Love Me, Hate Me—Keith Law
High on:
- LHP Jay Groome, Red Sox–#30, avg. ranking of 77.0
- RHP Corbin Burnes, Brewers–#24, avg. ranking of 55.0
- 1B Ryan McMahon, Rockies–#31, avg. ranking of 61.2
- LHP Justus Sheffield, Yankees–#16, avg. ranking of 44.7
- SS Nick Gordon, Twins–#37, avg. ranking of 60.8
Low on:
- SS Franklin Barreto, Athletics–#94, avg. ranking of 53.7
- OF Austin Hays, Orioles–#79, avg. ranking of 54.0
- OF Austin Meadows, Pirates–#70, avg. ranking of 45.0
- RHP Mike Soroka, Braves–#60, avg. ranking of 35.5
- OF Monte Harrison, Brewers–#85, avg. ranking of 64.3
Jay Groome’s mom probably wouldn’t have Jay Groome as high as Keith Law has him. Law’s #30 ranking for Groome is 48 spots higher than the next-closest source (BP has him at #78). The big left-handed pitcher was the 12th overall pick in the 2016 draft. He only pitched 6.7 innings that summer and was at or near the top-40 on the Baseball America, BP, and MLB.com lists prior to the 2017 season. Law had him at #20 before last season.
In 2017, Groome tried to pitch through an injury early in the year and finished with a 5.69 ERA in 55.3 minor league innings. He struck out an impressive 72 batters but also walked 30. This caused his stock to drop quite a bit on the prospect lists, except for Keith Law, who still has faith that Groome can be a number two starter.
Among the guys who are lower on the Keith Law list than any other is A’s shortstop Franklin Barreto. He dropped from #56 to #94 on Law’s list after his strikeout rate jumped to nearly 28 percent in 111 games at Triple-A. Barreto also got some major league playing time and struck out 43.4 percent of the time against big league pitching. While Law dropped him to #94 on his top 100, the other sources all had him #66 or higher, including a #24 ranking by Call to the Pen.