Part 1: players 11-20
Part 2: players 6-10
Part 3: players 1-5
ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - On Wednesday, we posted prospects Nos. 11-20 and today we move on!
A loose description of the criteria I use is in the piece linked above. It's not complicated. LOL.
Here we go with prospects 6-10:
10. Brendan Donovan, IF
Donovan is a really good left handed hitting infielder who took a huge jump forward in terms of production in 2021 while showing he can play all over the infield. After opening the '21 season at High-A Peoria he finished at Triple-A Memphis without seeing his numbers decline as he started facing more advanced competition. In fact, his slugging numbers went up at Triple-A compared to High-A and Double-A. He's not really known for being a great defensive player so this high of a ranking might be a little aggressive but he can really hit. He hit .304 combined at three levels last season with 21 doubles and 12 HR in just 108 games...and he doesn't strike out much, fanning just 77 times in 441 PA (17%). He also drew 50 walks which helped him post a .399 OBP. After a strong regular season he posted a .941 OPS in 15 games in the Arizona Fall League. He could be an interesting player to watch in Spring Training this year.
9. Zach Thompson, LHP
Thompson was a 1st round pick (#19) back in 2019 so you know he's talented but he struggled in 2021 in what ended up being his first full pro season after not playing in any games in 2020 because of the COVID shutdown. He jumped all the way to Triple-A in 2021 and he really struggled, both with his command and with giving up a lot of hard contact (18 HR allowed in just 93 IP). He wound up 2-10 with a 7.06 ERA at Memphis and that might make some people wonder if he's really a prospect but the last two seasons have been difficult to get a read on and he has really good stuff so I'm not bailing on him just yet. It was also encouraging that he went to the Arizona Fall League at the end of '21 and was outstanding, posting a 1.56 ERA in 17.3 IP with 22 K. It wasn't all good in the AFL, he still had control problems (15 BB), but he worked entirely as a reliever there and it will be interesting to see if that's where his career trends if he doesn't find consistency as a starter.
8. Alec Burleson, OF
2021 was Burleson's professional debut after he was drafted 70th overall in the 2020 draft. He blew through stops at High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield reaching Triple-A Memphis barely a year after he finished playing at East Carolina. What I like most about Burleson is that while he's got some power he's more known for being a hitter than a slugger. He struck out about 20% of the time despite playing 108 of the 119 games he played at the highest levels and his strikeout rate went down to about 16% at Triple-A. All of that came with 18 doubles and 22 HR as well. It will be interesting to see if there's even more power in that bat in 2022.
7. Michael McGreevy, RHP
The Cardinals took McGreevy with the 18th pick in the 1st round in 2021 and he seems like he's the perfect Cardinals' pitcher. He's an advanced college pitcher with a reputation for being a consistent strike thrower...and he's no soft-tosser either. McGreevy gets the fastball into the mid-90's and has the four-pitch repertoire you'd like a starting pitcher to have. Pre-draft scouting reports had all four of his pitches rated as at least average with the fastball and slider being rated as above average. The control/command is his calling card though. He didn't pitch much after signing with the Cardinals, just 7.7 IP in total, so it will be interesting to see where he starts in 2022 and how fast he is moved.
6. Malcolm Nunez, 3B
If you look at the numbers Nunez posted at Double-A in 2021 (.701 OPS) you'd probably think I'm an idiot for placing him this high but he was extremely young for that level and he has real offensive potential, including a good bit of future power. He had only played parts of 2018 and 2019 before not playing at all in 2020 because of COVID so it's impressive for him to reach Double-A as a 20 year-old given those circumstances. He only struck out 19% of the time in 2021 and that was an improvement over 2019 so it appears he's heading in the right direction. With Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker in the system he's probably not going to stay at 3B if he's going to play at the big league level in STL but his bat can play elsewhere.
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