Baseball America says Yoan Moncada is the top prospect in baseball
Five Red Sox made the top 100 list
Baseball America released it’s annual Midseason Top 100 Prospects list over the weekend and five Red Sox made the cut, including Yoan Moncada at No. 1.
Joining Moncada were Andrew Benintendi (No. 9), Anderson Espinoza (No. 15), Rafael Devers (No. 41), and Michael Kopech (No. 93). The Red Sox and Nationals were the only teams to feature three prospects in the list’s top 15.
The 21 year-old second baseman Moncada was signed in 2015 by former general manager Ben Cherington to a record-setting $31.5 million signing bonus. In 77 games this season, Moncada is batting .312/.415/.532, with 9 home runs (including 6 in the last month) and 40 stolen bases. Moncada started the season with the Salem Red Sox, appearing in 61 games before being promoted to the Portland Sea Dogs in mid-June. In his 16 games against the advanced competition of AA, Moncada is performing statistically better across the board.
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Joining Moncada in the top-10 is Benintendi, a 22 year-old outfielder selected with the seventh pick in the first round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft. Benintendi was also promoted to the Sea Dogs this season, and has compiled a .311/.376/.526 slash line across two minor league levels with 7 home runs and 14 stolen bases. Moncada and Benintendi were each featured in Sunday night’s MLB Futures Game, and Moncada was named as the game’s MVP in an 11-3 victory for Team World over Team USA.
Espinoza is a righthander playing his age-18 season for the Greenville Drive in the South Atlantic League. He is 4-8 with a 4.18 ERA and has 65 strikeouts in 71 innings as the league’s youngest player. Devers, a 19 year-old third baseman, was named to the Futures Game last year. He is currently playing for Salem, with a .264/.326/.402 line and 5 home runs.
Kopech was a first round selection in 2014, but the 20 year-old has seen his pro career get off to a slow start after a suspension and injuries. He impressed in his first 2016 start with Salem, striking out six in four innings, and the scoreboard clocked his fastball as topping out at 101 miles-per-hour.
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