2 Orioles in BA Carolina League top prospects list

[jcarm]

Hays is #3 and Mountcastle is #17

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-carolina-league-top-20-prospects/#xBBE2cfSirTQSr39.97

[MachoMachadoMan]

20 year old puts up .885 OPS with 51 XBH in 88 games. Barely top 20 prospect? I don't care what position he plays. That's impressive for a 1st baseman. 

[Frobby]

Interesting to see that league MVP Ademar Rifaela did not make the list.   Not that I'm necessarily surprised.     I agree that Mountcastle's ranking seems a little low.     Sounds like he won't make the BA top 100.    

[jcarm]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Interesting to see that league MVP Ademar Rifaela did not make the list.   Not that I'm necessarily surprised.     I agree that Mountcastle's ranking seems a little low.     Sounds like he won't make the BA top 100.    

I tend to agree that Mountcastle is a bit low although the Carolina League is a hitters league and Nymeo field is a notorious launching pad/band box so you cannot go on stats alone. Rifaela would not have been MVP if several more talented players (Hays for example) were not promoted mid season.

[Il BuonO]

46 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Interesting to see that league MVP Ademar Rifaela did not make the list.   Not that I'm necessarily surprised.     I agree that Mountcastle's ranking seems a little low.     Sounds like he won't make the BA top 100.    

Might be some reticence there to place him higher until his defense is sorted out.

[jcarm]

I got my 2 questions answered in the chat right away.

 

• John (Acworth, GA): Did League MVP Ademar Rifaela receive much consideration for the list?

Josh Norris: He did. He obviously has some power potential, but he did get a little bit of a boost from Frederick's cozy confines too. He was probably in the next five or so in the league and could up his stock next year with a strong year in Bowie.
 

• John (Acworth, GA): Did Jomar Reyes receive and consideration for the list?

Josh Norris: He was eligible, obviously, and is a player I like personally, but it's hard to believe the real Reyes was on display this year after missing so much time with injury. There are questions as to whether he'll stick at third base, but the power is legit.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/?1506346718

[Frobby]

That's a fairly encouraging take on Rifaela.    Thanks for posting.    

[Ruzious]

I'd rate Reyes ahead of Rifaela as a prospect mainly because Reyes is 2 and a fraction years younger, and Rifaela strikes out a lot more.  Reyes' biggest problems, imo - immaturity and conditioning - can both be significantly improved on.  Sorry for veering somewhat off topic.  I'll be rooting hard for Rifaela at Bowie to show I've underrated him.  

[Luke-OH]

This list isn't as strong as the Eastern League list.

Hays ranking is quite impressive only ranking behind Jimenez and Robles, but in front of Perez, McKenzie, and Tucker.   Mountcastle is ranked too low IMO, should be towards the back of the top ten.  Rifaela being close to making the list is surprising/impressive, I wouldn't have him on the list either.  

Reyes should be on the list IMO. Maybe missing time hurt his chances but I'd take Reyes over Gatewood in a second. Better hit tool, better raw power, similar defensive profile, less game power (but Reyes is about 18 months younger so that is to be expected).  I'm not sure what BA's fascination is with guys who K over 25% of the time in A+ ball, the track record of guys like that turning into something isn't good.

It was only 50 games but Reyes increased his line drive rate by 5% this year and only struck out 16% of the time He reduced his IFFB % from 24% to 8%.  The kid can hit the ball, if the power starts showing up in games, you've got a monster. He'll play all of next year as a 21 year old.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, birdwatcher55 said:

Seriously, Callis and his cohorts are on drugs. Mountcastle tore this league apart. Who is running that publication? Keith Law?

I guess defense matters.   Who knew?

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I guess defense matters.   Who knew?

They certainly didn't ask Buck.

[ChuckS]

17th in the Carolina League would put him at what?  Not even a top 200 prospect?

Considering Mountcastle has started to appear on other top 100 lists this is a pretty big surprise and his numbers are certainly going to compare favorably to many ahead of him.  He shouldn't be docked too bad for the position uncertainty considering the power has has shown would play at 1B or OF. 

[Luke-OH]

 

1 hour ago, ChuckS said:

17th in the Carolina League would put him at what?  Not even a top 200 prospect?

Considering Mountcastle has started to appear on other top 100 lists this is a pretty big surprise and his numbers are certainly going to compare favorably to many ahead of him.  He shouldn't be docked too bad for the position uncertainty considering the power has has shown would play at 1B or OF. 

He might not make BA's top 100, but I'd be surprised if he's not on one of the national top 100 rankings.

[Tony-OH]

On 9/25/2017 at 3:35 PM, phillyOs119 said:

This list isn't as strong as the Eastern League list.

Hays ranking is quite impressive only ranking behind Jimenez and Robles, but in front of Perez, McKenzie, and Tucker.   Mountcastle is ranked too low IMO, should be towards the back of the top ten.  Rifaela being close to making the list is surprising/impressive, I wouldn't have him on the list either.  

Reyes should be on the list IMO. Maybe missing time hurt his chances but I'd take Reyes over Gatewood in a second. Better hit tool, better raw power, similar defensive profile, less game power (but Reyes is about 18 months younger so that is to be expected).  I'm not sure what BA's fascination is with guys who K over 25% of the time in A+ ball, the track record of guys like that turning into something isn't good.

It was only 50 games but Reyes increased his line drive rate by 5% this year and only struck out 16% of the time He reduced his IFFB % from 24% to 8%.  The kid can hit the ball, if the power starts showing up in games, you've got a monster. He'll play all of next year as a 21 year old.

I also got great reviews about him from instructs. Jeff Manto has been working hard with him and he was able to take some of that instruction into games down there, something he hasn't been able to do in the past.

[Luke-OH]

17 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I also got great reviews about him from instructs. Jeff Manto has been working hard with him and he was able to take some of that instruction into games down there, something he hasn't been able to do in the past.

Watching him this year, I feel like his hit tool is underrated, the amount of quality contact he made without great strike zone judgement was impressive to me.  Good to hear that he's making improvements in instructs.