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Nicky Lopez

Quick Hits: NC Dinos, Rucinski, Royals, Orioles, Holt

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The NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization have brought back pitcher Drew Rucinski on a one-year, $1MM deal with a $200K signing bonus, per Dan Kurtz of myKBO.net (via Twitter). The team also announced the deal on their twitter account. Rucinski, who turns 31 on Monday, last played in the states for the Marlins in 2018, putting up a 4.33 ERA/3.81 FIP across 32 appearances out of the pen. For the Dinos in 2019, he threw 177 1/3 innings of 3.05 ERA baseball, striking out 119 batters to 49 walks. On a slow news day, chew on these quick hits from the AL…

  • The Royals are not shy about how they value the versatility of players like Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier. Their recent signing of Maikel Franco attempts to take advantage of said versatility, with Dozier planned to move to right field to make room for the former Phillie, per MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. Merrifield, meanwhile, is likely to lead off and play centerfield. The Royals have attempted to lengthen their lineup this offseason, and while it’s not the most daunting group, Kansas City expects better years out of Franco, Nicky Lopez, and Ryan O’Hearn, who all struggled mightily in 2019. Improvement is a low bar for this trio, and unless they make significant strides, it’s hard to imagine the Royals making much noise in the American League.
  • The Orioles made some additions to their coaching staff while shifting around a good chunk of the incumbent staff. Chris Holt, however, has taken on an entirely new role in the organization as the new Director of Pitching, per MASN’s Roch Kubatko. Holt was formerly the minor league pitching coordinator after defecting from Houston, but his new role will allow him the freedom to assist pitching coach Doug Brocail in implementing much of the data that accompanied GM Mike Elias to the organization. Holt will continue to spend much of his time with the minor leagues, but his new role will allow him to see his development projects through all the way to the bigs.

Royals Notes: Perez, First Base, Holland, Trades

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After missing all of 2019, Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez will see extended stretches of time at first base in 2020, per The Athletic’s Alec Lewis (via Twitter). Perez underwent Tommy John surgery, and the Royals are willing to be cautious with their catcher as they ease him back in behind the plate. New manager Mike Matheny can certainly commiserate, having spent so many years behind the dish himself.

By Opening Day, Perez may be the last bastion of their title team. Danny Duffy remains, and there’s still a chance that Alex Gordon returns, but if Gordon retires or signs elsewhere, Perez would be the last remaining every day piece of their back-to-back pennant winning teams. Especially now that manager Ned Yost has passed the torch to Matheny, Perez represents an important daily reminder as the bridge to a successful era of Royals baseball.

Simply from a scorebook standpoint, a catcher with a strong defensive reputation who annually hits 20 home runs like Perez is extremely valuable, though poor baserunning and an extremely low walk rate have somewhat mitigated the plus sides of Perez’s game. Regardless, priority one will be avoiding another lost season like 2019. Besides, neither first base nor catcher is a position of real strength for the Royals sans Perez. As with Perez’s counterpart in the 2014 World Series Buster Posey, time at first base should ease the physical toll on Perez’s knees, arm, and back as he prepares to enter his thirties in early May. It may be that this move will be what allows Perez to maintain his influence behind the dish for longer, if not with the workload of his younger years.

As Perez returns to service, there’s some chatter about another member of the title team returning. MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan asked Dayton Moore about the possibility of a Greg Holland signing, to which Moore expressed some optimism. Granted, it would have been a bizarre jab for Moore to outright reject Flanagan’s postulating, but Holland does fit the mold of a free agent the Royals could afford and who might have some interest in playing in Kansas City.

Holland, 34, came out the chute hot last season as the Diamondbacks closer, but he was released after 40 appearances and a 4.54 ERA/4.76 FIP. Thus continued the late-career trend of hot-and-cold for Holland, who simply couldn’t find the strike zone with consistency. He can still miss bats (10.3 K/9), but 6.1 BB/9 and 6 wild pitches led to 5 blown saves and his eventual removal from the closer’s role in Arizona despite 17 successful conversions.

Once released, he signed on with the Nationals, for whom he’d put together a masterful 24 games with a 0.84 ERA at the end of 2018. He didn’t give up a single earned run in 9 innings for the Nats’ Double-A affiliate, but he did not find his way back to the big leagues.

As for the rest of the Royals roster, Moore doesn’t foresee much movement on the big league front. Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler, and Adalberto Mondesi are parts of their core and the Royals have no intention of breaking them up, per Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star. There is excitement internally about the return of Perez and even Duffy gets a shoutout from Moore as having the potential to get better in the latter years of his contract. Though that’s not typically the arc for pitchers on the backside of thirty, it would not be wholly unprecedented. Duffy’s last two seasons have been largely forgettable as he’s put together 285 2/3 innings of 4.63 ERA baseball (4.74 FIP) while making roughly 25 starts per season.

Beyond those core performers, the Royals believe in the growth potential of infielder Nicky Lopez as well as first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. Both players struggled mightily in 2019. Lopez, 24, hit an underwhelming .240/.276/.325 in 402 player appearances, and O’Hearn, 25, wasn’t much better at .195/.281/.369. For players with at least 350 plate appearances, O’Hearn’s 69 wRC+ ranked 5th from the bottom in the American League, while Lopez came in dead last at 56 wRC+, two points behind Chris Davis’ mark of 58 wRC+.

Royals Promote Nicky Lopez

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The Royals have selected the contract of young infielder Nicky Lopez, per a club announcement. Righty Jake Newberry will be optioned to open an active roster spot; the 40-man move will be announced tomorrow.

Lopez’s ascent comes as a bit of a surprise. It was just two days ago, after all, that the club indicated it’d be utilizing Whit Merrifield primarily at second base. Instead, the veteran will be bumped into right field while Lopez will take the reins at the keystone. GM Dayton Moore explained that he and skipper Ned Yost changed course after discussing the matter over the weekend. (Via Rustin Dodd of The Athletic, on Twitter.)

The 24-year-old Lopez was taken out of Creighton in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. He is known more for his sturdiness than the types of loud tools that would suggest a lofty ceiling in the majors.

Lopez’s contact ability and keen approach were on display last year, when he logged a .382 on-base percentage and walked more than he struck out in a season split between the two highest levels of the minors. Entering the current campaign, he was billed as one of the organization’s ten best prospects.

While Lopez was already very much on the radar, it’s fair to say he has raised his stock quite a bit already in 2019. He hasn’t yet added significant power — and may never do so, unless he can follow the paths of a select few others that have turned contact ability into dingers in the majors — but Lopez has taken his skillset to new heights in the early going.

Over 138 plate appearances this year for Omaha, Lopez carries a .353/.457/.500 slash line with an outlandish combination of twenty walks against just five strikeouts. (That sort of BB/K ratio is associated with the original Billy Hamilton and his contemporaries, not the active Billy Hamilton who’ll soon be Lopez’s teammate.) He has also successfully swiped nine bags in a dozen attempts, which suggests an avenue for expanding his offensive value with a club that is more willing than most to tempt fate on the base paths.

The Top Minor League Performers Of 2018

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Over at Roster Resource, I rank Minor Leaguers throughout the regular season using a formula that takes into account several statistics with age and level serving as important factors in how they are weighed. These are not prospect rankings!

This is how it works:

  • Hitters are mostly rated by total hits, outs, extra-base hits, walks, strikeouts and stolen bases.
  • Pitchers are mostly rated by strikeouts, walks, earned runs, home runs and hits allowed per inning.
  • A few counting stats are included (IP, plate appearances, runs, RBI) to ensure that the players atop the list played a majority of the season.
  • The younger the player and the higher the level, the more weight each category is given. Therefore, a 19-year-old with an identical stat line as a 25-year-old at the same level will be ranked much higher. If a 23-year-old in Triple-A puts up an identical stat line as a 23-year-old in High-A, the player in Triple-A would be ranked much higher.

A player’s potential does not factor in to where they are ranked. If you’re wondering why a certain prospect who is rated highly by experts isn’t on the list, it’s likely because they missed time due to injury (see Victor Robles or Nick Senzel), MLB promotion (Juan Soto) or just weren’t productive enough. While there are plenty of recognizable names throughout the MiLB Power Rankings Top 200 list, it’s also full of players who were relatively unknown prior to the season and have seen their stock rise significantly due to their performance. Here’s a closer look at the Top 20.

1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Toronto Blue Jays | Blue Jays Depth Chart

Guerrero probably deserved to start his MLB career sometime between the debuts of NL Rookie of the Year candidates Ronald Acuña Jr. (April 25th) and Juan Soto (May 20th). All things being equal, that would’ve been the case.

But his call-up was delayed, mostly because third baseman Josh Donaldson was healthy in May and designated hitter Kendrys Morales was being given every opportunity to break out of an early season slump. As Guerrero’s path to regular playing time was becoming clearer, he suffered a knee injury in early June that kept him out of action for a month. When he returned, the Jays’ playoff chances had dwindled. Instead of adding him to the 40-man roster and starting his service time clock, they chose to delay his MLB debut until 2019.

You can hate the rule, but I’m certain Jays fans would rather have Guerrero under team control in 2025 as opposed to having him on the team for a few meaningless months in 2018 and headed for free agency after the 2024 season. And maybe it’s just me, but I kind of enjoy seeing what kind of numbers a player can put up when he’s way too good for his competition. And all this 19-year-old kid did was slash .381/.437/.636 with 20 HR, 29 2B, 37 BB, 38 K in 408 plate appearances, mostly between Triple-A and Double-A (he had 14 PAs during a rehab stint in the low minors).  Thanks for providing us with that beautiful stat line, Vlad Jr.

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2. Kyle Tucker, OF, Houston Astros | Astros Depth Chart

Despite a slow start—he had 21 hits in his first 83 Triple-A at-bats with one homer and 20 strikeouts— the 21-year-old Tucker showed why the World Champions were willing to give him a chance to take their starting left field job and run with it in July.

Tucker wasn’t quite ready for the Big Leagues—he was 8-for-52 in two separate MLB stints prior to a recent third call-up—but his stock hasn’t dropped one bit after slashing .332/.400/.590 with 24 homers, 27 doubles and 20 stolen bases over 465 plate appearances in his first season at the Triple-A level.

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3. Luis Rengifo, SS, Los Angeles Angels | Angels Depth Chart

A 21-year-old shortstop just finished a Minor League season with 50 extra-base hits (7 HR, 30 2B, 13 3B), 41 stolen bases, as many walks as strikeouts (75 of each) and a .299/.399/.452 slash line. If the name Luis Rengifo doesn’t ring a bell, you’re probably not alone. He kind of came out of nowhere.

The Mariners traded him to the Rays last August in a deal for Mike Marjama and Ryan Garton. Nine months later, the Rays shipped him to the Angels as the PTBNL in the deal for C.J. Cron. Based on those two trades, I can say without hesitation that the Mariners and Rays did not think Rengifo was this good. Not even close.

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4. Nathaniel Lowe, 1B, Tampa Bay Rays | Rays Depth Chart

Lowe’s breakout season mirrors Juan Soto’s in one way: They both posted an OPS above 1.000 at two different levels before a promotion to a third. Soto’s third stop was in Double-A, and it was a very short stint before heading to the Majors. After destroying High-A and Double-A pitching, Lowe’s final stop of 2018 was Triple-A, where he finally cooled off.

Still, the 23-year-old has put himself squarely on the Rays’ radar. After homering just 11 times in his first 757 plate appearances, all in the low minors, Lowe broke out with 27 homers and 32 doubles in 555 plate appearances in 2018. His overall .330/.416/.568 slash was exceptional.

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5. Alex Kirilloff, OF, Minnesota Twins | Twins Depth Chart

We’re four seasons into the Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano era—both debuted during the 2015 season—and we can’t say for certain whether either player will even be penciled into the regular lineup in 2019. They could be still turn out to be perennial All-Stars someday. But you can’t blame Twins fans if they temper their expectations for the next great hitting star to come up through their farm system. And yet, that might be difficult with Kirilloff, a first-round draft pick in ’16, and last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Royce Lewis, after the year each of them just had. Both are moving up the ladder quickly.

The 20-year-old Kirilloff, who missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, was a hitting machine in his first full professional season. After slashing .333/.391/.607 with 13 homers in 65 games with Low-A Cedar Rapids, he hit .362 with seven homers and 24 doubles in 65 games with High-A Fort Myers. He also had 11 hits in the playoffs, including a 5-hit performance on September 5th.

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6. Bo Bichette, SS, Toronto Blue Jays | Blue Jays Depth Chart

All Bichette did during his age-20 season was hit 43 doubles and steal 32 bases while manning shortstop for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the 2018 Eastern League Champions. It’s unlikely that he’ll join Vlad Jr. in the Majors early next season, but he might not be too far behind.

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7. Peter Alonso, 1B, New York Mets | Mets Depth Chart

Alonso’s monster season (.975 OPS, 36 HR, 31 2B, 119 RBI between AAA/AA) ended in disappointment when he was passed over for a September promotion. As was the case with Vlad Jr., it didn’t make much sense to start his service time clock and fill a valuable 40-man spot during the offseason—neither Guerrero or Alonso have to be protected from the next Rule 5 draft—while the team is playing meaningless games. The 23-year-old Alonso did establish, however, that he is the Mets’ first baseman of the very near future, and they’ll plan accordingly during the upcoming offseason.

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8. Touki Toussaint, SP, Atlanta Braves | Braves Depth Chart

As tough as it will be to crack the Braves’ rotation in the coming years, the 22-year-old Toussaint has put himself in position to play a significant role in 2019 after posting a 2.38 ERA and 10.8 K/9 in 24 starts between Triple-A and Double-A. He’s also starting meaningful MLB games down the stretch as the Braves try to seal their first division title since 2013. After spending last October in the Arizona Fall League, where he followed up an underwhelming 2017 season by allowing 10 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings, he could find himself on the Braves’ playoff roster.

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9. Vidal Brujan, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays | Rays Depth Chart

The highest-ranked player to spend the entire season in Low-A, the 20-year-old Brujan slashed .320/.403/.459 while stealing 55 bases in his first crack at a full season league (27 games in High-A; 95 games in Low-A). He’ll still be overshadowed a bit in a deep Tampa Bay farm system that includes two of the best young prospects in the game, Wander Franco and Jesus Sanchez, but it’s hard to ignore such a rare combination of speed and on-base ability displayed by a switch-hitting middle infielder.

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10. Michael King, SP, New York Yankees | Yankees Depth Chart

The Yankees’ offseason trade that sent two MLB-ready players, Garrett Cooper and Caleb Smith, to the Marlins cleared a pair of 40-man roster spots prior to the Rule 5 draft and brought back $250K in international bonus pool money. They also received King, who—whether anyone expected it or not—was about to have a breakout season.

After posting a 3.14 ERA with a 6.4 K/9 over 149 innings in Low-A in his age-22 season, numbers that typically indicate “possible future back-of-the-rotation workhorse,”  he looks to be much more than that after his 2018 performance. In 161 1/3 innings across Triple-A, Double-A and High-A, King posted a 1.79 ERA, 0.911 WHIP and 8.5 K/9. He was at his best once he reached Triple-A, posting a 1.15 ERA with only 20 hits and six walks allowed over 39 innings.

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11. Taylor Widener, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks | Diamondbacks Depth Chart

Unlike the trade to acquire King, the Yankees appear to have gotten the short end of the stick in a three-team, seven-player offseason deal with Arizona and Tampa Bay. They traded away Nick Solak to the Rays and Widener to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Brandon Drury, who was supposed to fill a short-term need for infield depth.

While Drury was a bust in New York—he had nine hits in 51 at-bats before being traded to Toronto in a July deal for J.A. Happ—Solak, a second baseman/outfielder, put up terrific numbers in Double-A (.834 OPS, 19 HR, 21 SB) and Widener has emerged as one of the better pitching prospects in the game. The 23-year-old right-hander posted a 2.75 ERA, 2.8 BB/9 and 11.5 K/9 over 137 1/6 innings with Double-A Jackson.

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12. Josh Naylor, 1B/OF, San Diego Padres | Padres Depth Chart

The offseason signing of first baseman Eric Hosmer certainly didn’t bode well for Naylor’s future with the Padres. Whether he had an MLB future at all, however, was already in question. First base prospects can’t just be good hitters. They need to mash, which is far from what Naylor did in 2017 (.761 OPS, 10 HR between Double-A and High-A). But a 20-year-old holding his own in Double-A is still interesting, nevertheless. So it was worth paying attention when he hit .379 with seven homers, five doubles, 13 walks and 12 strikeouts in April. He also spent most of his time in left field in 2018, adding a bit of versatility to his game.

Although April was his best month, by far, he still finished with an impressive .297/.383/.447 slash line. He’ll enter 2019 as a 21-year-old in Triple-A who has flashed some power (17 HR, 22 2B in 574 plate appearances) and above-average plate discipline (64 BB, 69 K).

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13. Eloy Jimenez, OF, Chicago White Sox | White Sox Depth Chart

Unlike the Jays and Mets, who had multiple reasons to keep Guerrero and Alonso in the Minors until 2019, the Sox’s decision to bypass Jimenez for a September call-up was more questionable.

Already on the 40-man roster and without much to prove after slashing .337/.384/.577 with 22 homers and 28 doubles between Triple-A and Double-A, Jimenez’s MLB debut appeared imminent as September approached. But White Sox general manager Rick Hahn, citing Jimenez’s need to improve his defense, confirmed in early September that he would not be called up. Of course, the 21-year-old probably would’ve benefited greatly from playing left field in the Majors for 20-25 games in September. And, of course, Hahn is just doing a good job of not saying the quiet part out loud: Eloy under team control through 2025 > Eloy under team control through 2024.

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14. Dean Kremer, SP, Baltimore Orioles | Orioles Depth Chart

After posting a 5.18 ERA in 2017, mostly as a relief pitcher in High-A, Kremer’s stock rose quickly with a full-time move to the starting rotation in 2018. In 16 starts for High-A Rancho Cucamonga, the 22-year-old right-hander posted a 3.30 ERA with a 13.0 K/9. After tossing seven shutout innings in his Double-A debut, the Dodgers included him as a key piece in the July trade for Manny Machado. Kremer continued to pitch well with Double-A Bowie (2.58 ERA, 45 1/3 IP, 38 H, 17 BB, 53 K) and now finds himself on track to help a rebuilding Orioles’ team in 2019.

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15. Nicky Lopez, SS, Kansas City Royals | Royals Depth Chart

Lopez started to turn some heads during last offseason’s Arizona Fall League, and it carried over into 2018 as he slashed .308/.382/.417 with nine homers, 15 stolen bases and more walks (60) than strikeouts (52) between Triple-A and Double-A.  It’s a sign that the 23-year-0ld’s bat is catching up with his stellar defense and that he’s closing in on the Majors, where he could team with Adalberto Mondesi to form one of the better young middle infield duos in the game.

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16. Royce Lewis, SS, Minnesota Twins | Twins Depth Chart

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft didn’t disappoint in his first full professional season, posting an .853 OPS, nine homers, 23 doubles and 22 stolen bases in 75 Low-A games before a 2nd half promotion to High-A Fort Myers. He didn’t fare quite as well (.726 OPS, 5 HR, 6 SB in 46 games), but he did hit three homers in the playoffs to help his team win the Florida State League championship. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the if he reached Double-A early next season as a 19-year-old with a jump to the Majors in 2020 not out of the question.

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17. Michael Kopech, SP, Chicago White Sox | White Sox Depth Chart

Throwing a 100 MPH fastball isn’t as rare as it used to be, but Kopech has reportedly touched 105 MPH, putting him in a class of his own. Unfortunately, the 22-year-old right-hander is expected to join a long list of pitchers who have had their careers interrupted by Tommy John surgery after he was recently diagnosed with a torn UCL.

The timing isn’t great, as Kopech had just arrived in the Majors in late August and would’ve likely been a leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year in 2019. Still, he’ll only have to prove that he’s back to full health before he returns to the Majors—he should be ready to return early in the 2020 season— after making a strong impression in Triple-A with a 3.70 ERA and 12.1 K/9 in 24 starts.

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18. Kevin Smith, SS, Toronto Blue Jays | Blue Jays Depth Chart

Not only do Guerrero, Bichette and Cavan Biggio likely form the best trio of infield prospects in the game, two are sons of Hall of Famers—Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Craig Biggio, and Bichette’s dad, Dante, was also pretty good. And yet, another Blue Jays infield prospect with a very ordinary name and without MLB lineage managed to stand out. The 22-year-old finished the season with 25 homers, 31 doubles, 29 stolen bases and a cumulative .302/.358/.528 batting line between High-A and Low-A.

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19. Gavin Lux, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers | Dodgers Depth Chart

The former first-round pick wasn’t overly impressive in his first full Minor League season in 2017, slashing .244/.331/.362 with seven homers and 27 stolen bases for Low-A Great Lakes. A move to the hitter-friendly California League in 2018, however, seemed sure to give his offensive numbers a boost. It did. Lux had a .916 OPS and 41 extra-base hits in 404 plate appearances, but he also didn’t slow down once he reached the upper minors late in the year.

In 28 regular season games with Double-A Tulsa, the 20-year-old Lux slashed .324/.408/.495 with four homers in 120 plate appearances. It didn’t end there. Over an eight-game playoff run, the left-handed batter went 14-for-33 with five multi-hit games.

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20. Patrick Sandoval, SP, Los Angeles Angels | Angels Depth Chart

Acquiring the 21-year-old Sandoval from the Astros for free agent-to-be catcher Martin Maldonado could turn out to be the steal of the trade deadline. While the lefty didn’t stand out in Houston’s deep farm system, he was having a strong season at the High-A and Low-A levels at the time of the trade (2.56 ERA and 9.9 K/9 in 88 innings). The change of scenery didn’t affect him one bit as he tossed 14 2/3 shutout innings in the California League before finishing the season with four impressive Double-A starts (19 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 27 K).

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Power Ranking Leaders By Level

Triple-A
Hitter: Kyle Tucker, OF, Houston Astros
Starting Pitcher: Michael Kopech, Chicago White Sox
Relief Pitcher: Ian Gibaut, Tampa Bay Rays

Double-A
Hitter: Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays
Starting Pitcher: Taylor Widener, Arizona Diamondbacks
Relief Pitcher: Matt Pierpont, Colorado Rockies

High-A
Hitter: Colton Welker, Colorado Rockies
Pitcher: Emilio Vargas, Arizona Diamondbacks

Low-A
Hitter: Chavez Young, Toronto Blue Jays
Pitcher: Jhonathan Diaz, Boston Red Sox

Short-Season A
Hitter: Tyler Freeman, Cleveland Indians
Pitcher: Jaison Vilera, New York Mets

Rookie 
Hitter: Wander Franco, Tampa Bay Rays
Pitcher: Joey Cantillo, San Diego Padres

Show all

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