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Midseason Top 50 MLB Minor League Prospects: 11-20

By Benjamin Chase

KISSIMMEE, FL - JANUARY 28: Baseball gloves and a baseball lie in the dirt during the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring on January 28, 2011 at the Houston Astros Spring Training Complex in Kissimmee, Florida. Jim Evans was a Major League Umpire for 28 years that included umpiring four World Series. Many of his students have gone on to work on all levels of baseball including the Major Leagues. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
KISSIMMEE, FL - JANUARY 28: Baseball gloves and a baseball lie in the dirt during the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring on January 28, 2011 at the Houston Astros Spring Training Complex in Kissimmee, Florida. Jim Evans was a Major League Umpire for 28 years that included umpiring four World Series. Many of his students have gone on to work on all levels of baseball including the Major Leagues. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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20. Triston McKenzie, RHP, Cleveland Indians

When the Indians were making bold moves last season to attempt to make a World Series run, there were two guys that the team seemed most hesitant to move. One was Bradley Zimmer, who is now at the major league level, challenging Byron Buxton and Billy Hamilton on speed leader boards via statcast. The other was McKenzie.

McKenzie was selected with a first round comp pick in 2015, #42 overall. With an August birthday, he was still 17 when drafted, one of the youngest in his draft class. He threw very well in his draft year in the Arizona Rookie League, posting a 0.75 ERA over 12 innings, with a 3/17 BB/K ratio.

McKenzie came out on fire in the New York-Penn League in 2016, with a 0.55 ERA over 49 1/3 innings before being promoted to the low-A affiliate in the Midwest League, where he continued to dominate in BB/K, even if his ERA wasn’t as sparkling. Overall on the season, he threw 83 1/3 innings, with a 1.62 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 22/104 BB/K ratio.

McKenzie is 6’5″ and he’s very lean, listed at 165, which may be a touch light, but not much. He has a fastball that sits in the low 90s but can touch up to 96 and has excellent plane and late movement. His curve and his change are both pitches that are fringe plus to go along with the plus fastball.

McKenzie continues to build his confidence in using his change in all counts and to all handed hitters, but pushing him to high-A this season at 19 has allowed McKenzie to really push forward in his overall pitching, and he could work his way to AA by the end of the season as he’s currently made 17 starts, throwing 96 2/3 innings, with a 2.89 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and an intense 34/124 BB/K ratio.

19. Mitch Keller, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates

When the Pirates drafted Keller out of high school in Iowa in the second round of the 2014 draft, they assumed they were getting a long term project of a pitcher that would take a number of years to work his way to the major leagues with a fastball that had velocity, movement, and control coming out of high school, but he needed to work on secondary pitches heavily.

Outside of injuries that slowed him in 2015, Keller has been on a fast track instead during his minor league career. He dominated in low-A in 2016 with his elite control and surprising development of his secondary pitches, and he took that forward to this season.

In 2016, with West Virginia in the South Atlantic League (and one start in high-A), Keller made 24 starts, throwing 130 1/3 innings with a 2.35 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and a 19/138 BB/K ratio. This year in high-A (and a couple rehab starts after he missed some time with injury), Keller has made 14 starts, throwing 62 1/3 innings with a 3.47 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and a 19/57 BB/K ratio.

Keller’s fastball features a ton of sink and some horizontal movement that he’s shown an ability to vary on the pitch based on his grip of the pitch, working in the 92-95 range, topping out around 96-97. The curve has an 11-5 shape and has very good spin to it, making it a definite strike out pitch, but if any pitch loses the strike zone for Keller, the curve is it.

I would probably see Keller getting a handful of starts in AA this year, which would put him on pace to be in AA/AAA at age 22 and making a push for the 2019 rotation.

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