Three Red Sox prospects land on MLB Pipeline’s top 100

Another day, another top 100 list. Prior to Thursday night we had gotten to three of the major publications’ top 100 (or top 101) prospect lists. First, there was Baseball America, on which the Red Sox were represented by Triston Casas (47), Jeter Downs (71), and Bobby Dalbec (90). After that, Baseball Prospectus came out with their top 101, on which only Triston Casas (85) merited an appeared. And then, finally, just yesterday on Thursday morning, Keith Law released his list at The Athletic, with Downs (56), Casas (87) and Jarren Duran (93) making an appearance.

Thursday night was the reveal night for MLB Pipeline’s list, and we saw a continuation of a pattern with three prospects yet again being named on the list. And this time, while the numbers were different, it was the same names we saw in the BA list, and in the same order as well. This time around we saw Casas lead the away among Red Sox prospects, coming in at number 44 between Pittsburgh second baseman Nick Gonzales and Padres catcher Luis Campusano. Next up was Downs, coming in not far after at number 49 between Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez and Rays infielder Vidal Brujan. And then finally, making his second appearance on a list, Dalbec came in at number 93 between Seattle righty George Kirby and Mets third baseman Brett Baty.

This list is obviously fairly similar to the Baseball America one, at least in terms of Red Sox prospects, with the one major difference there being Downs moving up about 20 spots. I’ve said before that I am not really knowledgable enough about the national prospect landscape to have a strong opinion on that kind of ranking disparity, but I will say it feels more right to have Downs that close to Casas, as I don’t think there is a major gap between the two. That said, when you get into the back half of these lists a tier of similarly valued players can indeed last somewhere around 20 spots, so it’s not that crazy.

As for the scouting reports themselves, you can head to the link above to get the full picture including tool grades, but I will highlight a few things. First, the Casas report highlights his advanced report, which as I’ve said for me has surpassed his power as his most important trait on the field. It’s incredibly rare for someone with his size and power to also have such a clear and consistently well-executed plan on the field. Moving on to Downs, they highlight his all-around skillset as well as the jump in his ability to drive the ball the other way in 2019. And finally, with Dalbec, they of course note the big power but also point out he is at his best when he’s focusing on shooting the ball up the middle rather than trying to pull everything 500-plus feet.