ACES HIGH
The last two major league rookie classes have brimmed with talented young hitters who should factor in the MVP conversation for years to come.
From Ronald Acuña Jr., Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani and Gleyber Torres in 2018 to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Eloy Jimenez and Nick Senzel this year, most of the recent top prospects are, well, no longer prospects.
Rays shortstop Wander Franco assumes the top spot on our midseason Top 100 Prospects ranking. Like Guerrero in 2017, Franco has thoroughly dominated the low Class A Midwest League after entering the year as its youngest player.
Behind Franco, the pitchers have begun to even the scales with position players. Many members of the next wave of phenoms can be found on the mound, led by a fearsome foursome of power arms, two lefthanded and two righthanded.
Representing the southpaws are the Padres’ MacKenzie Gore (No. 3 prospect) and the Rays’ Brendan McKay (No. 16). From the right side are the Tigers’ Casey Mize (No. 7) and the Blue Jays’ Nate Pearson (No. 15).
Mize and McKay were drafted out of high-profile colleges, Pearson was
