The minor league season is on a break in the lower levels for their league’s respective All-Star Games. So now is a great time to see who is pulling their weight in Class-A Advanced, and one prospect who’s been bumped up to Double-A already to give you the jump on mid-season stash pick-ups in dynasty or keeper leagues with minor league spots, like the ones I’m in. 

The Rockies had the third overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft and with it they selected Brendan Rodgers (SS/2B COL A+). He ranks as the top Rockies prospect at the moment and with good reason. Rodgers slashed .400/.419/.700 at Class-A Advanced this season with 12 homers, 46 RBI, 43 runs scored, and two steals in 48 games, prior to Colorado promoting him to Double-A starting this weekend. His ISO this season is an astounding .300 but 222 at bats is too small a sample size to use it effectively. Last season’s .199 ISO in 491 PA is a far better sample. He grades out as a 55 Hit and 55 Power guy but will likely have to change to second base, if Trevor Story stays in Colorado.

Los Angeles made a UVA catcher the 16th pick of the 2016 draft when they took Matt Thaiss (1B LAA A+). Since being drafted he has changed positions to first base and progressed from Rookie ball to Class-A Advanced Inland Empire. He ranks second in the Angels farm system currently, after being considered the best pure hitter in the 2016 class. Thaiss is slashing .262/.351/.395 in 66 games with seven homers, 37 RBI, 33 runs, and three steals. His wOBA comes in at .343, BABIP at .289, and ISO at .135 all aren’t terribly impressive but his 11.0% BB rate is as is his even splits to all fields and between line drivers, fly balls, and grounders. He has a few years to develop but a 20-25-homer first baseman is what he projects to be.

Philadelphia signed a lanky right-hander out of the Dominican Republic in 2013 by the name of Franklyn Kilome (RHP PHI A+). The 21-year-old, about to be 22 in four days, Happy Birthday Franklyn, is 6’6” and 175 pounds but already has a smooth repeatable motion with room to improve. A fastball, curveball, change-up combo is what he features with mid-90s heat that touches 97. Kilome’s ERA of 2.53 in 57 IP is better than his 3.67 FIP and 3.62 xFIP, and he has a respectable 8.05 K/9. Once the lanky starter fills out some more he will control pitches better and learn to get late life on his offerings, which will make it tougher to square up than it already is given his 44.3% GB rate this year.

Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna (OF ATL AA) is the prospect on this list to already have been promoted to Double-A, though only about 30 games ago. The 19-year-old centerfielder is the seventh-ranked prospect in their newly stacked system and for good reason. He grades out at a 55-hit tool, 50-power, and 60-run. So far this season, split evenly between two levels, he has combined for a .298/.352/.464 slash line with seven homers, 24 total extra base hits, 40 runs, 39 RBI, and 29 steals. He also tallies a .400 BABIP , .372 wOBA, and .147 ISO mark. Those kind of numbers explain why he is so highly touted in their system and what the Braves hope he will bring to the majors in two year’s time.

At just 20 years old, Victor Robles (OF WAS A+) has seemingly been the talk of the Nationals system for a few years now. Signing in 2013 out of the D.R., Robles is a five-tool center fielder whose plus attributes abound. His 60-hit, 50-power, 70-run, 65-arm, and 60-field tools are the reason Washington never pulled the trigger on the Andrew McCutchen trade over the Winter Meetings. He’s posted a .296/.393/.505 triple-slash with a .400 wOBA, and .344 BABIP. Robles, in 272 minor league games, he has 96 steals and 22 homers, though six have come this year, which is already a career high for a season. Ranked as the top-prospect in the system, and fifth in baseball according MLB pipeline, he should be patrolling center field in Washington in 2019.

Coming into the 2016 draft, a outfielder by the name of Corey Ray (OF MIL A+) from Louisville was the top rated position player available. Milwaukee took him fifth overall and since that time he has been pretty solid. Playing again at A+, after 57 games last year, he is slashing .251/.333/.399 with four homers, 28 runs, 26 RBI, and 15 steals with a .327 wOBA and .370 BABIP. Those numbers aren’t world-beaters but the anticipation of what the second-ranked Brewers prospect could be are similar to their top-prospect in Lewis Brinson. At his current pace, he is still a couple of years away, since he has yet to make it to Double-A. Many scouts believe there to be 20-homer seasons in his future in the majors, but that will take sometime to show.

Cleveland made good use of the Competitive Balance round A in the 2015 draft when they selected Triston McKenzie (RHP CLE A+) out of Royal Palm Beach High in Florida. The 19-year-old righty is 6”5” and 165 lb. as listed making him just as lanky as the previous pitcher talked about in this piece. He mixes in an above-average change and curve with a low to mid-90s heater with good downhill plane in his delivery. There is a lot of frame to project here, but if he fills out the way most believe he will, increased velocity and more life should follow. His control is already solid with a 3:1 K:BB ratio through 71.1 innings this year. His 91 Ks and .224 BABIP against shine a light onto what he could be while working through the Indians system. He has the pitch mix, delivery, and stuff to become a frontline starter in perhaps three years given his age.