Like the Pitcher's piece in this series, we will break down the rookies sitting 20-50 in the rankings or the ones that were not talked about in Jim Bowden's Rookie piece due to timing.
Brandon Lowe (2B Rays) - Lowe came up towards the end of last season and, while it started out rough, he turned it around fairly quickly. The second baseman has been known as a hitter his whole time in the Tampa system, but he really broke out in 2018 with a .297/.391/.558 slash line with 22 homers, 76 RBI, 73 runs, and eight steals in 100 games in the minors last year before coming up to the majors for a 43-game stint. He did start out going 0-for-19 in Tampa but then went 30-for-110 with six homers, 25 RBI, 16 runs, and two steals. The .233 average is misleading since the 30-for-110 stretch works out to a .272 average. Throughout the minor league career for the former third-round pick, he has swung a good bat and was never afraid of taking a walk with a career double-digit BB-rate. That walk-rate helped keep his OBP at or above 100 points higher than his already healthy batting average. Lowe will hit for average (.280 range) with 25+ homer pop and 10+ steal potential from the middle infield while also getting work in the outfield to make him a multi-position qualifier. Expect Lowe to be the full-time starter at the keystone from the jump in Tampa this year.
Bo Bichette (SS Blue Jays) -Jim Bowden already broke down the top prospect in the Jays' system and expected top-rookie in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in his 2019 Rookies piece. Bichette though also stands a chance of coming up for the second half of the 2019 season depending on his start at Triple-A Buffalo. Over 131 games in 2018 at Double-A New Hampshire, the 21-year-old middle infielder slashed .286/.343/.453 with 11 home runs, 95 runs, 74 RBI, and 32 steals all while posting a 17-percent K-rate and an 8.1-percent BB-rate. That was actually a slightly worse year than 2017 was, though it was against tougher competition since he hit 14 home runs, 88 runs, 74 RBI, and 22 steals with a .362 average in 110 games between Class-A and High-A. The Blue Jays have shown a propensity to keep their top-prospects down on the farm as long as possible to extract an extra year of control over them, so expect the same treatment for Bichette even if he fills up the stat categories in Buffalo.
Brendan Rodgers (INF Rockies) - Rodgers is one of the top-10 prospects in baseball the only problem is that he plays for a team that doesn't know what to do with the right side of the infield. Last year, Ryan McMahon was supposed to be in play for a starting role at first base while they moved Ian Desmond to the outfield, but that didn't really play out as Desmond played 136 games at first base and McMahon was left playing all over the field in a back-up role. Now at second base, Colorado has Daniel Murphy and Garrett Hampson and Ryan McMahon while at Shortstop, Trevor Story is locked in as long as he's healthy, that spells a complete lack of playing time for Rodgers even if he smashes in Triple-A in 2019. As far as abilities go, in 114 games split between Double-A Hartford and Triple-A Albuquerque, Rodgers slashed .268/.330/.460 with 17 homers, 67 RBI, 54 runs, and 12 stolen bases with all but five runs and five RBI coming at Double-A. He should get the benefit of hitting in one of the better hitter's parks in the Pacific Coast League for all or much of 2019 while he awaits an opening in the infield in Colorado.
Richie Martin (SS Orioles) - Back in December, at the Winter Meetings, the Rule-5 draft was held for teams to select players who weren't on other team's 40-man rosters. Martin was taken by the Orioles after playing at Double-A for the A's in all of 2018. In fact, the last 204 games Martin played in the minor leagues in Oakland's system came at Double-A Midland with him hitting .271/.344/.391 in that span with nine home runs, 111 runs, 69 RBI, and 37 steals. The .300/.368/.439 slash line in 118 games in 2018 is what really drew the O's attention but there are still some issues to be worked out. In 2018 Martin had a ground ball rate of 57.8-percent, which was down from his 62.1-percent mark in Double-A the year prior but that is far too high to be sustainable in the long-term and he will need to find some loft in his swing to really hit for average more consistently. The speed to steal 25-30 bases at the majors is there, it's just a question as to whether he or a teammate of his, further down this list, wins the starting shortstop gig in Baltimore.
Austin Riley (3B Braves) - In a system that is stacked with elite arm talent, Riley stands out as one of the elite bats of the group. He is also the best home-grown third base talent since Chipper Jones. Riley spent last year split between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett, hitting .294/.360/.522 with 19 homers, 70 RBI, 61 runs, and a stolen base in 108 games. The batting average was surprisingly high given his 28.4-percent K-rate on the year and sub-eight-percent walk-rate. A 50-grade hit tool, 60-grade power tool gives him the ideal offensive profile for a third baseman in the majors. His speed isn't great, a 35-grade tool, but who needs steals from the hot corner? The fielding and arm are both plus-tools as well. The only reason that he isn't up with the Braves right now is that they signed Josh Donaldson to a one-year, $23-million deal this past offseason to cover third and give Riley some more seasoning in the minors. Expect him to be up with the Braves in the second half if he rolls in the International League.
Sean Murphy (C Athletics) - Murphy may just be the most unheralded top-100 prospect in baseball as he sits at 45th overall and the fourth-best catching prospect. Catchers don't get the love the other spots get. Playing 73 games, 68 at Double-A Midland, Murphy hit .285/.361/.489 with eight homers, 54 R, 43 RBI, and three stolen bases. That offense is nice from behind the plate but it's the best part of his game by far. He possesses legitimate Gold Glove defense behind the dish and a natural ability to throw out runners at a high rate. Last year alone, Murphy threw out 34-percent of would-be base stealers and for his career, he's over 35-percent in three years including better than 42-percent in his first season. The 24-year-old backstop will start the year at Triple-A Las Vegas but with Nick Hundley and Josh Phegley both potentially leaving at the end of the season, Oakland will like to see what they have in their young catcher later in the later phase of the season.
Keston Hiura (2B Brewers) - Hiura is without question the best prospect in Milwaukee. He's their only top-100 prospect but he is at 20th overall heading into 2019 and he's the best second base prospect as well. A lot of talk around the Brewers this offseason was based around when Hiura would be joining the big club this season, that talk though has all but stopped since the signing of Mike Moustakas in February. Since being drafted in the first round of the 2017 June draft at ninth overall, he's been on a bit of a fast track having made Class-A for 27 games in the year he was drafted. The future major league keystone has an elite hit tool that grades out at 70 on the 20-80 scale and follows that with a 60-grade power tool that puts it squarely in the plus range. In 2018 over the course of 123 games split between High-A and Double-A, Hiura slashed .293/.357/.464 with 13 HR, 74 runs, 43 RBI, and 15 steals while playing major-league average defense. The glove is not what will get him to the majors, it'll be his bat, but first, there has to be room for him on the big-league club that there isn't right now.
Nate Lowe (1B Rays) - Yes, it's another Lowe on the Rays but the two are not related, however, Josh Lowe (the 16th ranked Tampa prospect) is the brother of Nate Lowe . Lowe was a 13th-round pick of the Rays in 2016 out of Mississippi State and in 2018 he really broke out with a .330/.416/.568 triple slash, 27 home runs, 102 RBI, 93 runs, and a steal over 130 games across three levels. There was a swing change for Lowe in the offseason that clearly paid dividends in 2018 and if he can start the 2019 season showing the same results while starting at Triple-A Durham, he should be up with Tampa about halfway through the year. The only real first baseman on the Rays roster at this point is Ji-Man Choi and Lowe should have no problem supplanting the 27-year-old Korean.
Ryan Mountcastle (3B Orioles) - For quite some time now Mountcastle has been identified as the third baseman of the future for the O’s knowing that Manny Machado wouldn’t be there long-term. The former Florida prep school star moved quickly in the system making it to Double-A in 2017 at age-20 due to his bat outweighing the below-average defense at the hot corner. The 2018 campaign didn’t start well for him as he was sidelined with a fractured wrist sustained in spring training, but once he was on the field the performance spoke for itself with a .297/.341/.464 slash line, .339 BABIP and .357 wOBA, with 13 home runs, 63 runs, 59 RBI, and two steals in 102 games. The Orioles are in no shape to compete in 2019 so Mountcastle will likely spend a majority of the season at Triple-A Norfolk while Renato Núñez handles the hot corner at Camden Yards. For those in keeper or dynasty leagues, picking up Mountcastle late in the draft is worth it, if he’s available still, since he will likely be up in August and certainly to start next season.
Drew Jackson (2B/SS Orioles) – The Phillies selected Jackson out of the Dodgers’ system in the Rule 5 draft and then traded him to the Orioles. Jackson makes the second young middle infielder acquired this offseason that will compete for the starting shortstop spot in 2019. Jackson is coming off a career-season in 2018 at Double-A Tulsa with a .251/.356/.447 slash line, 15 homers, 57 runs, 46 RBI, and 22 steals in 103 games with an 11-percent walk-rate and 22.7-percent K-rate. Overall, he grades out as a better all-around player than Richie Martin does as he’s seen improvements in his hit tools in the last couple of years. Jackson should provide enough offense to hit .250 with 12-15 homers and 20-plus steals with above-average defense at the shortstop spot even if he doesn’t start as the penciled in starter on Opening Day.
Will Smith (3B/C Dodgers) – Keibert Ruiz is the catcher prospect that is getting all the attention in the Dodgers’ farm system, but Smith is closer to the majors and has versatility in playing positions to boot. Smith got a taste of Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2018 after playing just down the highway in Tulsa for much of the year. In 98 combined games, the 23-year-old backstop hit .233/.322/.455 with 20 homers, 59 RBI, 57 runs, and five steals but his slash line was far better in the 73 games at Double-A at .264/.358/.532 in that span. As an organization L.A. has had him add loft to his swing since turning pro but that trade off in favor of power has really dinged him in K-rate at nearly 25-percent of his three-year career. The Dodgers let Yasmani Grandal walk at the end of the 2018 season in favor of the more defensive-minded Austin Barnes and then added Russell Martin in a trade with one year left on his deal to get a second catcher. That isn’t an inspiring group, so late in the season if Smith looks better at Triple-A than he did last year, expect a call-up as he also adds some depth for Justin Turner at third base as well.
Cavan Biggio (2B Blue Jays) – It’s no secret that the Blue Jays are in the middle of a rebuild and aren’t looking to compete this season in the stacked AL East. Biggio is one of the prospects that could be seeing his way to the majors in the second half as the Blue Jays want to see what they have in their young phenoms. The nearly 24-year-old son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio is a power-first middle infielder who in 132 games at Double-A New Hampshire last season posted 26 long balls with 99 RBI, 80 runs, and 20 steals to go with his .252/.388/.499 slash line. Toward the end of the year, Toronto moved Biggio to the outfield some to increase his versatility and get out of the loaded middle infield the Blue Jays have coming through their system. The lack of consistent contact and possessing a below-average hit tool limits his upside in the majors to that of a utility role in the least but when he comes up later in 2019 there should be some pop and speed you can pick up on the wire in the form of Biggio.