Perhaps the most interesting wrinkle this year is the addition of ten “more prospects to know,” which becomes eight, as the Josh Bell trade effectively moved up Nos. 31 and 32 to 29 and 30 (and just about everyone else after the pre-trade #9, Mason Denaburg). Thus:
| 33. 2B Viandel Peña | 37. RHP Niomar Gomez |
| 34. OF Cody Wilson | 38. LHP Mitchell Parker |
| 35. LHP Evan Lee | 39. RHP Zach Brzykcy |
| 36. RHP Todd Peterson | 40. C Geraldi Diaz |
All but two of these players were already on the 2021 Watchlist. One was an NDFA (Brzykcy, pronounced “Brick-see”) and the other was a former DSL Arm (Gomez) who was decidedly mediocre in 2019 (4.26/3.65/1.58) in his second NYPL season [insert Billy Rowell defense here].
Three players were named as breakout prospects – SS Jackson Cluff, C Israel Pineda, and OF Daniel Marte. As noted in this post last year, three of the past four “breakout prospects” have been traded (RHP Eddie Yean, IF Kelvin Gutierrez, LHP Tyler Watson). The fourth was Pineda, who was the 2019 “Breakout Prospect.”
Now, let’s take a gander at what was predicted in 2018 for the 2021 lineup, which is always good for a laugh:
| C – Raudy Read | #1SP – Stephen Strasburg |
| 1B – Daniel Murphy | #2SP – Max Scherzer |
| 2B – Wilmer Difo | #3SP – Joe Ross |
| SS – Trea Turner | #4SP – Erick Fedde |
| 3B – Anthony Rendon | #5SP – Wil Crowee |
| LF – Adam Eaton | CL – Seth Romero |
| CF – Victor Robles | |
| RF – Bryce Harper |
They improved from three of 14 to four of 14 with this SWAG and like a year ago, you might give ’em credit for more if Ross, Fedde, or Romero end up in those roles.
| C – Tres Barrera | #1SP – Stephen Strasburg |
| 1B – Yasel Antuna | #2SP – Patrick Corbin |
| 2B – Luis Garcia | #3SP – Cade Cavalli |
| SS – Trea Turner | #4SP – Jackson Rutledge |
| 3B – Carter Kieboom | #5SP – Cole Henry |
| LF – Juan Soto | CL – Tanner Rainey |
| CF – Victor Robles | |
| RF – Andrew Stevenson |