Comparing the MLB Top-100 Prospects Lists

The Next 20 (41-60)

Prior to the 2016 season, Cleveland outfield prospect Bradley Zimmer was ranked between 23rd and 31^st by Baseball Prospectus, MLB.com, and Baseball America. This year, his best ranking is 22^nd by MLB.com, but he’s dropped to 80^th on the Baseball Prospectus list and 62^nd on the Baseball America list. Keith Law did not have him in his top 100.

Zimmer split last season between Double-A and Triple-A. He hit .253/.371/.471 with the Akron RubberDucks in Double-A, but struggled to hit for power with Columbus in Triple-A, hitting .242/.349/.305. He also struck out 37 percent of the time in Triple-A.

Left-handed pitching prospect Josh Hader of the Brewers is ranked as high as 19^th by Baseball Prospectus and as low as 80^th by Call to the Pen (and 71^st by Keith Law). Hader’s 2016 season was very good in many ways. He had a 0.95 ERA in 57 innings in Double-A, with 73 strikeouts. He was then moved up to Colorado Springs and had a 5.22 ERA in 69 innings, but still struck out 88 batters. His control went south as he moved west. He walked 19 batters in 57 innings with Biloxi in Double-A, then walked 36 in 69 innings in Colorado Springs.

Overall, Hader’s 161 strikeouts in 126 innings shows the high ceiling he has. Call to the Pen’s Ben Chase likened him to Mitch Williams in appearance, the wild-haired reliever most famous for his time with the Phillies in the 1990s. Keith Law still questions whether he can be a big league starter because he doesn’t have the three-pitch repertoire most starting pitchers have. He could end up in the bullpen.

Another very young player, Rangers outfield prospect Leodys Taveras held his own as a 17-year-old in rookie ball last year (.278/.329/.382 in 155 PA), then struggled in an aggressive promotion to Low-A (.228/.271/.293 in 133 PA). He places highest on the Call to the Pen list, sitting at #27. Keith Law has him 35^th. On the other end of the spectrum, Baseball Prospectus places him 73^rd on their list, while John Sickels doesn’t have him in his top 100.

Seattle Mariners outfield prospect Kyle Lewis was the 11^th overall pick in last year’s June draft. He was sent to the Everett Aquasox in the Northwest League (Low-A) and hit .299/.385/.530 through his first 30 games. Then his season was cut short with a nasty knee injury. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament as well as the medial and lateral meniscus in his right knee when he collided with Tri-City catcher Chris Mattison after rounding third base as Mattison was coming up the line.

With the injury clouding his future, Lewis was ranked 29^th by MLB.com and 34^th by Baseball America, but also 70^th by Baseball Prospectus and 84^th by Call to the Pen. If he comes back healthy, he has the talent to be a consensus top 25 guy by the end of the year.

Another player with injury issues is right-handed pitching prospect James Kaprielian of the New York Yankees. He was the 16^th overall pick in the 2015 draft but missed almost all of last season while recovering from a flexor tendon injury in April. He got back on the field in the fall and hit 95-97 mph on the radar gun, which is where he was before the injury.

Kaprielian is ranked 28^th by Keith Law, which is the most optimistic of the six sources. He’s ranked between 46^th and 62^nd by four of the sources. Baseball America has him 87^th. Their write-up noted Kaprielian’s delivery: “Evaluators note that his delivery, featuring a plunging arm action, is high-stress and could contribute to further injury issues.”