This off-season we set off to write our first book. Changes and challenges arose, so we've pivoted to releasing our top prospect lists & reports through the site and our Patreon. We're excited to finally show you the hard work of our evaluating team the last few months.
Below you'll find the top 10 players in the system with full reports of the top 5. The full rankings and reports on all top 30 prospects per team will be available on our Patreon at the 55-tier ($5 level) as we publish them. If you're into fantasy baseball, this tier also gets you the dynasty show, the FYPD list and the MiLB Daily Sheet in season. We plan to add all the reports to player pages on the site shortly after the season begins.
Top 10 Team Rank at First 5 Reports for Free Below
1. Jordan Walker, 3B - 60 OFP
Age: 20 Highest Level: A+
Pre-Season Rank: 5 Pre-Season OFP: 50
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 70 | 50 | 55 | 50 | High |
PHYSICAL XL athletic frame, moves well given size, high waist, long legs, strong forearms, rounded shoulders, strength throughout the entire frame with room to continue adding 5-10 pounds of muscle. Strong core and lower half, rotational athlete contributes to explosive power ability generated off his backside. Plus long term physical projection.
STRENGTHS Plus-plus raw power. Translates in-game with power to all fields. Future 25-30 homer guy in the majors. Quick hands and plus bat speed lead to consistent hard contact. Good pitch recognition skills allow Walker to consistently barrel pitches in the strike zone. Swing path gets on plane consistently and leads to hard contact. The patient approach has led to above-average walk rate in lower levels. Above-average throwing arm across the diamond. Athletic enough to stick at third base long term despite size.
WEAKNESSES Swing path tends to lengthen. Increase in swing and miss following promotion to High-A. Understandable considering he was one of the youngest hitters in the Mid-West league. Something to monitor as Walker continues to climb through the Cardinals system and continues to sell out for in-game power. Physical nature and size may move Walker off third base long term.
SUMMARY Walker is a physical athlete which contributes to his explosive in-game performance. In-game power ability jumps off the charts and will be his carrying tool as he ascends through the Cardinals system. Long term, defensive position will remain a question as a move to first base could be an option given his size. Profiles as a future middle of the order power bat.
EVALUATOR Brandon Smith
2. Nolan Gorman, 3B/2B - 60 OFP
Age: 22 Highest Level: AAA
Pre-Season Rank: 1 Pre-Season OFP: 55
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 60 | 45 | 60 | 40 | Moderate |
PHYSICAL Impressive physical specimen. Strong and mature physically for his age. Big chest and shoulders. Sturdy lower half. Strong hands and wrists. Built like a linebacker. Frame limits him a bit defensively. Wide base offensively with quick, whippy swing.
STRENGTHS Double-plus raw strength-driven power with the bat speed to match. Drives the ball to all fields, and hits the ball in the air with authority. Plus arm is strong enough to make all the throws at third and second base now. Short, quick uppercut swing. Punishes pitches on the bottom half of the zone. Plus exit velocities. Put up strong Triple-A season at 21. Middle of the lineup type bat. Good body control and mechanics at third base, but enough skills to play an average third. Adept at charging the ball and making throws to first base.
WEAKNESSES Swing plane can make him vulnerable against pitches up in the zone, but his power will make you pay if you miss. He’s an aggressive hitter who doesn’t walk much, but strikeout rates improved as the season went on, even after promotion to Triple-A. His large frame limits his range at third and now second, but hands are solid. Will make the routine plays. Limited experience at second base, especially around the bag. Has been putting in the work during the season on that. Late start at second base with Arenado trade not getting finalized until February. Results have been positive there for the limited exposure.
SUMMARY Gorman is one of the most intelligent hitters in all of the minor leagues and is fully immersed in wearable swing technology and is constantly working to improve his game. The strides he made at second base in such a short time were remarkable, and he’s put himself in a position to be a playable defender at the position in nine months. Offensively he's a future 30-35 homer bat, but will likely post lower on-base percentages than you’d like due to aggressiveness.
EVALUATOR Matt Thompson
3. Matthew Liberatore, LHP - 50 OFP
Age: 22 Highest Level: AAA
Pre-Season Rank: 7 OFP: 50
| Fastball | Curveball | Slider | Changeup | Command | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 55 | 55 | 55 | 55 | Low |
| 91-94 mph | 73-76 mph | 84-88 mph | 84-87 mph |
PHYSICAL Large strong pitcher frame. Fairly slender throughout his body with gangly limbs. Lower half presents solid strength for him to drive off when pitching. Does have great potential to add more strength throughout his body due to his slender frame. Average athlete with no explosive or quick twitch actions. Delivery is simple and repeatable with a high leg lift. Middling flexibility prevents him from great extension and getting his chest far out in front of his foot. Great arm action that allows him to cleanly throw from an upper 3/4 arm slot.
STRENGTHS Liberatore shows a great feel to generate spin on his breaking balls, allowing them to play up considering his low extension delivery. He has shown considerable growth to differentiate his two breaking balls making them distinct in profile. Liberatore shows an above-average feel on executing a changeup off his fastball. His changeup possesses a similar tilt as his fastball but with noticeable less spin. He also is able to throw his SL for a strike in any count and throw it to get a whiff.
WEAKNESSES Fastball is super underwhelming metrically. Possesses low spin with a near-average movement profile. Showing that this pitch will not generate many whiffs at the next level and will be prone to hard contact with its average velocity. Struggled with his curveball command this past season and found it slurving across the middle of the plate way too often despite its high spin and vertical break profile.
SUMMARY Has three legit major league offspeed pitches. However, his middling fastball will raise questions on how much success he can have at the big league level. Even with his above-average command, it's likely the pitch will get beat around because of its underlying metrics. Overall, he presents a profile that will seemingly allow him to pitch at the big league level, albeit with more floor than ceiling.
EVALUATOR Jackson Thomas
4. Michael McGreevy, RHP - 50 OFP
Age: 21 Highest Level: A
2021 MLB Draft Rank: 62
| Fastball | Curveball | Slider | Changeup | Command | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 55 | 50 | 55 | 60 | Moderate |
| 90-94 mph | 78-81 mph | 82-85 mph | 82-85 mph |
PHYSICAL Extra-large frame with a slender build. Long limbed with a low waist and long upper body. Square shouldered with little upper body strength. Most of the present strength is in quads. Simple and repeatable delivery, executed with quickness. Maintains balance through delivery with good weight transfer. Slight hitch before release when his arm is all the way back. Throws from a 3/4 slot.
STRENGTHS Great feel for pitching and pitch execution. Is able to command all four pitches with precision in and out of the zone. Shows great arm-side run on his fastball averaging 15 inches of horizontal break. Great feel for spinning breaking balls, both slider and curve are plus in spin. Generates a large amount of whiffs on the slider and changeup. Great feel for tunneling the fastball and changeup and mirroring tilt.
WEAKNESSES Fastball velocity is low and doesn’t generate many whiffs thus putting more pressure on McGreevy to really pinpoint it on the mound. No true plus offering to lean on in tight spots.
SUMMARY McGreevy has all the tools needed to be a big league starter for over a decade. He has an elite sixth sense for pitching and pitch execution. He still isn’t even close to his ceiling, which is rare for a pitchability-based pitcher, as he still has room to add strength and velo to his arsenal. There is no reason to believe that his command will regress with added velocity and strength. You have to really nit-pick and not believe in player development in order to find weaknesses in his game.
EVALUATOR Jackson Thomas
5. Ivan Herrera, C - 50 OFP
Age: 21 Highest Level: AAA
Pre-Season Rank: 3 Pre-Season OFP: 50
| Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 45 | 55 | 55 | 40 | Moderate |
PHYSICAL Athletic build with strong wrists and lower half. Added significant strength in 2019 prior to the pandemic and has continued that trend, adding roughly 15-20 pounds of good weight since. He’s maintained his athleticism with the added strength.
STRENGTHS Short and compact stroke, extremely quick to the baseball. Swing geared for contact and power actually plays down in games and will work counts. Defensively he’s progressed nicely and has the look of a future everyday catcher. He’s an average defender back there now, and should progress to above-average or even plus at his peak. Throwing arm is above-average as well but he has an inconsistent release and will struggle with his transfer occasionally. Spent the 2020 shutdown working with Yadier Molina defensively.
WEAKNESSES Hit for more power in 2021, but it came at a price. Had to sell out a bit to get to it which increased the whiffs. Has some issues with spin as well. Has some cleanup to do defensively as well but it’s nothing that can’t be addressed with more reps. Blocking might be the part of his game that needs the most work, but again he’s really young for the level and has time to get that straightened out.
SUMMARY The key for Herrera is the development of his hit tool, which I still project as average but there were some causes for concern in that department last year as his whiffs ticked up in Double-A. He’s young for the level and was yet another Cardinals prospect that was pushed aggressively through the system and responded well to an aggressive assignment. Herrera’s timeline fits with Molina’s rumored final season in 2021, but time will tell on that. As it stands now this is the most likely long-term heir to the throne.
EVALUATOR Matt Thompson
6. Masyn Winn, SS - 50 OFP
Age: 20 Highest Level: A+
Pre-Season Rank: 4 Pre-Season OFP: 50
7. Juan Yepez, 1B - 50 OFP
Age: 24 Highest Level: AAA
Pre-Season Rank: 31 Pre-Season OFP: 35
8. Joshua Baez, OF - 45 OFP
Age: 19 Highest Level: CPX
2021 MLB Draft Rank: 27
9. Tink Hence, RHP - 45 OFP
Age: 19 Highest Level: CPX
Pre-Season Rank: 10 Pre-Season OFP: 45
10. Alec Burleson, OF - 45 OFP
Age: 23 Highest Level: AAA
Pre-Season Rank: 20 Pre-Season OFP: 40