 plate appearances) of 102.2 mph. Whether or not he’s made significant sustainable gains to his in-game power is something exciting to keep an eye on.

Low-A Hitters (min 45 PA)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Lazaro Montes	SEA	100	100
2	Colt Emerson	SEA	93	93
3	Jeral Perez	LAD	86	91
4	Jaison Chourio	CLE	83	87
5	Cristofer Torin	ARI	83	87
6	Jonny Farmelo	SEA	77	83
7	Aidan Smith	SEA	77	80
8	Ralphy Velazquez	CLE	76	79
9	Alfredo Duno	CIN	83	79
10	Zyhir Hope	LAD	72	78
11	Josue Briceno	DET	70	76
12	Kevin McGonigle	DET	68	76
13	Yophery Rodriguez	MIL	76	75
14	Jesus Baez	NYM	69	75
15	Tai Peete	SEA	72	74
16	Ariel Almonte	CIN	67	72
17	Aidan Miller	PHI	67	72
18	Michael Arroyo	SEA	68	70
19	Johanfran Garcia	BOS	75	70
20	Blake Mitchell	KCR	68	70
21	Angel Mateo	TBR	77	69
22	Max Clark	DET	61	68
23	T’Jayy Walton	PHI	61	67
24	Cooper Pratt	MIL	62	67
25	Jean Joseph	TOR	59	66

After tying with Jeral Perez at the top of last week’s Low-A hitting list, Mariners No. 4 prospect Lazaro Montes is separating from the rest of the class. He added another home run and raised his wRC+ another 16 points. Fellow Mariners prospect Colt Emerson also passed Perez after posting a .625 OBP last week. 

The robot called Ralphy Velazquez out for slumping last week, so the Guardians No. 4 prospect responded by jumping back up to eighth. He raised his wRC+ 15 points and hit two home runs. Although ostensibly drafted as a catcher, Velazquez is a 1B/DH only, but the bat looks to be strong enough to overcome the fact he’s at the bottom of the defensive spectrum with his plus bat speed and better than average contact ability.

Gleider Figuereo moved up from 35th to 29th after hitting three home runs and raising his wRC+ by 11 points. A former RoboScout darling in 2022, Figuereo took a step back in full-season ball in 2023 with only an 81 wRC+ over 450 plate appearances and nine home runs and eight stolen bases. This year he already has seven home runs in only 126 plate appearances. Oddly enough, his 2024 Statcast data is nearly identical to 2022 with essentially league average contact, chase, and barrel rates – and nearly identical 90th percentile exit velocity of just under 102 mph.

Tai Peete (Mariners) dropped to 15th after his wRC+ fell to 110 with a season long 29% strikeout rate and still no home runs. Fellow Modesto Nut Aidan Smith (Mariners No. 17 prospect) also struggled last week with a .508 OPS.

Royals top prospect Blake Mitchell falls from 10th to 20th after losing 17 pts in wRC+ by going 3-for-21 last week with no home runs and nine strikeouts.

Mets No. 15 prospect Jesus Baez climbed to 14th. Baez is becoming one of my favorite hitting prospects in the minor leagues. The Dominican infielder was signed in 2022, winning the Mets’ DSL player of the year, but struggled stateside in 2023 with just a 71 wRC+. In Low-A in 2024, Baez has three home runs, five stolen bases, and has a strikeout rate nearly half of what his career average has been for his short professional career. Baez is essentially a third baseman now but likely has the power to be able to profile at first base. So far, Baez has already achieved a maximum exit velocity of 111 mph against fastballs and 109 mph against breaking balls. Just for comparison, Lazaro Montes has “only” achieved a maximum exit velocity of 108 mph against fastballs and 108 mph against breaking balls. 

It remains to be seen if the contact gains that Baez has shown thus far will continue as opposing pitchers seek to exploit his tendencies – but his contact rate of nearly 80% and swinging strike rate of 10% suggests he is potentially capable of getting to a fringe-average hit grade and 60 power. Although now more of a free-swinger – Baez has cut his walk rate to single digits in 2024 – his swing decisions actually appear to be average or better.

Low-A Pitchers (min 10 IP)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Jonah Tong	NYM	95	100
2	Matt Wilkinson	CLE	100	98
3	Quinn Mathews	STL	88	96
4	George Klassen	PHI	85	94
5	Santiago Suarez	TBR	83	94
6	Yujanyer Herrera	MIL	86	85
7	Thomas White	MIA	75	83
8	Jarlin Susana	WSN	69	82
9	Jedixson Paez	BOS	83	81
10	Manuel Rodriguez	MIL	78	80
11	Luis De Leon	BAL	79	80
12	Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz	BOS	79	80
13	Bishop Letson	MIL	71	80
14	Michael Forret	BAL	73	79
15	Didier Fuentes	ATL	69	79
16	Charlee Soto	MIN	79	79
17	Alejandro Rosario	TEX	66	78
18	Daniel Corniel	MIL	70	78
19	Jace Kaminska	COL	69	77
20	Franklin Gomez	NYM	72	77
21	Barrett Kent	LAA	69	77
22	Blake Wolters	KCR	69	76
23	Michael Kennedy	PIT	84	76
24	Fernando Perez	TOR	76	76
25	Gary Gill Hill	TBR	73	75

Brewers No. 19 prospect Bishop Letson arrives on the Low-A list at No. 13. Letson was recently mentioned in Ben Badler’s article identifying 10 pitchers whose stuff has taken a step forward. From a stuff perspective, the 19-year-old has essentially the most extension in Low-A and over 15 inches of arm-side run on his two-seamer and over 15 inches of glove-side run on his slider.

Red Sox pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz is showing a velocity bump. His fastball averaged 92-93 mph while complementing his four-pitch mix. This year, the 20-year-old Puerto Rico native is sitting 95-96 mph and touching 98. Rodriguez-Cruz was lauded for his inherent feel for pitching as a fourth-round pick in 2021. He might find himself in the back of a big league rotation if he can sustain – or even further increase – his above-average velocity gains.

High-A Hitters (min 45 PA)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Carter Jensen	KCR	100	100
2	Cam Collier	CIN	97	94
3	Alex Freeland	LAD	84	88
4	Yohendrick Pinango	CHC	84	88
5	Luke Keaschall	MIN	84	87
6	Jay Allen II	CIN	87	87
7	Jefferson Rojas	CHC	81	84
8	Mike Boeve	MIL	77	82
9	Hector Rodriguez	CIN	77	82
10	Sal Stewart	CIN	76	79
11	Luke Adams	MIL	78	78
12	C.J. Kayfus	CLE	74	77
13	Sebastian Walcott	TEX	79	77
14	Xavier Isaac	TBR	74	75
15	Pedro Ramirez	CHC	72	75
16	Creed Willems	BAL	75	75
17	Joe Mack	MIA	75	73
18	Rubel Cespedes	MIN	66	72
19	Danny De Andrade	MIN	72	71
20	Ethan Salas	SDP	79	71
21	Ryan Clifford	NYM	67	71
22	Jesus Rodriguez	NYY	64	71
23	Noah Miller	LAD	73	69
24	Dylan O’Rae	MIL	69	69
25	Gabriel Gonzalez	MIN	65	69

On our most recent podcast, Geoff Pontes identified Cubs No. 30 prospect Yohendrick Pinango as an intriguing prospect who had excellent Statcast data with better-than-average contact, chase and barrel rates. On cue, the underlying metrics manifested into surface-level stats last week with two home runs (and two doubles) and a 1.364 OPS. The 22-year-old is “old” for High-A and is repeating the level for the fourth time. Still, RoboScout believes he is capable of putting up league-average hit and power numbers in the bigs, though on the defensive side of the ball, he is likely only a left fielder or first baseman. Pinango is a fascinating prospect who could become a big riser in future list updates.

In 2023, Luke Adams (Brewers No. 15 prospect) was a divisive prospect in traditional scouting versus statline scouting circles. Adams’ unorthodox hitting mechanics from the “eye test” undermined the impressive surface stats of a .400 OBP with 11 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 440 plate appearances at Low-A. The Statcast data also supported the performance in 2023 as he had better-than-league-average contact, chase, and barrel rates – and a 90th percentile exit velocity of 106 mph. This year, his swing decisions and contact rate are again solid but he is putting up an interesting case study in bat path vs bat speed metrics. His swing appears optimized for fastballs but not quite for breaking balls or off-speed pitches. RoboScout is fascinated to see whether he’s exploited at higher levels with more advanced pitching arsenals.

Guardians’ 2023 third-rounder C.J. Kayfus seemed like an odd fit as a hit-over-power first baseman. He hit three homers this past week for High-A Lake County and now has six over his first 100 plate appearances. As advertised, the swing decisions look excellent and the contact rate is no worse than average, but the underlying exit velocities are below league-average, a bit dispiriting considering he is “already” 22 years old. The Miami alum has an interesting profile that is hard to rank, but it’s still a noteworthy early performance nonetheless. 

High-A Pitchers (min 10 IP)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Noah Schultz	CHW	100	100
2	Chase Dollander	COL	93	93
3	Jaden Hamm	DET	99	90
4	Owen Murphy	ATL	92	90
5	Luis Perales	BOS	89	90
6	Zebby Matthews	MIN	88	87
7	Winston Santos	TEX	86	86
8	Brett Wichrowski	MIL	84	82
9	Moises Chace	BAL	79	78
10	Yoniel Curet	TBR	76	77
11	Sean Sullivan	COL	92	76
12	Cam Schlittler	NYY	77	75
13	Edgar Portes	BAL	73	74
14	Andry Lara	WSN	86	73
15	Alessandro Ercolani	PIT	71	73
16	Jake Bloss	HOU	72	73
17	Aidan Curry	TEX	74	73
18	Patrick Reilly	PIT	73	73
19	Nolan McLean	NYM	68	71
20	Rhett Lowder	CIN	78	70
21	Drew Gray	CHC	68	70
22	Peter Heubeck	LAD	74	70
23	Tanner McDougal	CHW	77	70
24	Jacob Miller	MIA	82	70
25	Jean Cabrera	PHI	78	69

Red Sox No. 9 prospect Luis Perales jumped from eighth to fifth last week after striking out eight across four innings. The 21-year old Venezuelan has added even more velocity this year, sitting 97-98 mph with his four-seamer that has over 19 inches of IVB and has a flat -4.3 VAA despite a 6-foot release height. The fastball is loud, but he’s actually throwing it less. Perales is throwing it 30% of the time after using it two-thirds of the time last year. He’s now relying just as heavily on a 90 mph cutter. 

Perales’ command and control has long been a concern. He’s never had a single-digit walk rate at any level in any season. Thus far, he owns an 8% walk rate over 17 innings, although his overall ball percentage is still in the 35-36% range. With a new-look four-pitch mix – Perales ditched his curveball and instead added a splitter along with his mid-80s slider – it’s looking more like the rotation is indeed in his future once he adds some length to his outings.

Double-A Hitters (min 45 PA)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Agustin Ramirez	NYY	100	100
2	Moises Ballesteros	CHC	90	91
3	Zac Veen	COL	91	87
4	Harry Ford	SEA	87	85
5	Emmanuel Rodriguez	MIN	85	85
6	Carson Williams	TBR	82	83
7	Matthew Lugo	BOS	82	82
8	Jett Williams	NYM	78	80
9	James Triantos	CHC	78	80
10	Brady House	WSN	85	80
11	Samuel Basallo	BAL	81	80
12	Mike Boeve	MIL	76	80
13	Roman Anthony	BOS	72	76
14	Deyvison De Los Santos	ARI	81	75
15	Jacob Wilson	OAK	76	75
16	Edgar Quero	CHW	71	72
17	Nacho Alvarez Jr.	ATL	69	72
18	Nick Yorke	BOS	65	69
19	Jimmy Crooks	STL	64	69
20	Colby Thomas	OAK	66	69
21	Cole Young	SEA	65	68
22	Marcelo Mayer	BOS	70	68
23	Eddinson Paulino	BOS	77	68
24	Tyler Locklear	SEA	66	66
25	Jakob Marsee	MIA	61	65

Rockies No. 5 prospect Zac Veen has continued his revelatory post-hype 2024 season by climbing up to third. He passed previous No. 1, Twins outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez, who fell to fourth after posting a .520 OPS last week. Veen, on the other hand, smoked two home runs, stole a base, and raised his weighted runs created plus by 25 points to a mouth-watering 193 (wRC+). Veen has made a meaningful change to his approach. He improved his swing decisions by chasing less while swinging more at the pitches he can damage. It’s only 101 plate appearances, mind you, but RoboScout is impressed and thinks Veen is a true 20/20 power/speed threat even before factoring in that Coors Field will be his home.

The Guardians returned Rule 5 Draft pick Deyvison De Los Santos to the D-backs, where he now ranks as the No. 4 prospect, after he didn’t show enough in spring training to justify a major league roster spot. Whether the adversity lit a fire under him remains to be seen, but the 21-year-old is putting up numbers with a vengeance. His 11 homers through Friday’s game – including two this past week – led all Double-A hitters. And it’s not just the round-trippers. De Los Santos has a 192 wRC+ and an extremely reasonable 23% strikeout rate. 

The bad news? It’s unclear whether the outstanding performance can be attributed to a change in true talent because the underlying contact, chase, barrel rates and swing decisions are nearly identical to 2023. Perhaps that means his 2023 metrics should have led to similar results. He could also be due for negative regression this year. The truth is likely somewhere in between, but I’m leaning toward the latter in contravention to RoboScout. 

Geoff identified A’s outfielder Colby Thomas – who was one of the bigger risers in our latest Top 30s update – as a waiver wide option who is less than 10% rostered. Thomas popped two home runs last week to jump from 29th on the Double-A hitter list to 18th. The athletic outfielder looks like he can be a 20 to 25 home run threat in the major leagues with 12 to 15 stolen bases, but unless he improves his swing decisions, his on-base percentage may only hover in the .300 area.

One final note: Geoff identified Twins outfielder Carson McCusker as having the highest 90th percentile exit velocity in the minors. The 26-year-old immediately hit three homers last week. 

Double-A Pitchers (min 10 IP)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Yilber Diaz	ARI	100	100
2	Carson Palmquist	COL	93	94
3	Miguel Ullola	HOU	86	92
4	Ben Casparius	LAD	85	91
5	Blade Tidwell	NYM	84	90
6	Jacob Misiorowski	MIL	84	90
7	Mason Adams	CHW	97	89
8	Chandler Champlain	KCR	91	88
9	Tink Hence	STL	92	87
10	Justin Wrobleski	LAD	81	85
11	Jackson Jobe	DET	78	85
12	Jake Bloss	HOU	80	84
13	Ty Madden	DET	87	84
14	Doug Nikhazy	CLE	84	83
15	Mason Barnett	KCR	84	83
16	Tyler Woessner	MIL	94	80
17	Ryan Cusick	OAK	78	80
18	Bubba Chandler	PIT	73	80
19	Aaron Brown	HOU	88	79
20	Trystan Vrieling	NYY	81	79
21	Sam Benschoter	CIN	74	79
22	Ian Mejia	ATL	82	78
23	Ivan Armstrong	LAA	79	78
24	Julio Robaina	HOU	86	78
25	Lael Lockhart	DET	91	77

Last week, D-backs No. 15 prospect Yilber Diaz had a mere two-point lead over second place. The Venezuelan hurler separated even further from the pack after a six-inning, 10-strikeout performance on Wednesday. 

The rest of the top 10 is a mix of pitchers with big stuff and strikeouts but a high walk rate. 

Carson Palmquist (Rockies), Miguel Ullola (Astros), Ben Casparius (Dodgers), Blade Tidwell (Mets) and Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers) are notable Top 30 arms who fit the bill. Peppered among them are pitchers with more moderate stuff with walk rates under seven percent and excellent surface stats: Mason Adams (White Sox), Chandler Champlain (Royals), Tink Hence (Cardinals) and Justin Wrobleski (Dodgers). 

Choose your warrior. 

Triple-A Hitters (min 40 PA)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	James Wood	WSN	100	100
2	Jackson Holliday	BAL	99	100
3	Coby Mayo	BAL	87	90
4	(Kyle Manzardo) – in MLB	CLE	81	86
5	Junior Caminero	TBR	84	86
6	(Heston Kjerstad) – in MLB	BAL	82	85
7	(Jose Fermin) – in MLB	STL	79	84
8	(Joey Loperfido) – in MLB	HOU	78	78
9	Niko Kavadas	BOS	77	77
10	(Andy Pages) – in MLB	LAD	73	77
11	Miguel Vargas	LAD	70	76
12	Orelvis Martinez	TOR	75	76
13	(Jonah Bride) – in MLB	MIA	70	76
14	Tyler Black	MIL	71	76
15	Chase Meidroth	BOS	64	71
16	Owen Caissie	CHC	69	70
17	Addison Barger	TOR	62	69
18	(Lenyn Sosa) – in MLB	CHW	59	68
19	Caleb Durbin	NYY	65	67
20	Matt Mervis	CHC	61	67
21	Ji Hwan Bae	PIT	60	67
22	Spencer Horwitz	TOR	59	66
23	(Heliot Ramos) – in MLB	SFG	59	66
24	Andres Chaparro	ARI	60	66
25	Daniel Schneemann	CLE	62	65

Newly minted Nationals top prospect James Wood ranked seventh on the Triple-A hitter rankings last week. He jumps all the way to first after crushing five (!) home runs this past week and adding a stolen base to boot. Wood’s groundball rate is still higher than 50%, which might cap his home run rate below what you might expect given his prodigious power. Even so, RoboScout sees him as having one of the top fantasy projections at peak with his blend of power and speed. When he’s called up later this season, expect to have to break the bank in NFBC leagues.

Post-hype prospect Miguel Vargas (Dodgers) is quietly having a good season. He added more stolen bases to his game this year. Now in left field, Vargas owned a 137 wRC+ after 160 plate appearances with seven homers and eight steals in his age-24 season. Although the projections for him have come down a bit after his lost 2023 season, he should still be good for 20 or so home runs, 15 or so stolen bases, and solidly average batting average and OBP if he ever gets full-time at-bats for the Dodgers.

Red Sox first baseman Niko Kavadas hops into the top 10 after a four-homer week. He has a .319/.466/.714 triple slash with nine home runs in 118 plate appearances. After Triston Casas went down with injury, the Red Sox tried Bobby Dalbec and are running out the pair of Dominic Smith and Garrett Cooper. Kavadas may be manning the Fenway hallowed ground soon enough.

Triple-A Pitchers (min 10 IP)

Rank	Name	Team	Robo	RoboCast
1	Paul Skenes	PIT	100	100
2	Christian Scott	NYM	92	92
3	Jack Leiter	TEX	89	89
4	Bryan Woo	SEA	84	85
5	Louie Varland	MIN	81	79
6	Cade Povich	BAL	87	79
7	Taj Bradley	TBR	84	79
8	Matt Manning	DET	76	78
9	Tobias Myers	MIL	72	75
10	Will Warren	NYY	70	74
11	David Festa	MIN	78	74
12	Brant Hurter	DET	75	73
13	Mason Black	SFG	72	73
14	Elieser Hernandez	LAD	70	71
15	Robert Gasser	MIL	67	70
16	Osvaldo Bido	OAK	72	70
17	Alek Manoah	TOR	74	70
18	Clayton Beeter	NYY	79	69
19	Sem Robberse	STL	81	69
20	Albert Suarez	BAL	72	68
21	Jacob Waguespack	TBR	77	68
22	Quinn Priester	PIT	78	67
23	Cooper Criswell	BOS	63	67
24	Landon Knack	LAD	73	67
25	Shaun Anderson	TEX	69	67

Twins No. 5 prospect David Festa had a huge week, adding 18 strikeouts to only four walks over 9.1 innings. Tigers No. 14 prospect Brant Hurter also had a huge jump as he struck out nine and walked only one over five shutout innings. They find themselves back-to-back on the Triple-A list just outside the top 10. 

MomoScout

RoboScout identified Guardians utility man Daniel Schneemann as an interesting unheralded name this week. Schneemann entered the Triple-A top 25 and has played shortstop, third base, right field, second base, and left field for Triple-A Columbus. After having never exceeded a 120 wRC+ at any previous level in any previous season, the 2018 33rd-round draft pick out of BYU has a 166 wRC+ with seven home runs and four stolen bases in 150 plate appearances. At face value, that translates to something like a 110 wRC+, 20 home run, and 10 stolen base equivalency in the major leagues. I expect that he will be called up to Cleveland this season and, if the season’s production is indicative of a true change in talent, he should be able to be a useful strong-side platoon production as a utility-type in fantasy.

Happy bidding!