Keith Law Top 100 Analysis
By Jason Mast
Jun 12, 2013; Gardena, CA, USA; Gardena Serra first baseman Dominic Smith poses at portrait session at Serra High. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
ESPN’s Keith Law came out with his annual ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball, and there are more than a few surprises on the list.
Law is clearly a big believer in Royals starter Kyle Zimmer, ranking him as the 10th best prospect in baseball. There is little debate about his arsenal in the scouting community as most everyone is impressed by his mid 90’s fastball and hammer curve, which Keith Law called potential 70s on the 20-80 scouting scale. There were many, however, such as MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Baseball Prospectus’s Jason Parks, who were concerned by his poor performance in Double-A. In his list, Mayo listing Zimmer 25th and Parks had him down at 34 in his own ranking.
Julio Urias also seems to have piqued Law’s interest. The 17 year old Mexican lefthander who pitched exceptionally as the youngest player in full season ball last year was ranked 14th overall, but was just 35th on Parks’ list and 65th on Mayo’s. With players this young, it’s all about projection. Urias’s fastball and curveball can make a scout dream but so much can go wrong between now and the big leagues.
Making a surprise visit to the top 100 list is Mets teenage 1B prospect Dominic Smith, who seems to have dramatically improved his stock since being drafted last June. At that time, he was listed by ranked by Keith Law as the 11th best prospect among all draftees and was subsequently taken with the 11th pick. Now, he makes Law’s list as the 37th best prospect in all of baseball, ahead of six guys who were drafted ahead of him. Fellow teenager Phillies Shortstop J.P. Crawford made a leap as well, going from 14th in Law’s draft rankings and the 16th overall pick, the 45th best prospect in baseball. Neither player was listed on Parks’ or Mayo’s lists.
Notable snubs, or rather prospects that made the Prospectus and MLB.com list but not Law’s or were ranked significantly lower on Law’s include Cubs starter C.J. Edwards, who didn’t make the list, Angels starter Kohl Stewart, who ranked 76th, Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong who was listed at 78th, and Rangers outfielder Michael Choice, who also did not make the list.