MLB Top 125 Prospects: 50-26

45. Triston McKenzie, RHP, Cleveland Indians, Indians #3

McKenzie was selected in the first competitive balance round in 2015, but I’m fairly confident that if you played out that draft again, he’d be one of the first arms off the board. He was one of the youngest pitchers in the 2015 draft, yet he’s shown very well all the way up to low-A this season. While McKenzie isn’t a guy who runs his fastball into triple digits, he does get excellent sink on the fastball and can get to 95 with it. He has two very good off speed pitches that can flash plus as well. His control took a big step forward in 2016 as he worked hard to repeat his delivery, and if he can be consistent there, he’ll be a guy that could be a top 10 pitching prospect in the game very quickly with his stuff that is near impossible to square up and also misses bats as well.

44. Ronald Acuna, OF, Atlanta Braves, Braves #5

If not for an unfortunate injury early in May, Acuna may very well have been a guy getting all the accolades that Victor Robles is drawing, and then some. His performance this winter in the Australian Baseball League has been nothing short of tremendous to cap off a very good season where he was 18 for the entire season at low-A Rome. Acuna draws many comparisons to former Braves center fielder Andruw Jones in center field for his natural instincts at the position, though he’s not quite at Jones’ level in tracking down balls quite yet (then again, who really ever has been?). Offensively, he has the ability to really drive the ball, and his stats in 2016 hide the absolutely impressive raw power that Acuna possesses. He has excellent strike zone judgement, and I had multiple scouts not prone to overly aggressive grades tell me that they’d go as high as a 70 on the 20 to 80 scale on Acuna’s raw power in their viewings of him in April. He was still getting back into things as the season closed, recovering from a wrist injury, but his power has certainly flashed in the ABL this winter, and he could be a fast mover this coming season up prospect lists.

43. Nick Williams, OF, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies #3

Williams was one of the toughest guys to rank on the list. On pure tools, he’d rank about 15 spots higher. On his ability to put those tools to use on the field, he’s ranked about 10-15 spots too high. While he carries plus grades on most tools, he’s struggled to put everything together due to a struggle offensively with his strike zone recognition. He has also been dogged by some effort issues, leading to benchings in his past. Williams has the type of swing speed that should allow him to hit for average and power if he can control the strike zone, but he’s already at AAA, so he won’t have a lot of development time before he gets to the majors.

42. Isan Diaz, SS, Milwaukee Brewers, Brewers #2

While many saw Jean Segura have a big season after moving on from Milwaukee to Arizona and thought the Diamondbacks got the better end of the deal, especially when they were able to spin Segura’s big season into one of the more well-regarded young pitchers in recent memory in Taijuan Walker, but many seemed to miss exactly what the Brewers got back from the Diamondbacks in the deal. Many noticed Aaron Hill on the big league club, until he was flipped for two prospects, and starter Chase Anderson, but they seemed to miss Diaz, who many, including me, saw as the coup of the deal for the Brewers. He then went out and showed all those positive about his skill set absolutely right by dominating at the low A level and then showed very well as one of the players with the least “advanced” experience in the Arizona Fall League. Diaz has a high level of baseball instincts that allow him to handle shortstop, but with a premium defender like Orlando Arcia at the big league level for the foreseeable future, Diaz’s likely home will be second base, where he could end up being a very elite defender at the position. His bat skills would allow him to be one of the best offensive contributors at either middle infield spot with legit plus raw power and solid instincts on the bases, which allowed him to steal 11 bases in spite of average-ish speed.

41. Kolby Allard, LHP, Atlanta Braves, Braves #4

The last member of the tremendous teenage Rome pitchers to join the rotation in 2016, Allard opened the season in extended spring after some back issues in 2015 limited his innings. While the team was managing his health, his performance pushed his pitch and inning limits more and more as the season wore on and he continued to pile up tremendous starts. He finished on a tear with Rome, with a 2.61 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over his final 8 starts of the regular season, posting a 16/50 BB/K ratio over 48 1/3 innings. Allard’s stuff is certainly front line stuff, as he throws a fastball that can touch mid-90s and sits around 90 with excellent movement, a change with tremendous arm deception, and a curve that draws a lot of swing and miss. His ability to command his pitches and repeat his delivery more and more as the season wore on was apparent, and it should allow for an even more impressive 2017.

Next: #36-40