We’ve used scouting reports, our proprietary roto scoring method, and our Prospect of the Week lists to create our Prospect Team of the Month for July, 2018:

Some highlights:

C – William Contreras By now, most prospectors are aware of Willson’s extremely talented younger brother, William. After a solid first couple months of the season (his first year in full-season ball), July was a banner month. Young Willy posted a 369 OBP and a 637 SLG on the coattails of 5 homers, 9 doubles, and a 3-bagger. Thanks to the great July, Contreras has received a promotion to the High A-Florida Fire Frogs of the Florida State League in his age 20 season. I generally don’t care for young prospect catchers (I traded this particular one last offseason) as the risk is a bit too rich for my appetite but Contreras will definitely stay at catcher and has consistently hit for multiple years since he signed in 2015. BUY, BUY, BUY! (regretful shrug). (20 yr/Braves/A-Full) C, 92 PA, 80 AB, 10 BB, 18 SO, 5 HR, 1 SB, .300/.369/.637



1B – Rylan Thomas A 26th round selection by the Reds back in June, this young man went berserk for the UCF Knights as a draft eligible sophomore (triple slash – 343/587/447 with 13 tacos). Worn out by the long college season? Pffffff! Mr. Thomas has upped the ante in pro-ball thanks to a huge boost in slugging percentage. After going hitless in 10 June at-bats, he had a July to REMEMBER as a MEMBER of the Appy League’s Greeneville Reds. 9 bombs, 27 walks (with only 19 strikeouts), an OBP a shade under 500 and a mamo 734 slugging percentage over 107 PA (79 AB). Rylan is a 5’11, 225 pound bulldog with a quick compact stroke. As is clearly displayed in his July numbers, Rylan does an exceptional job of not chasing pitches out of the zone that would result in weak contact and punishing balls that are to his liking. Definitely someone to keep an eye on as a sleeper for first year player drafts. (21 yr/Reds/Rookie) 1B, 107 PA, 79 AB, 27 BB, 19 SO, 9 HR, 0 SB, .316/.495/.734



2B – Hunter Stovall July Hitters of the Month are starting to develop a theme. Bossman slugging percentages. Stovall is the next farmhand in line to put up a 600+ SLG (653) backed up by 5 taters, 7 doubles, and 3 triples for the Rockies affiliate in Grand Junction. Clearly an aggressive hitter, Hunter only struck out in 7% of his plate appearances (84) and walked twice. The ball carries like a mofo in Grand Junction and Stovall’s swing doesn’t scream power. Let’s wait until he makes his way to Asheville (another great hitters park) and faces more advanced pitching before placing too much value in these numbers. (21 yr/Rockies/Rookie) 2B, 84 PA, 78 AB, 2 BB, 6 SO, 5 HR, 3 SB, .307/.333/.653



SS – Wenceel Perez Wenceel is a favorite of Jason Woodell (our Florida prospector amigo that has a great eye and attends A LOT of GCL and FSL games). Wenceel slayed the GCL and received a promotion to Detroit’s Short Season Affiliate in Connecticut mid-month (during his age 18 season). After a brief swoon, he continued to rake in late July post-promotion and had a wonderful month overall with an OPS over 900 aided by his great ability to put the ball in play (12% K-rate) and solid walk rate (~9%). Look for Wenceel to finish out with Connecticut this year and hit the ground running for full-season West Michigan in 2019. (18 yr/Tigers/A-Short) SS, 105 PA, 96 AB, 9 BB, 13 SO, 3 HR, 3 SB, .364/.419/.489



3B – Nolan Gorman Gorman is an exciting high school first rounder from the June draft that has really opened some eyes with his early performance. The raw power was what drove the scouts crazy and it really showed up in July as another POTMer posted a 600+ slugging percentage. Nolan stuck out quite a bit; however, he also shows great plate discipline and took his walks. He looks to drive the ball but also stays patient and doesn’t excessively chase (Jack Nicholson Yes GIF). (18 yr/Cardinals/Rookie) 3B, 99 PA, 84 AB, 15 BB, 24 SO, 5 HR, 1 SB, .345/.444/.630



LF – Tyler O’Neill A favorite of mine since I did my first top 100 during the Preseason in 2017. Wonderbod checked in at #8 on that list and he has gone on to make me proud. Some say that he will flame out and strikeout too much in the majors. They are wrong. Acquire this 40 home run monolith now! He slugged 976 and walked as much as he struckout in July to make Eloy look mortal. He’s athletic enough to play CF, can leg press a 4 metric tons, free bench 2 kegs (THE STABILIZER MUSCLES), and will have an epic WWE career post baseball. (23 yr/Cardinals/AAA) RF, 54 PA, 43 AB, 11 BB, 12 SO, 8 HR, 0 SB, .348/.481/.976



CF – Kyle Isbel Arguably the hottest and most impressive performance by any player drafted in June, K-Izzy absolutely lit up the stat sheet in July. The entire stat-line was beautiful but this kid really has the skills to be a fast mover through the Royals system. Power and speed is the name of the game in roto and he brought both to the table in July by swiping 14 bags and swatting 13 xbh (3 homers). Major first year player draft target for dynastiers. Check out our rankings in the fall to see when to grab him in your drafts. (21 yr/Royals/A-Full) OF, 106 PA, 93 AB, 13 BB, 13 SO, 3 HR, 14 SB, .376/.452/.612



RF – Eloy Jimenez Not a whole lot more to say about this top 5 prospect in all of baseball. When he is on the field he makes everything look so easy. Hopefully he can eliminate the ticky-tack injuries and become a perennial as his skill-set can yield that kind of potential. @ProspectJesus posted a gorgeous open-faced oppo taco swing from the game he attended last weekend and that kind of beauty can only be matched by MLB Network’s Kelly Nash. He posted an 822 slugging percentage in July… “that’s nuff saidddd” – Bernie Mac – Ocean’s 13. (21 yr/White Sox/AAA) LF, 66 PA, 62 AB, 3 BB, 7 SO, 6 HR, 0 SB, .435/.454/.822



SP – Bailey Ober B.O. is a relatively unknown 2017, 12th rounder out of the College of Charleston. He had 3 ridiculously dominant outings in July that were accompanied by double digit ks and 2 total walks (it was his 23rd birthday month, so obviously he pitched great). Don’t rush out and pick up every older college pitcher tearing up the Midwest and Sally leagues. Continue to monitor and watch a couple starts to get the true picture on Mr. Ober. (22 yr/Twins/A-Full) P, 4 GS, 24.9 IP, 36 SO, 2 BB, 18 KBB, 0.722 ERA, 0.642 WHIP



SP – Ian Anderson IA is becoming a long-term resident on our POTW and POTM squads. He is making the Braves Front Office and Area Scout look quite adept after drafting the high schooler 3rd overall in 2016. At the time, he was thought of as a pretty low risk high school pitcher (oxy-mo-ron?) and that has proven quite true as he hasn’t had any periods of prolonged struggle up to this point in his pro career. I’d love to see the organization let him work deeper into games but the stuff clearly plays. Anderson recently just got the promo to the High-A Florida Fire Frogs with his battery mate, Willy Contreras. Look for them to continue their ascent and really start paying attention when they arrive at AA – Mississippi. (20 yr/Braves/A-Adv) P, 4 GS, 22 IP, 32 SO, 4 BB, 8 KBB, 0.818 ERA, 0.772 WHIP



SP – Jaison Vilera The changeup is an above average out pitch as he does a good job duplicating his fastball’s arm speed and it dives down hard and away to left handed hitters who seem very fooled by it. The fastball appears average and has similar action to the changeup but it does not dive down quite as much (maybe a 2-seamer). Haven’t been able to find any footage of a breaking ball, so jury is still out on a 3rd pitch; regardless, JaiVil is carving up the NY Penn league and is ready for a promotion to Columbia (Mets Sally Affiliate). JaiVil is worth monitoring in 2019 and might be worth adding speculatively in very deep leagues (600-1000 minor league roster spots). (21 yr/Mets/A-Short) P, 5 GS, 33.9 IP, 39 SO, 8 BB, 4.87 KBB, 0.53 ERA, 0.737 WHIP



SP – Bryse Wilson The 2016 draft was very kind to the Bravos as Wilson was another high school arm taken in the 4th rounder. Scouting report reads plus fastball and slider with a developing change. He just got promoted to AAA, his second promotion of the year . The young chap still can’t legally consume a beer, margarita, or pina colada but he sure can toss the biscuits. Must own, fast riser, September callup? He’s another favorite of our friend Jason Woodell after seeing him earlier on this season in the FSL. Embarrassment of riches in Atlanta, absolute embarrassment! Love the organization’s patience and steady hand to not willy nilly deal away their pitching depth at the deadline. Stay the course captain! (20 yr/Braves/AA) P, 5 GS, 32.8 IP, 42 SO, 7 BB, 6 KBB, 0.823 ERA, 0.823 WHIP



As you probably noticed, several players drafted back in June (early and late picks) cracked the POTM Squad for July. This is exciting as it will make first year player drafts more fun this fall/spring! Hope you enjoyed this brief July review and contact us on twitter @BaseballFarm with questions!

Thanks,

BaseballFarmers