Biggest changes on final Top 100 Prospects list

October 3rd, 2018

The last time we updated our Top 100 Prospects list was back in a full re-rank at the end of July. Now that the Minor League season and playoffs are over, we had a minute to look back and see if anything needed tweaking.
:: Complete prospect coverage ::
The result of that audit is our final market correction. We were pretty aggressive this time, after making moderate changes in May and larger corrections in June, with changes up and down the list. This should put us in good shape to watch the Arizona Fall League and head into the offseason ready to tackle the Top 100 again early in 2019.
The Top 15

 Alex Kirilloff, OF, Twins (No. 30 to No. 10)
All the 2018 Futures Gamer did was finish with a .348/.392/.578 line to go along with 20 homers and 101 RBIs across two levels of Class A ball after missing 2017 due to Tommy John surgery.

 Wander Franco, SS, Rays (No. 40 to No. 14)
Signed in July 2017, Franco had one of the most stirring professional, and United States, debuts in recent memory, making the Rookie-level Appalachian League look easy with a .351/.418/.587 line with 11 homers and 57 RBIs in 61 games.

Risers

 Joey Bart, C, Giants (No. 35 to No. 23)
He had one of the better pro debuts of any 2018 first-rounder, with a .294/.364/.588 line, 13 homers and 40 RBIs, mostly in the short-season Northwest League while also throwing out 39 percent of potential basestealers.

 Dylan Cease, RHP, White Sox (No. 44 to No. 25)
MLB Pipeline's Pitcher of the Year, Cease actually produced better numbers once he reached Double-A and finished the year with a 2.40 ERA, .189 batting average against and an 11.6 K/9 rate.

 Chris Paddack, RHP, Padres (No. 47 to No. 35)
Unranked at the start of the 2018 season, Paddack put the Tommy John surgery that cost him all of the 2017 season behind him and reached Double-A, posting an astounding 120/8 K/9 ratio over 90 IP.

 Touki Toussaint, RHP, Braves (No. 73 to No. 40)
Toussaint ended any talk of him needing to become a reliever in 2018, going from Double-A all the way to making a major impact on a playoff-bound team in Atlanta and striking out 10.8/9 in two Minor League stops.

 Michael Chavis, 3B, Red Sox (No. 96 to No. 69)
Chavis shook off an 80-game suspension and resumed swinging the bat extremely well, reaching Triple-A while hitting close to .300 and slugging .538 over 46 total games.

 Nolan Gorman, 3B, Cardinals (No. 97 to No. 73)
The high schooler taken No. 19 overall in this year's draft jumped on the fast track by reaching full-season ball in his summer debut, slugging .570 and launching 17 homers in just 63 games.

New Additions

 Gavin Lux, SS, Dodgers (Unranked to No. 82)
The 2016 first-rounder is way ahead of the curve, reaching Double-A at age 20 after hitting a combined .324/.399/.514 across two levels, finishing with 15 homers and 13 steals.

 Luis Patino, RHP, Padres (Unranked to No. 83)
After a tremendous pro debut that saw him pitch his way from the Dominican Summer League to the Arizona League in 2017, Patino raised his profile even more by heading to full-season ball in May and posting a 2.16 ERA and 10.6 K/9 rate at age 18.

 Nolan Jones, 3B, Indians (Unranked to No. 85)
The left-handed hitting third baseman made the most of his full-season debut, hitting across two levels of Class A ball and finshing with a .283/.405/.466 line and 19 homers.

 Josh James, RHP, Astros (Unranked to No. 95)
After four seasons of so-so results, James took off in 2018 with a 3.23 ERA, .191 BAA and a 13.5 K/9 rate in the Minors before making a big contribution to Houston's playoff push.

 Bryse Wilson, RHP, Braves (Unranked to No. 96)
No one is talking about him relieving now, not after 143 strikeouts and just 36 walks in 125 2/3 Minor League innings across three levels that resulted in a big league callup.

 , RHP, D-backs (Unranked to No. 97)
The Yankees might regret the trade that sent to New York, especially after Widener finished second in the Minors with 176 strikeouts and posted a 2.75 ERA and .197 BAA in Double-A.
Fallers

 Luis Robert, OF, White Sox (No. 25 to No. 44)
The toolsy outfielder missed much of the 2018 season due to a left thumb injury and never really got going in the Carolina League, posting a .625 OPS in 32 games at that level.

 Nick Madrigal, 2B, White Sox (No. 32 to No. 49)
Yes, he hit (.303 in 155 ABs) and didn't strike out (five) as expected, but the lack of extra-base authority (40 of his 47 hits were singles) and likely second base only profile concerns some.

 Leody Taveras, OF, Rangers (No. 42 to No. 54)
He's still very young and full of tools, but he hasn't started putting up numbers yet, finishing his Carolina League season with a .644 OPS, albeit as a teenager.

 Franklin Perez, RHP, Tigers (No. 49 to No. 67)
Excitement for his Tigers debut, after coming over late last year in the trade, was erased when first a lat strain, then a shoulder issue, kept him from the mound for all but 19 1/3 innings all season.

 Cristian Pache, OF, Braves (No. 54 to No. 68)
Always blessed with speed and outstanding defense, Pache's bat looked like it was taking a step forward in the Florida State League, but cooled considerably with a promotion up a level.

 , LHP, Braves (No. 58 to No. 78)
The lefty continued to miss bats in the Minors (9.2 K/9), but he also gave up 9.2 hits/9 en route to a 4.81 ERA and didn't fare any better in Atlanta (5.91 ERA in 19 2/3 total IP).

 Alex Faedo, RHP, Tigers (No. 65 to No. 79)
The 2017 first-rounder pitched his way to Double-A midseason, but struggled there as he made some adjustments to his delivery, losing command both in and out of the strike zone while his stuff ticked down as a result.

 Jon Duplantier, RHP, D-backs (No. 66 to No. 80)
After a breakout 2017 season, concerns about durability that followed him in college came back when he missed nearly two months with biceps tendinitis.

 Albert Abreu, RHP, Yankees (No. 74 to No. 85)
An appendectomy certainly didn't help, but while Abreu still missed bats (9.2 K/9), he continued to struggle with his command (4.0 K/9) en route to a 5.20 combined ERA.

 Brandon Marsh, OF, Angels (No. 78 to No. 98)
He did start to put his raw tools into play across two levels of Class A ball and did a nice job of drawing walks, but his 158 K's in 127 games is concerning.

 Peter Lambert, RHP, Rockies (No. 83 to No. 99)
A command and control over pure stuff guy, Lambert did well by pitching his way to Triple-A at age 21, but he struggled there (5.04 ERA, .320 BAA in 11 starts) and his inability to miss bats (6.4 K/9) might limit his ceiling.

 , LHP, Braves (No. 87 to No. 100)
The southpaw continued to succeed in the Minors (2.72 ERA in Triple-A at age 20), but his lack of swing-and-miss stuff also limits his ceiling and his rough, albeit brief, big league debut didn't help.
Off the list

 Will Smith, C, Dodgers (No. 69 to unranked)
While he did hit 19 homers in 73 Double-A games in 2018, Smith was exposed upon reaching Triple-A (.425 OPS in 87 ABs) and continued to strike out at a high rate (112 K's in 98 games).

 Nick Gordon, SS/2B, Twins (No. 71 to unranked)
Always one to play above his individual tools, Gordon hit his way from Double- to Triple-A, where he promptly stopped hitting, with a .544 OPS in 99 International League games.

 , OF, Marlins (No. 75 to unranked)
The tools are very much still there, as evidenced by his 19 homers and 28 steals, but he also led the Minors in strikeouts (215), leading to an alarming 36.9 strikeout percentage.

 Kyle Lewis, OF, Mariners (No. 79 to unranked)
Lewis' knee kept him out of action until May and he did make his way to Double-A for the first time, but he also only hit a combined .244 with a .711 OPS.

 Anthony Alford, OF, Blue Jays (No. 88 to unranked)
On the plus side, the speedy outfielder made it back up to Toronto, but injuries slowed him again and he hit just .238/.314/.339 in 112 Triple-A games this year.

 Shane Baz, RHP, Rays (No. 92 to unranked)
He did pitch better after his trade to the Rays from the Pirates and missed bats overall (10.1 K/9), but he also struggled with command (5.0 BB/9) and finished with a 4.47 ERA in the Appy League.