Comparing the 2022 Top 100 Prospects to the 2023 Top 100

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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.

 

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