The brochure handbook 2023 is in print. All 30 Team Top 10 will be published. Pitchers and catchers are less than a month away from reporting for spring training.
All of this can only mean one thing: It’s time for the grand finale, the 2023 Top 100 Prospects.
Topping this year’s list is Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson, reigning Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year, who showed hints of his skill in Baltimore late in the regular season.
Henderson joined budding star catcher Adleyrutschman — the Orioles’ first- and second-round picks from the 2019 draft — as potential cornerstones of a Baltimore roster poised to make October for the first time since 2016.
He’s not the only baby bird ready to hatch. Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez ranks 6th overall, placing only behind Phillie right-hander Andrew Painter among the game’s top pitching prospects.
Jackson Holliday, the #1 overall pick in the 2022 draft, rounds out Baltimore’s trio of top 15 prospects. As an amateur and in a brief rehearsal as a pro, Holliday received rave reviews from scouts and executives around the game.
Henderson is followed at the helm by D-Backs outfielder Corbin Carroll, who responded well to an aggressive effort in 2022 by blasting his way into the big leagues from Double-A.
Arizona’s first all-rounder of 2019, Carroll possesses an enticing blend of hitting ability, power, speed and defense that has made him a fixture at the top of Arizona’s lineup and a lynchpin in the team’s effort could do to move up in a strong NL West.
Henderson and Carroll open the year at the top of the list, but likely won’t be there long. Both should graduate within the first few weeks of the regular season. In that case, they’ll give way to Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio, the breakout star of the 2022 minor league season.
At just 18, Chourio showed enough skills and tools to jump over the Arizona Complex League in early May and jump into the ball all season. He opened his time in Low-A with a bang and never stopped batting in a year he ended up in Double-A. He has as many advantages as any other player on this list.
Painter, the top-ranked pitcher on the list, hit a similar searing lane as Chourio. He overwhelmed the completion at three stops with an enticing mix of stuff, composure and command. He joined Chad Billingsley, Forrest Whitley, Zack Greinke, Dylan Bundy, and Clayton Kershaw as the only prep pitchers since 2006 to achieve Double-A in their first season after the draft year.
Painter just edged out Rodriguez and Marlin’s right-hander Eury Perez for the win as the game’s top pitching prospect. Perez followed his 2021 breakout season with a similarly special 2022 as he spent most of the year bullying thugs across the Southern League.
As always, this list is a mix of our staff’s opinions and input from talent assessors around the game. JJ Cooper, Matt Eddy, Geoff Pontes, Kyle Glaser, Josh Norris and Carlos Collazo each submitted personal top 150 rankings, which were then tabulated into a composite list for scout and executive feedback.
Adjustments were made after considering their opinions. The results are what you see in front of you.
We hope you like it.