4. Corey Ray, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
Considered by many as the top talent in the 2016 draft, Ray went to the Brewers at the #5 overall selection. After a career at Louisville, Ray showed power and speed (15 HR, 44 SB in his draft season) along with the skills that led many to believe he could stick in center field.
Ray has struggled with injury since he was drafted, both in his draft year, and in this season, his first full season, which he spent entirely with Carolina, hitting .241/.313/.372 with 30 doubles, 4 triples, 7 home runs, and 24 stolen bases in 112 games.
Ray certainly looks the part of an athlete. He’s built well, flashes plus speed, and he can cover many mistakes defensively with that speed in the outfield.
In watching Ray this season, his ceiling may be changing as far as the player he could be as I see his power playing a bigger part of his future, though he sold out for it in his swing this year without much for home run totals to show for it and a ton of strikeouts (31%) as well.
Ray has the raw athleticism to easily be #1 on this list, but his performance so far is really more like the 9th guy on this list, so call this placing a hedge for now. Ray will likely spend the season in AA for Milwaukee in 2018.
3. Lucas Erceg, 3B, Milwaukee Brewers
Erceg was a guy that many teams were looking at strongly after a big sophomore season at Cal, but academic issues caused him to end up at Menlo, an NAIA school, where Erceg hit .400 against lower-level competition. Questions about the reasoning behind those academic issues led to a number of teams backing off of Erceg in spite of his obvious offensive and defensive skills.
The Brewers thought he was a steal in the 2nd round, and had that opinion enforced by his performance after signing, as he played with their Pioneer League and low-A Midwest League teams, hitting .327/.376/.518 in 68 games with 9 home runs and 9 stolen bases.
Erceg has a quick, powerful swing from the left hand side. He also has above-average speed along with natural athleticism. Defensively, he’s a definite plus defender with a tremendous arm that’s accurate whether moving in on a ball or side to side.
Erceg was part of the Carolina offensive struggles this year initially, but he finished strong on the season, even being brought up to AAA Colorado Springs to finish the season out as they made a run at the playoffs. Erceg finished the year with Carolina with a .256/.307/.417 line with 33 doubles, a triple, 15 home runs, and a pair of stolen bases.
Defensively, Erceg was all he was cracked up to be and more, with an incredibly impressive arm at the hot corner and very good instincts as well.
Erceg will open at AA in 2018, and he is one of the premier 3B prospects left in the minor leagues.