Top 100 Prospects List Published: The season is about to start, so it's time to publish the annual Top 100 Prospects list. This year 22-year-old reliever Júlio Rocha of the Milton Brewers is the #1 prospect overall.
Here is the top 10:
1) MR Júlio Rocha, 22, Milton Brewers
2) MR Bartolo Morán, 22, Ellicott City Express
3) CF Jason Atkins, 22, Washington Senators
4) 1B Raúl Hernández, 20, Norfolk Cavaliers
5) CF Ramiro Herrera, 19, Chesapeake Blue Crabs
6) MR Narcissus Kondylis, 25, Milford Clippers
7) SP Héctor Lorenzo, 19, New Castle Colonials
8) MR Steve Bowers, 21, Chesapeake Blue Crabs
9) LF Leonard Lawson, 21, Christiana Blue Hens
10) CF José Chávez, 18, Washington Senators
Here is a look back at the past #1 prospects in the DBL.
2013: OF Peter Peters, New Castle Colonials
Peters made his debut in 2013, after being selected with the #1 pick in the inaugural draft, and has been a game favorite ever since. For his career Peters is .321-350-932 with a career 1548 hits. The 30-yr old has won the Silver Slugger 5 times, and has been a Glove Wizard winner 6 times and is a 9-time all-star.
2014: SP Pedro Rivera, Ocean City Tourists
Pedro was drafted in the 10th round of the inaugural draft and worked his way up through the Tourists system, making his debut in 2015. He is now the ace of the Tourists staff and holds a career record of 94-62 4.18, with 1 save, in 252 games and 226 starts. He has one Glove Wizard Award and is a 3-time all-star.
2015: C Andy Kohl, Dover Generals
Andy was the 2nd pick in the 2014 draft, and by the end of the season he was on the Generals roster. Two seasons later he was hitting over 40 HR's and driving in over 100 runs, something that he has done every season since 2016 (the only exception was last year when he hit 35 HR's). Kohl has been an all-star 5 times and owns 1 Silver Slugger award. For his career he is .307-342-1052 with 1403 hits.
2016: SP Brad Jones, Newark Millers
Brad was the second pick in the 2015 draft out of high-school, but quickly shot through the ranks making his debut in 2017, and in 2019 he placed his name in the top pitchers of the DBL list with a 20-4 2.21 season. He has continued to pitch well, with ERA's under 3, but hasn't won more than 14 seasons. He is a big reason why the Millers are favored to win their division this season. Brad is a 2-time all-star. During his career he has made 175 starts, posting a 68-50 record with a 3.17 ERA.
2017: C Will Riley, Ellicott City Express
Riley was the #1 pick in the 2016 draft out of Vanderbilt U. After a mediocore first season in the minors, the Express were looking for fresh faces to bring in the crowds and the popular Riley was called up, and all he did was win the 2017 Newcomer of the Year. Riley makes up for his below-average catching ability with a big bat, which has earned him 3 all-star appearances and the Silver Slugger award in 2021. For his career he has hit .313-169-595. He becomes a free-agent at the end of this season.
2018: C Antonio Castaneda, Chesapeake Blue Crabs
In 2017 Antonio signed a minor league deal with the Blue Crabs out of the Dominican Republic, and by September of 2018 he had earned himself a roster slot with the Blue Crabs. The next season he split time behind the plate and then in 2020 took over as the full-time catcher for the Blue Crabs. Antonio has developed into one of the most feared hitters in the game, and from the looks of it, like the others two catchers on this list, he will own a Silver Slugger award in the future. Antonio made his first all-star appearance last season, as well as walking away with the Glove Wizard award. For his career Antonio is hitting .287-57-261.
2019: SP Pablo Garcia, Salisbury Ports
Pablo was the #1 pick in 2018 out of Oral Roberts and after an impressive minor leauge season, Pablo was given a shot on the Ports in 2019. In 33 starts he won 14 games and has been the ace of the Ports staff ever since. Pablo is a one-time all-star and has a career 54-40 3.21 record in 132 starts.
2020: SS Anthony Lucarelli, Seaford Blue Jays
2021: SS Anthony Lucarelli, Seaford Blue Jays
Anthony was the 4th pick in the 2019 draft out of high-school. Anthony broke into the big-leagues 2 years after he was drafted, with a late seaosn call-up in 2021. In his first full-season last year he struggled with the bat, but walked away with a Glove Wizard award, known for his slick glove, he should have more of those to come. For his career he has 163 hits, with a .245-6-63 line.
2022: SP Ricardo Gonzalez, Wilmington Iron Pigs
Ricardo entered the DBL has an international free agent from Panama in 2019, and shortly signed on with the Iron Pigs. After spending 2 years in the Iron Pigs international complex, Gonzalez entered the minors in 2022, and by the end of 2022 he was making his debut in the Iron Pigs bullpen. A starter in the future, Gonzalez will in the opening day bullpen of the Iron Pigs in 2023. For his career Ricardo is 0-1 3.52 in 8 games.
Cavaliers Prospects:
If I was going to blow up the team, which I in essence did this off-season, I knew the only way to make it "fee" better was to upgrade the minor league system. Being rated the #1 system with 5 players in teh top 35, makes me feel better. Not only about what I did this off-season, but what lies ahead in the future in Norfolk.
The big score this off-season was Raul Hernandez, he has the talent to a King Brock (.290-30-100) type in the future. He is 20 and working his way up the ladder. I would expect him to see some time in AA the 2nd half of the season and probably make the bigs in 2 years.
I concentrated so much on pitching in the previous seasons I decided to look at the hitters. I may have done so a little to much, since our pitching seems a little thin, but looking at our active roster we only have 2 pitchers (Contreras and Estrada) that are over 26 years old, they are both 35.
Our offense is young two with only Jeff Lewis (31) and Mauro Candelaria (35) over the age of 28. This team is built, maybe not financially, but talent wise for many more years of success.
