Welcome to this week’s Big Movers in the weekly update of the RotoProspects Top 500.
The No. 1 riser (besides the 2023 MLB draftees) is Roderick Arias, a 18-year-old Florida Complex League shortstop of the Yankees who is on fire in July with a triple-slash of .391/.571/.826 with 3 homers and 3 steals in 7 games. The 6-foot, 178-pound switch-hitting Dominican has a season line of .281/.430/.528 with 6 HR and 11 SB in 23 games.
Arias (pictured above) was the consensus No. 1 prospect in the 2022 international signing class and signed for $4 million but struggled in the Dominican Summer League by hitting .194 in his 31-game pro debut. Arias has 60-grad speed but is just 3-for-7 on stolen-base attempts in July, but he’s drawn 11 walks to just 5 strikeouts in that time.
Arias catapulted up 62 spots to No. 80 as it won’t be long before the hype will start growing for the next great Yankees prospect.
Next up is Hayden Birdsong, a 21-year-old High-A right-handed pitcher of the Giants who has started out July on fire with 19 Ks in 10 innings, including contributing to a combined no-hitter with five innings on July 4. The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder was a sixth-rounder out of Eastern Illinois in 2022. He started 2023 with a 2.16 ERA and 70 strikeouts in just 41.2 innings in Low-A. Birdsong skyrocketed 71 spots to No. 322 as he could make it to Double-A this season.
Xavier Edwards, a 23-year-old Triple-A second baseman/outfielder of the Marlins who is going berserk in July with a .538 average and 7 steals in 8 games to raise his season totals to .368 with 20 steals, so he flies up 70 spots to No. 412.
Daylen Lile, a 20-year-old Low-A outfielder of the Nationals who is breaking out with a triple-slash of .288/.381/.502 with 7 HR and 21 SB, and shoots up 64 spots to No. 338.
Sal Stewart, a 19-year-old Low-A third baseman of the Reds who is batting .335 with 7 homers and 4 steals since the start of June to raise his season totals to .271 with 8 HR and 8 SB, and he jumps up 48 spots to No. 288.
Caden Dana, a 19-year-old High-A right-handed pitcher of the Angels who has a 0.00 ERA with 16 Ks in 12.2 IP over his last 2 starts, so he shoots up at least 44 spots into the rankings at No. 457.
Jorge Marcheco, a 20-year-old High-A right-handed pitcher of the Angels who tossed 6 scoreless innings with 8 Ks in his Tri-City debut after posting a 2.79 ERA in Low-A, so he jumps up at least 43 spots into the rankings at No. 458.
Thomas Saggese, a 21-year-old Double-A shortstop of the Rangers who has a 1.343 OPS with 3 HR and 1 SB in July to raise season totals to a .908 OPS with 13 HR and 7 SB, leading to a 43-spot rise to No. 206.
Jackson Wolf, a 24-year-old Double-A left-handed pitcher of the Padres who has a 3.49 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP and 98-20 K-BB in 80 IP for San Antonio, so he vaults up 37 spots to No. 276.
Ryan Bliss, a 23-year-old Triple-A second baseman of the Diamondbacks who was just promoted to Reno after posting a 1.008 OPS with 12 homers and 30 steals in Double-A, leading to a 35-spot jump to No. 102.
The biggest faller of the week is Connor Prielipp, a 22-year-old High-A left-handed pitcher of the Twins who is reportedly going to have surgery on his UCL in his left elbow, which already underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, and he plummets over 268 spots from No. 233 to out of the 500.
The biggest riser inside the Top 100 other than Arias is Yanquiel Fernandez, a 20-year-old Double-A outfielder of the Rockies who has a .930 OPS with 5 HR in 13 games for Hartford after posting a .959 OPS with 17 HR in 58 games in High-A – he shoots up 34 spots to No. 56.
Roman Anthony, a 19-year-old High-A outfielder of the Red Sox, is crushing for Greenville with a 1.331 OPS with 7 HR and 1 SB in 16 games – he jumps up 33 spots to No. 55.
The biggest faller of the week inside the Top 100 is again Brandon Pfaadt, a 24-year-old Triple-A right-handed pitcher of the Diamondbacks who struggled in his first start back in Reno (5 ER in 4 IP) after getting clobbered for 6 ER in 2 innings against the Rays – he dropped 61 spots to No. 116.
Check back next week to see who the biggest movers are when our next update for the Top 500 Prospects comes out.