The north star of professional baseball coverage, Baseball America, revamped its top-100 prospect list for May, and Milwaukee Brewers standout Jesús Made hasn’t quite made the trek all the way to No. 1 … yet.
The only name ahead of him? Pittsburgh’s Konnor Griffin, whose 105 at-bats for the big-league club leave him 25 short of the organization’s cutoff for players still characterized as a “prospect.” The newly turned 20-year-old entered the season as the top prospect in baseball and was given a nine-year extension with a big-league promotion in April.
Gone are a few other players who had been ranked ahead of Made in April: Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle and St. Louis’ JJ Wetherholt, both of whom began the year with their major-league teams and graduated off the prospect list.
The Brewers also lost prospects from the preseason list, including Brandon Sproat (who graduated by virtue of his big-league service time) and Bishop Letson (who was ranked No. 96 on the April list and does not appear here).
The Brewers players who made the cut were:
No. 2: Jesús Made
The shortstop is the next natural No. 1 prospect in baseball once Griffin graduates, and if that comes to pass, he’ll be the second Brewers player to earn that designation along with Jackson Chourio. Made entered May 6 at Class AA Biloxi with an .804 OPS, including three homers and 14 stolen bases. He turns 19 years old May 8.
No. 35: Luis Peña
Up 13 spots from his April position, the 19-year-old middle infielder at Class A Wisconsin hasn’t seen the field since April 22 after a scary incident when he passed out in the dugout. He had been torching the Midwest League in a small sample, with a .974 OPS in 43 at-bats, with a home run and six steals.
No. 54: Cooper Pratt
The shortstop at AAA moved down three spots but is closer to the big leagues than he was the last time the list came out, having signed his own long-term extension and getting a place on the team’s 40-man roster. The shortstop with a big-league glove has shown progress after a slow start at the plate this year; he has a .671 OPS at Nashville with a home run and nine steals.
No. 64: Logan Henderson
Up 24 spots from April, the right-handed starter Henderson has shown he’s ready to contribute at the big-league level both last year and now, and he’s on the doorstep of graduating off this list. He has a 1.02 ERA in 18 innings at Nashville, but with Brandon Woodruff hurt, it doesn’t seem clear if he’ll have to make many (or any) more starts below the big-league level.
No. 66: Luis Lara
He came in at No. 99 in April, and the outfielder took a big leap forward, thanks to his huge year at AAA despite still being just 21 years old. The defensive standout has a .970 OPS, with a career-best six homers and 12 stolen bases this year.
No. 70: Jett Williams
Down four spots from April, Williams struggled out of the gate but has been showing serious flashes lately. The versatile infielder has been playing third base at Nashville and has a .697 OPS with three homers and eight steals.
Wisconsin native also on the list
Connor Prielipp (No. 68), a left-handed pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, has already made his Major League debut. He’s a Tomah High School graduate.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jesús Made second, for now, on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects
