Seven Jays on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects

Baseball America has redone its top 100 prospects list. There are seven Blue Jays on the list:

• #12: Gabriel Moreno: He moved up from 30th.

Moreno has always been a good athlete with the hand-eye coordination to make a lot of contact, but swing adjustments and more strength have helped his power show up more in games.

• #13: Alek Manoah: Moved up from 31st.

Using a powerful mixture of four- and two-seam fastballs and a slider and changeup, Manoah struck out 15 over seven one-hit innings spread across two outings. Scouts were especially impressed by the slider, which flashed as high as a 70-grade offering during one outing.

• #21: Austin Martin: Dropped from 12th. He’s had a hard time with a hand injury, but he seems to be recovering. He’s had some hard hit balls lately.
• #55: Nate Pearson: Dropped from 32nd. Again injury issue dropped him down the list.
• #58: Orelvis Martinez: Up from 74th:

Martinez might have to move to third base, but potentially plus hittability and power will help him profile there.

• #83: Jordan Groshans: Down from 49th.
• #85: Alejandro Kirk: Down from 57th. Injuries yet again moved him down the list.

And Keith Law updated his top 50 prospects list and has four Blue Jays on his list:

• #4: Gabriel Moreno:

Moreno broke his thumb in mid-June, which might be the only thing stopping his ascent to the majors right now, as he hit .373/.441/.651 in 32 games in Double A as a 21-year-old before the injury, while showing plus defensive skills across the board for the Fisher Cats. Moreno has quick hands and excellent bat control.

• #12: Austin Martin:

Martin’s swing has become a bit more inside-out this year than it was in college, possibly because of a hand injury he sustained on a slide in mid-May, but he’s still getting on base at a high clip. He’s been splitting time between shortstop and center field, with the latter the more likely position of the two, especially as his throwing hasn’t been great when he has to move to his right at short.

• #19: Nate Pearson:

Pearson still has No. 1 starter stuff, but his trouble staying healthy is enough of a concern to slide him down from where he was before the season. This year it’s been a sports hernia and groin injuries, which have set him back to the point that the Jays are talking about moving him to the bullpen for the rest of this season. They seem committed to letting him start again next spring, which is the right call given his upside.

• #40: Orelvis Martinez

Martinez has tremendous bat speed and the ball comes off his bat extremely well, while he’s played mostly shortstop this year and has the plus arm and soft hands for it. He’s 6’1″ and is going to end up over 200 pounds, so he might move over to third, but this hit/power tool combination is going to play anywhere, and it’s going to come down mostly to how good his plate discipline.

At Sportsnet, David Singh has a ‘long read’ on Alejandro Kirk. And it is worth reading all the way through.

“Look, this guy is big,” Decillis bluntly informs Andrew Tinnish, the Blue Jays’ vice president of international scouting. “He’s going to walk into a professional complex and people are going to be like, ‘What is going on? Who is this guy?’ But I’m telling you he can hit, and I’m telling you he can catch.”

Keegan Mathson has a ‘Notes’ post up, talking about Nate Pearson as a reliever and Richards stabilizing the bullpen. The part I took note of was:

“I don’t want to get carried away with a six-man rotation,” Walker said. “We have a five-man rotation and we’re really just slotting a starter in to give those guys a bit of a blow over an 18-game stretch. Obviously, with two doubleheaders coming up, one in Toronto and one in L.A. That’s the main reason to do it, but other than that we’ll be back to our normal five-man rotation soon.”

This makes me happy because Buck was talking about a 6-man rotation during yesterday’s broadcast. I’m not a fan of that. It seems the slippery slope to taking 25 starts away from your five best starters and giving them to your sixth best starter. I think it is lucky to find five guys who can start. Finding six is that much harder.

I was curious to see how the Umpire Scorecard would look for yesterday’s game, and I wasn't disappointed. O’Nora had a rough day. And a rough day in the Mets’ favor.