The minor-league season is into its second week and it’s time to catch up on how top prospects from every National League organization are faring. Should the upstart Pirates call up Paul Skenes? Is James Wood ready to power the Nationals? We look at the stats and make all-too-early assumptions.
(Note: The numbers after each player’s name is his team prospect ranking from Keith Law’s preseason top-20 lists for each farm system.)
NL East
Atlanta Braves: Right-hander Owen Murphy (No. 8) has been brilliant in his first two starts for High-A Rome, allowing only one earned run on six hits and four walks in 12 innings with 16 strikeouts. Right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach has yet to allow an earned run in 11 1/3 innings over his first two starts. He’s struck out seven and walked one. It’s been a rougher start for right-hander Hurston Waldrep (No. 1), who has allowed 10 runs in seven innings over two starts for Double-A Mississippi.
Miami Marlins: Like the big-league team, top Marlins prospect Noble Meyer has struggled early, with five runs allowed in 4 1/3 innings over his first two starts. The right-hander has walked seven and struck out five for Low-A Jupiter. Left-hander Thomas White (No. 2) has fared better in his two starts for Jupiter, with three runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings and a 10:1 K:BB. Joe Mack (No. 6) has been a bright spot, with a .345/.441/.552 slash line and a 5:5 K:BB in eight games for High-A Beloit, where he struggled last season. Victor Mesa Jr. (No. 4) began the season rehabbing an ankle injury he suffered in the spring. Since joining Triple-A Jacksonville, he has a .273/.333/.500 line with a homer in six games.
Victor Mesa Jr. dials long distance for the @JaxShrimp!
The @Marlins‘ No. 4 prospect absolutely clobbers his first Triple-A jack. pic.twitter.com/bCoqsKOKKD
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 13, 2024
New York Mets: Kevin Parada (No. 7) is hitting well for Double-A Binghamton, with a .294/.480/.471 line in six games. He hit his first homer of the season Saturday. Teammate Jett Williams (No. 1) is batting .185 through seven games with two stolen bases. Luisangel Acuña (No. 2) is batting .207/.233/.293 with a homer in 14 games for Triple-A Syracuse. Drew Gilbert (No. 4) landed on the injured list April 7 with a hamstring strain. He was 6-for-25 with a homer for Syracuse before the injury.
Philadelphia Phillies: Justin Crawford (No. 2) has a .269 batting average in seven games for High-A Jersey Shore, but he’s producing better than that number would imply. With six walks and two home runs, he has a .906 OPS and he’s already stolen five bases. Similarly, Gabriel Rincones Jr. (No. 6) is batting just .238 in six games for Double-A Reading but has a 1.121 OPS thanks to six walks and three home runs. Aidan Miller (No. 3) blasted his first professional home run Thursday and has hit safely in six of his seven game for Low-A Clearwater. He has an .828 OPS and five stolen bases. Right-hander Mick Abel (No. 4) has allowed five earned runs in 6 2/3 innings over his first two starts for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He’s struck out seven and walked six.
Washington Nationals: The Nats want to be patient with James Wood (No. 2) but he’s making it difficult with a scorching start for Triple-A Rochester. In 12 games, he’s batting .370/.500/.630 with two home runs and five stolen bases. He’s also walked (12) more than he’s struck out (11). Both of his home runs came Thursday. Dylan Crews (No. 1) turned around a bit of a slow start with a big weekend for Double-A Harrisburg. He homered Sunday and has a .273/.333/.485 line with two homers overall, but also a 10:2 K:BB. Brady House (No. 3) is batting .344/.400/.375 for Harrisburg.
NL Central
Chicago Cubs: Pete Crow-Armstrong (No. 1) is batting .208/.236/.377 with 17 strikeouts in 55 at-bats for Triple-A Iowa. That’s a better start, however, than for Kevin Alcántara (No. 3), who is still looking for his first hit after seven games (29 plate appearances) for Double-A Tennessee. On the other hand, teammate Matt Shaw (No. 2) has come out of the gate swinging with a .381/.552/.905 line and three homers in seven games. Cade Horton (No. 4) allowed one earned run and struck out four while walking one in his four-inning season debut Wednesday. Right-hander Kohl Franklin (No. 16) moved up to Iowa after a scoreless first start for Tennessee. He threw two scoreless innings in his Triple-A debut.
Cincinnati Reds: The High-A Dayton Dragons are loaded, with several of the Reds’ top prospects, including Cam Collier (No. 2). Collier leads all Reds minor leaguers with 11 RBIs. He’s collected that total in just eight games, while posting a .353/.371/.559 line. Right-hander Rhett Lowder (No. 3) made his pro debut with Dayton this year and has allowed just one run on six hits with a 10:2 K:BB in nine innings over his first two starts. Dayton teammate Sal Stewart (No. 5) is batting .323/.400/.452 with four walks in eight games. Jay Allen II (not ranked) missed much of last season with injury and after getting off to a terrific start (two homers and two walks in four games) for Dayton, he’s hurt again, landing on the injured list with right knee inflammation.
Milwaukee Brewers: The injury news has been bad for the Brewers’ farm system, as Jeferson Quero (No. 2) and Brock Wilken (No. 5) are both on the IL. Quero is out for the year after injuring his right shoulder diving back into first base on Opening Day. He had season-ending surgery. Wilken was hit in the face by a pitch on April 11. He suffered facial fractures but the immediate diagnosis was that he avoided a concussion and did not damage his vision, but he will miss time while the fractures heal. Cooper Pratt (No. 11) injured his hand Saturday and landed on the IL for Low-A Carolina. He was hitting .318 with an .862 OPS in six games before the injury. In two starts for Double-A Biloxi, hard-throwing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (No. 6) has 11 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings, but also has allowed four runs and walked six.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Paul Skenes (No. 1) has been nearly untouchable in three starts for Triple-A Indianapolis. In 9 1/3 innings, he hasn’t allowed a run and has given up just four hits and two walks while striking out 19. Lefty Hunter Barco (No. 19) is also working on a scoreless streak to start the year, with seven scoreless frames in two starts for High-A Greensboro. He’s struck out 10 and walked two while allowing two hits. Right-hander Bubba Chandler (No. 3) has been quite good in two starts (7 1/3 innings) for Double-A Altoona, allowing two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts and four walks. Termarr Johnson (No. 2) is off to a slow start for Greensboro, with just four hits in 30 at-bats over nine games. He’s walked seven times but is still looking for his first extra-base hit.
Paul Skenes (@Pirates) lights up the radar gun and dominates in his third Triple-A @indyindians start 🔥
After another scoreless outing with 8 K’s in which he hit 💯mph 15 times, a look at the 2024 numbers for MLB’s No. 1 pitching prospect:
9.1 IP
4 H
0 R
19 K pic.twitter.com/pqBt9Nzr0f— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 13, 2024
St. Louis Cardinals: Double-A Springfield is 9-0 to start the season, and right-hander Tink Hence (No. 3) has been a big part of that with two outstanding starts. In 10 innings, he’s allowed just one run on three hits and a walk and he’s struck out 11. R.J. Yeager (not ranked) is leading the Redbirds offensively with a .357/.457/.750 line and three home runs in eight games. After a tough pro debut, Chase Davis (No. 5) is hitting just .233 for Low-A Palm Beach, but he has a .910 OPS thanks to two homers, four doubles and five walks in seven games. Thomas Saggese (No. 4) is off to a slow start for Triple-A Memphis, with a .256/.333/.359 line in 11 games. Right-hander Sem Robberse (No. 9) has a 2.45 ERA and a 14:4 K:BB in 14 2/3 innings across three starts for Memphis.
NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks: Druw Jones (No. 2) is healthy but off to a slow start for Low-A Visalia after two years wrecked by injuries. In seven games for the Rawhide, Jones has four hits in 26 at-bats and he’s struck out in more than half of his plate appearances (16 in 30 PAs). Jansel Luis (No. 3) is also struggling for Visalia, with four hits and one walk in 32 plate appearances. Similarly, Tommy Troy (No. 4) has only five hits and one walk in 25 plate appearances for High-A Hillsboro, though he has stolen four bases. Lefty Yu-Min Lin (No. 5) has allowed five runs in eight innings over two starts for Double-A Amarillo, but he’s struck out 15 and walked only three. Right-hander Cristian Mena (No. 9) has a 4.20 ERA in 15 innings for Triple-A Reno with a 14:9 K:BB.
Colorado Rockies: Top prospects Sterlin Thompson (No. 1), Zac Veen (No. 7), Jordan Beck (No. 6) and Benny Montgomery (No. 8) are all hitting well to start the season. Thompson has a .348 BA and a .423 OBP in six games for Double-A Hartford, while Veen is batting .360 with a 1.149 OPS in seven games for the YardGoats and “Benny the Jet” has five extra-base hits in six games for Hartford with a 1.068 OPS. Beck has four home runs, 10 walks and a 1.131 OPS in 13 games for Triple-A Albuquerque. Chase Dollander (No. 2) is making his pro debut with High-A Spokane and has allowed just one run on four hits and four walks in 10 innings over two starts thus far. He’s struck out 15.
Chase Dollander (@Rockies) is finding pro ball to his liking.
MLB’s No. 48 prospect fanned 7 over 5 innings, giving him 15 K’s in his first 2 starts for the @spokaneindians. pic.twitter.com/rIounPW5DE
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 13, 2024
Los Angeles Dodgers: Andy Pages (No. 7) played just 34 games last season because of a shoulder injury. In 15 games this season, he’s looked outstanding with five home runs and 15 RBIs and a 1.146 OPS for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Acquired in the offseason as part of the trade with the Cubs for Michael Busch and Yency Almonte, Zyhir Hope (not ranked) already has three home runs in just seven games for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga, while 2023 second-round pick Jake Gelof (not ranked) has 12 RBIs and a .984 OPS in seven games for the Quakes. Top prospect Josue De Paula is off to a quiet start for Rancho with six hits and three walks in 34 plate appearances. Dalton Rushing (No. 3) has six extra-base hits in eight games for Double-A Tulsa, while sharing the catching duties there with Diego Cartaya (No. 6). Cartaya has three hits and five walks in 24 plate appearances.
San Diego Padres: It’s been a quiet start for 17-year-old wünderkind Ethan Salas, who has six hits and four walks in 31 plate appearances for High-A Fort Wayne. His TinCaps teammate Dylan Lesko (No. 3) has allowed just one hit and one run in seven innings across two starts. He’s struck out five but walked seven. Lefty Robby Snelling (No. 4) has made two solid starts for Double-A San Antonio, allowing two runs in nine innings with 10 strikeouts and four walks. Dillon Head (No. 5) has three doubles in seven games for Low-A Lake Elsinore but is batting .200/.222/.286 overall and has been caught stealing (three) more times than he’s been successful (two).
San Francisco Giants: With 2021 and 2022 top picks Will Bednar (back) and Reggie Crawford (lat) beginning the season on the IL, 2023 top pick Bryce Eldridge (No. 2) has been a big bright spot with his strong start for Low-A San Jose. In five games, he’s already picked up four extra-base hits and has a .927 OPS. Heliot Ramos (not ranked) is arguably the system’s hottest hitter in the early going. The 2017 first-round pick is batting .346/.424/.712 with four home runs in 13 games for Triple-A Sacramento. Hunter Bishop (not ranked), the Giants’ 2019 top pick, is back on the field after missing all of last season recovering from elbow surgery. In eight games with Double-A Richmond, he’s batting .267/.333/.400. Vaun Brown (No. 16) is also with Richmond after missing much of last season, but he has only two hits in his first 24 at-bats. Lefty Carson Whisenhunt (No. 4) has been hit around in three starts for Sacramento, allowing 12 earned runs in eight innings with an 11:6 K:BB. On the flip side, righty Hayden Birdsong (No. 10) has 14 strikeouts in eight innings over his first two starts for Richmond, with a 3.38 ERA.
GO DEEPER
Top 100 MLB prospects 2024: Keith Law’s rankings, with Jackson Holliday at No. 1
GO DEEPER
The 10 MLB prospects who just missed Keith Law’s top 100 ranking: Abel, Jones and more
GO DEEPER
MLB 2024 farm system rankings: Keith Law ranks all 30 teams, Orioles are new No. 1
GO DEEPER
A list of every MLB team’s top 20 prospects for 2024 by division
GO DEEPER
Bigger, faster, better: Explaining MLB’s unprecedented wave of young stars
(Photo of Skenes in spring training: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
