When MLB Pipeline unveiled its preseason Top 100 list in January, we also highlighted the best individual tools among baseball’s best prospects. Several players mentioned have wasted no time showing off what they can do in the Majors.
Paul Skenes (best fastball, best slider) has dominated big league hitters with his mid-90s splinker (a hybrid of a two-seam fastball and a splitter that is one of the more devastating pitches in the game), upper-90s four-seamer and mid-80s slider. Not that velocity is everything, but his 98.8 mph average on his four-seamer ties José Soriano for the highest among starters in the Majors.
Masyn Winn (best arm) ranks second among big league infielders by averaging 93.2 mph on the top 5 percent of his throws, and he also has recorded the strongest bolt of any infield throw this year at 101.2 mph. Pete Crow-Armstrong (best defender) is tied for 13th among center fielders with seven Outs Above Average despite making just 65 starts at the position.
So when you peruse the superlatives from our recently updated Top 100 below, realize that you will see these talents on display in a big league ballpark in the near future. The prospects with the best hitting ability, best power, best curveball and best control on the list already are in the Majors.
The tools below are rated on the standard 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 represents big league average.
Best hitter: Jackson Holliday, 2B/SS, Orioles (70)
No. 1 on the Top 100 for the third straight time, Holliday stands out most with his advanced ability at the plate. He’s still just 20 years old, but after raising eyebrows by going 2-for-34 in his first taste of the Majors in April, he has slashed .270/.313/.556 since returning in late July. He’s a career .304/.442/.486 hitter in the Minors, where just seven of his 1,017 plate appearances have come against pitchers younger than him. He has a compact left-handed swing with plenty of bat speed and controls the strike zone masterfully, allowing him to smoke the ball with authority to all fields.
