These prospects could enter Top 100 in 2019

August 9th, 2018

MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list should remain fairly static through the end of the regular season, with Rangers outfielder (No. 48) and Brewers right-hander Corbin Burnes (No. 52) the only guys projected to graduate based on pre-September service time. No one else looks like they'll exceed the rookie/prospect limits of 130 at-bats or 50 innings in the big leagues.
We will make one more round of significant adjustments to the Top 100 after the Minor League season ends. And speaking of the Top 100...
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I'm not counting prospects currently ineligible for the Top 100 list, because it would be too easy to pick one of the candidates to go No. 1 overall in the 2019 Draft, such as Texas high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman. Instead, I'll go with someone from the recent Draft: Padres left-hander Ryan Weathers, the No. 7 overall choice.
With three solid pitches and advanced pitchability, Weathers looks like a future No. 3 starter and should move quickly for a high schooler. For more on this question and other candidates to make a swift rise up the Top 100 next year, check out the video at the top of this Inbox.

The Padres already have five pitchers on the Top 100, Weathers on the cusp and right-handers Cal Quantrill and Anderson Espinoza not too far off. We're going to have to make room for Patino in the near future as well.
A Colombian right-hander, Patino had a mid-80s fastball when San Diego gave him a $120,000 bonus in July 2016. Two years later, he's working in the mid-90s and topping out at 98 mph, missing bats with a power curveball and also showing aptitude for a slider and changeup. At 18, Patino is the second-youngest starter in the low Class A Midwest League, where he sports a 2.43 ERA, a 77/18 K/BB ratio and a .219 opponents' average in 66 2/3 innings.

My top five shortstops for the 2019 Draft, not including high schoolers such as Rece Hinds who likely will move to different positions in pro ball:
1. Bobby Witt Jr., Colleyville (Texas) Heritage HS
2. CJ Abrams, Blessed Trinity Catholic HS, Roswell, Ga.
3. Bryson Stott, Nevada-Las Vegas
4. Logan Davidson, Clemson
5. Tyler Fitzgerald, Louisville
Next year's crop of shortstops is much more impressive than the 2018 group, which I discussed in the April 26 Inbox. Of the 35 first-round picks in June, Brice Turang (Brewers, No. 21 overall) may be the only eventual everyday shortstop in the big leagues.
While Witt could go No. 1 overall, Abrams has an impressive combination of speed, hitting ability and smoothness, and though the college shortstops are better than usual, the position was stronger in 2015. That year, the first three picks were shortstops -- Dansby Swanson to the Diamondbacks, followed by to the Astros and Brendan Rodgers to the Rockies -- and Kevin Newman (Pirates) and Richie Martin (Athletics) also went in the first round. We could see more first-rounders in 2019, because Will Holland (Auburn), Greg Jones (UNC Wilmington) and Will Wilson (North Carolina State) are three more who possibly could go that early, but '15 will be tough to top in terms of star quality.

Garcia is far from the most famous Yankees mound prospect -- though he did gain some notoriety with seven perfect innings on Monday -- but he's one of the best in the system at combining stuff and pitchability. He's one of what seems to be a countless supply of legitimate pitching prospects in New York's system.
The Yanks place a lot of stock in spin rates, and Garcia generates a lot of rpms on both his 91-96 mph fastball and his plus curveball. He also has feel for a fading changeup and continues to improve his control and command. Signed for $200,000 from the Dominican Republic in 2015, Garcia is having no trouble handling Class A hitters at age 19, logging a 3.10 ERA, 82/13 K/BB ratio and 82 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings between two stops.