Midseason prospect lists

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski on July 29, 2018 at 10:13 AM

Baseball Prospectus published their midseason top 50 prospects list a few weeks ago. Jesus Luzardo jumps all the way to no. 13, reflecting a fantastic first half in which he blew threw High-A en route to Double-A, where he has also pitched well. He doesn't have ace upside, necessarily, but if he stays healthy, he should be a good midrotation pitcher for a long time. Luzardo had been BP's no. 88 prospects preseason. Some amount of the rise is due to graduations, of course; just eyeballing, there are something like 12 guys ahead of Luzardo on the preseason list who are ineligible for the midseason list because they're now in the majors. But that's still a 50-spot jump, from "pretty good prospect, and we'll see how he comes back from injury" to "one of the best players in the minor leagues."

Luzardo is the only A's player on the midseason top 50. The other possibilities would have been A.J. Puk, who is out with injury and therefore unranked, Franklin Barreto, who graduated, Jorge Mateo, who ranked 79th on the preseason list and hasn't exactly lit Triple-A on fire, and Dustin Fowler, who graduated.

Meanwhile, MLB.com has reranked every team's top 30; the A's list is here. Luzardo moves to the top spot, bumping Puk down one, while Sean Murphy jumps from no. 8 to no. 3 and first-round pick Kyler Murray debuts at no. 4. Other changes of note:

  • Second-round pick Jameson Hannah, a college outfielder, slots in at no. 8
  • Jeremy Eierman, a college infielder picked between the second and third rounds with a competitive-balance selection, comes in at no. 11
  • Richie Martin rises from no. 21 to no. 12 by flashing some bat at Double-A
  • Grant Holmes falls from no. 10 to no. 16 by getting hurt
  • Eli White rises to no. 19 after not being in the top 30 preseason by slashing .321/.412/.483 at Double-A. That's a perfectly nice line for a future backup infielder even if you take 50 points of batting-average air out of it
  • Hogan Harris, a college pitcher drafted in this year's third round, debuts at no. 25