Top 100 season, formerly known as the Hot Stove, resumed yesterday with the release of Keith Law’s Top 100 Prospects for 2025($), which included three Washington Nationals prospects… just not the same three as Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, as Keith Law’s Top 100 prospects were released yesterday.
Dylan Crews – 7
Law acknowledges the gap between the hype and the production, but points to the “hard-hit” rates (presumably the StatCast definition of 95mph+ exit velocity) Crews put up in AAA (43.3%) and MLB (44.7%) as indicators that some of this may be just bad luck. Perhaps more salient:
He’s closed off some of the trouble he had in 2023 with fastballs up in the zone, and missed just 10 percent of the fastballs he swung at in the majors. He hit lefties fine in his brief sample in the big leagues as well, struggling mostly against breaking stuff from righties, especially down and away. Even with the tepid performance in the high minors, he still shows the underlying characteristics of an above-average hitter in the big leagues, and that coupled with what is probably grade 55 defense in center — or plus if he moves to a corner at any point — would still make him at least a consistent 3-4 WAR player right now.
Seaver King – 80
Here’s the newcomer to these lists, which may please some folks by his inclusion and probably irritate others by the slot. King, who had played 3B and OF in his single season at Wake Forest, was shifted to SS. Law seems to think he’ll stick:
He’s a 55 defender there now and could still improve given his lack of experience and limited instruction there. He’s got a quick bat and is very aggressive at the plate, especially early in counts, because he can put so many pitches in play, even ones out of the zone — for now, at least, as that doesn’t always work as you get further up the ladder. He’s got sneaky pop, maybe good for 15 homers a year, but his game is going to be much more about hitting for contact and average, since his current swing doesn’t get a ton of lift on the ball. His 55/60 speed makes him a solid defender in center if shortstop doesn’t work out, but he’s most valuable at short and I think he’s going to hit more than enough to be a very good regular there.
Travis Sykora – 85
As did the previous two Top 100’ers, Law acknowledges Sykora’s sheer size, velocity, and production. However, he’s concerned about Sykora’s unwillingness to work down in the zone:
he arm is still kind of late relative to his front leg, and all the moving parts in the delivery make me suspect it’ll always be more control than command for him. He also doesn’t seem to pitch down with his four-seamer at all, which might not be an issue but just strikes me as unusual. Sykora pitched like a future ace last year, and he has two pitches that could get him there. He may have simply out-stuffed Low-A hitters, however, and I would like to see him do it against more advanced hitters before buying in completely.
Today, Law is expected to release this “old maid” follow-up—the near misses (*rimshot!*)—so we may get an explanation for Susana missing when MLB and BA said yea. Or not.
It’s worth noting that Law believes that MLB’s coup d’état has diminished the talent pool in MiLB overall because teams are basically forced to move guys up a level before they’re ready because there’s someone else behind them that needs the spot… like King and Armando Cruz this past summer.