Minor League Baseball League Top 10 Prospects: Southern League
10. Joe McCarthy, 1B/OF, Tampa Bay Rays
A polished college hitter out of Virginia, McCarthy was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 5th round of the 2015 draft, McCarthy was a guy who was tagged with a “contact before power” tag and dropped in the draft due to that, in spite of an excellent eye and quality bat-to-ball skills.
While athletic enough to handle the outfield, his arm does not profile well anywhere but left, and even there, it’s a below average arm, leaving 1B as a probable defensive destination for McCarthy, but where he plays on the field has taken a back seat to what he can do in the batter’s box since coming into the Rays system.
In his first full season in 2016, McCarthy played through both A-ball levels, totaling a .285/.399/.429/.828 line with 20 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs, and 19 stolen bases. He also showed his excellent batting eye with a 61/68 BB/K ratio over 426 plate appearances.
His hitting took another step forward in 2017 in spite of advancing to an advanced league, as he hit .284/.409/.434/.843 for Montgomery on the season. He had 31 doubles, 8 triples, 7 home runs, and 20 stolen bases while putting up a 90/94 BB/K over 553 plate appearances.
McCarthy works with a smooth, but compact, swing that makes contact work well for him, but he doesn’t always maximize his stout 6’3″ 225-pound frame the way he could in generating power. He certainly can rocket a ball to the gaps, and if he would work for loft in his swing, he could definitely project out to 20+ home runs, but he may sacrifice some of that contact ability and control of the strike zone in making those swing alterations.
McCarthy will head up to Durham in 2018, and his bat could keep pushing him forward to a spot with the big league club sooner rather than later.
9. Grayson Long, RHP, Los Angeles Angels/Detroit Tigers
A big, sturdy righty at 6’5″, 230 pounds coming out of Texas A&M, Long was seen as a 4th starter type that could eat innings at the back of a rotation, but that would likely maximize his ceiling.
Long’s profile works with that 4th starter projection as well, as he has a maintenance-free delivery that pops out a fastball in the low-90s that works well in the zone, touching 95 at its best. He has a slider/cutter hybrid pitch that gets good weak contact, and his change also works well low in the zone with some sink to generate weak contact.
Then he opened the season with high-A Inland Empire before quickly moving to Mobile. He filled up the zone as he always had, but Long’s command took a big step forward in 2017, and while his walk rate wasn’t significantly changed, his difficult to square up certainly was, and hitters had a tough time hitting him well.
Long posted a 2.52 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with Mobile over 23 starts and 121 2/3 IP, finishing with a 38/111 BB/K ratio. He was traded as part of the Justin Upton deal in August and made just one rough start for the Tigers’ AA club in Erie, but showed plenty this season to think he could settle in to more of a #3 or even a #2 role in a rotation long-term rather than be relegated to back-end duty.