As we approach the middle of September, the minor league season begins to wrap up. With that, I wanted to take a look at the Top 100 prospects in baseball and get an idea of who is performing and who is struggling.
Now, for this blog, we are just focusing on hitters. I will be posting a separate pitcher blog in a few days that covers all the pitchers in the Top 100.
Breaking It Down By Team
The Mariners lead the way with six offensive players in the Top 100. They have nine overall when you take pitchers into account.
The Dodgers, somehow, continue to have an amazing farm system as they shell out five more top prospects on this list.
Breaking It Down By Position
No surprise here, as 28 of the players are listed as “SS". For those of you who don’t know, a majority of the players enter the minors listed as SS before moving to other positions. This is because in high school/college, they were the best player on their team, so they were put in the most difficult position.
That is ever more apparent when looking at the average age of the SSs, 20 years young, and the weakest in overall production. However, they are faster than everyone else.
Breaking It Down By Age
The young guns are fast and weak, while the elder statesmen (22-year-olds) are slow and strong.
Makes sense to me.
Speed
Griffin is one of the exceptions in that he is fast, and has ++ power as well with a .940 OPS.
Power (HRs)
Like the majors, the top HR leaders in the minors also streak out at a very high rate. Spencer Jones, Carson Williams, and Lazaro Montes have struck out more than anyone in the Top 100.
Average
With the exception of Sirota, all these players have at least 300 AB, which is enough of a sample size.
Everyone knows about Griffin, but Crawford is right there in terms of speed, walks at a higher rate, and strikes out significantly less.
Overall Production
Not only do the Pirates have a 19-year-old stud in Griffin, but they also have an 18-year-old Edward Florentino. Florentino has had fewer PA appearances, but is putting up very similar numbers to Griffin. Expect him to shoot up the minors very fast.
Beyond that, Kevin McGonigle is having an insane season. He is 2nd in K% with only an 11.1 %. At the same time, being in the Top 10 in HR % with 4.6.
Keep an eye out, as I will be posting the top pitching prospects on Tuesday.