Welcome to this week’s Big Movers in the weekly update of the RotoProspects Top 500.
The No. 1 riser is Victor Scott II, a 22-year-old Double-A outfielder of the Cardinals who is showing off some pop to go with his game-changing speed for Springfield. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder (pictured above) had 7 homers and 45 steals in 66 regular-season games in Double-A after putting up just 2 dingers in 66 games in High-A with 50 bags. A fifth-round pick out of West Virginia in the 2022 MLB draft, Scott has added a steal in the Texas League playoffs that doesn’t count toward his minors-leading total. Scott isn’t just a slash-and-dash burner, hitting enough fly balls to give him a chance to reach double-figures in homers per season in the majors. Now he’s got us dreaming of a .300-batting leadoff hitter who can contribute 10 homers to go with 50-plus steals – heck, why not 80 as long as we’re dreaming! Scott blasts up 31 spots into the top 100 of our rankings at No. 98.
Next up is Sawyer Gipson-Long, a 25-year-old Tigers right-hander pitcher who has hit the ground running in Detroit by posting a 2.70 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 10 innings over his first 2 starts. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder had shown signs that a breakout was coming with a three-start stretch in August where he put up 25 strikeouts in 16 innings with a 1.13 ERA in Triple-A. That outburst was sandwiched between 5 sub-par starts, leading to a 5.45 ERA for Toledo after posting a 3.74 ERA in 65 innings in Double-A. Gipson-Long came to the Twins last summer in a swap for reliever Michael Fulmer. Gipson-Long features a plus slider as part of a four-pitch mix that helps his low-90s fastball play up with good arm-side run. The early returns have been so tremendous that he’s made everyone sit up and take notice, so he’ll have a lot of new fans as a streamer for his start tonight at Oakland. With a pitcher’s park at home to go with a 13 K/9 in Triple-A and 14.4 K/9 for Detroit, Gipson-Long skyrocketed up 187 spots No. 273.
Robert Calaz, a 17-year-old Dominican Summer League outfielder of the Rockies who put up huge numbers in his pro debut with a .325/.423/.561 triple-slash, 7 homers and 6 steals in 43 games that has left a lingering buzz, leading to a 67-spot jump to No. 300.
Jack Leiter, a 23-year-old Triple-A right-handed pitcher of the Rangers who posted a 2.76 ERA over 4 starts in Double-A coming off the development list after struggling to a 5.51 ERA in the first half, so he shoots up 59 spots to No. 126.
Damiano Palmegiani, a 23-year-old Triple-A third baseman of the Blue Jays who has been on a tear in his first 17 games for Buffalo with a .968 OPS and 3 homers after putting up an .814 OPS with 19 dingers in Double-A, and he jumps up 56 spots to No. 395.
Mac Horvath, a 22-year-old High-A second/third baseman of the Orioles who put up a combined 1.058 OPS with 5 homers and 14 steals in 22 games over 3 levels, so he shoots up 56 spots to No. 227.
Jack Brannigan, a 22-year-old High-A third baseman of the Pirates who posted a combined .914 OPS with 19 homers and 24 steals in 87 games between Greensboro and Low-A, so he jumps up 47 spots to No. 398.
Graham Pauley, a 22-year-old Double-A third baseman of the Padres who ripped through 3 levels with a combined .931 OPS, 23 homers and 22 steals, so he vaults up 44 spots to No. 157.
Kristian Robinson, a 22-year-old Double-A outfielder of the Diamondbacks who put up a combined .914 OPS with 14 homers and 23 steals over 4 levels punctuated by 2 homers in 5 games in Double-A, leading to a 43-spot jump to No. 219.
Adam Macko, a 22-year-old High-A left-handed pitcher of the Blue Jays who finished the season on a roll by allowing just 3 hits and 1 run over 15 innings with 26 strikeouts covering 3 starts, and he shoots up 41 spots to No. 408.
Homer Bush Jr., a 21-year-old Double-A outfielder of the Padres who is 4-for-6 with a homer and a steal so far in the Double-A playoffs after combining for an .861 OPS, 3 homers and 22 steals in 44 games over 3 levels in the regular season, and he shoots up 40 spots to No. 346.
The biggest faller of the week is Alex Ramirez, a 20-year-old High-A outfielder of the Mets who batted .149 over the final 6 weeks of the season to finish with a .627 OPS, and he plummets 38 spots to No. 402.
The biggest riser inside the Top 100 besides Scott is Jackson Jobe, a 21-year-old Double-A right-handed pitcher of the Tigers who tossed 6 scoreless innings in his Double-A debut on Sunday to finish the regular season with a 2.81 ERA over 4 levels, so he vaults up 16 spots to No. 37.
The biggest faller of the week inside the Top 100 is Marcelo Mayer, a 20-year-old Double-A shortstop of the Red Sox who finished the season on the IL after struggling to a .609 OPS in 43 games for Portland – he drops 12 spots to No. 52.