2024 Pre-Season RDBL Top 100 By The Numbers

The Roger Dorn Baseball League 2024 Pre-Season Top 100 Prospect List is live with Lake Merced Goutfish right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking home the top spot. We wanted to highlight some of the interesting numbers that accompany the RDBL Top 100 below, including an overview on how many prospects are set to hit RDBL Active Rosters this year.

1: The top ranked Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Lake Merced Goutfish joins Kris Bryant (Fish, 2016), Trea Turner (Stacks, 2017), Cody Bellinger (Fringe, 2018), Ronald Acuña (2019, Goutfish), Yordan Alvarez (2021, Goutfish) and Julio Rodriguez (2022, Fish) as prospects ranked atop the RDBL Top 100 since the league started the annual series.

4: Number of prospects already locked into a 2024 Opening Day Activation after being added to their respective Active Rosters for the 2023 Playoffs (Drew Waters, Maulers, Nolan Jones, Maulers, Grayson Rodriguez, Fringe, Josiah Gray, Fringe)

12: The most prospects ranked in the RDBL Top 100 by a Franchise, shared by the Asti Grape Stompers and Alamo Short Stacks.

38: Number of prospects we currently have projected to be 2024 Opening Day Activations across the RDBL including five of the Top 10.

160: Number of players under a Minor League contract currently in the Roger Dorn Baseball League.

921: The amount of points already scored by Lunatic Fringe pitching prospect Triston McKenzie (24), the most of any player still in a Minor League deal in the Minor Leagues.

2017: RHP Triston McKenzie (24) is the only member of the 2017 Reserve Draft Class still under a Minor League contract.

2018: Royce Lewis (17) and McKenzie Gore (67) are the only members of the 2018 Reserve Draft Class still under a Minor League contract.

Five "Buy Low" RDBL Top 100 Prospects Expected to Rise in 2024

The 2024 Roger Dorn Baseball League Pre-Season Top 100 Prospect List was published Sunday night with some of the games brightest young stars set to dot RDBL Active Rosters in 2024. While there are plenty of household names in the Top 50, we wanted to take a deeper dive into the back half of the group on some potential breakout candidates for the 2024 Season.

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56. RHP Max Meyer, Las Vegas Aristocrats

Earlier this month during the Winter Meetings, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker namedropped a player he is looking forward to seeing in 2024: Max Meyer. 

As Schumaker put it, Miami’s path to success lies in its rotation -- and in the starters on the way. Meyer, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the organization’s No. 3 prospect, was just six innings into his Major League career when he tore the UCL in his right elbow on July 23, 2022. He hasn’t pitched in a game since then while he’s been recovering from Tommy John surgery. 

While Meyer might not open the season in the Marlins rotation, he figures to make an impact quickly in 2024 and could emerge as a mid-season option for a talented 'Crats roster. He still possess #2 starter upside that could quickly be realized in Miami.

64. RHP Dylan Lesko, Asti Grape Stompers

One of the more talented prep, right-handed pitchers, Dylan Lesko, was discussed as a potential top-five pick which does not happen that often for prep arms. Unfortunately, his senior season ended early due to an injury that led to Tommy John Surgery, but that did not deter the Padres from selecting Lesko at 15 overall.

Lesko returned in 2023, pitching 33 innings across three levels, reaching High-A, and posting a 5.45 ERA with 52 strikeouts. The good news is that the stuff appeared to be back, as Lesko’s arsenal looked strong. The bad news, Lesko struggled with control, throwing strikes at just a 58 percent clip.

His fastball came back to life, sitting 95 with explosive carry at the top of the zone, appearing to have a rising effect. The IVB numbers are elite for any arm, consistently checking in at over 20 inches. The changeup has always been Lesko’s bread and butter, being one of the pitches in his draft class. He sells it well with fast arm speed but has a large velocity differential and a ton of late-fading action. The pitch plays extremely well with his fastball. Lesko’s third pitch is a mid-70s curveball with a ton of downward action. It's a high spinning pitch that he does not land for strikes often, but does flash potential.

Given the mid-90s fastball and a 15 mph separation between that and the next pitch, Lesko could benefit from adding a slider or cutter to bridge the velocity gap. The upside is tremendous, though and 2024 could be a big breakout season considering it would be another year removed from Tommy John.

90. OF Josue De Paula, Maltese Falcons

De Paula has quite an interesting path to getting to professional baseball. Growing up in Brooklyn and being cousins with Stephon Marbury, De Paula moved to the Dominican Republic at 14. Just a couple of years later, he inked a $1.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and took the Dominican Summer League by storm that summer, becoming one of the games biggest potential prospect breakouts.

Standing at 6’3”, De Paula has what many would call a projectable frame, and with solid contact skills, he set himself up for what many thought would be a huge 2023. In the DSL as a young 17-year-old, De Paula slashed .350/.448/.522 with five home runs and 16 stolen bases across 223 plate appearances. Those numbers were backed by a 91 percent zone-contact rate and an 85 percent overall clip. Jump forward to 2023, and De Paula skips the complex level entirely, beginning the Single-A season just turning 18 years old. It was an aggressive move, and for the most part, De Paula held his own, posting a .284/.396/.372 slash, but it came with just two home runs and 19 extra-base hits in 340 plate appearances. He did make improvements throughout the year, and from July forward, he posted a .306/.427/.397 slash and walked nearly as much as he struck out.

If you want to poke a hole in De Paula’s game, it would likely be that he is considered too passive, swinging at just 40 percent of pitches in his full-season debut while making contact at a 79 percent clip. The OBP looks great, but De Paula needs to tap into more power, which we have not seen yet. The projection aspect is tough, because you look at a player with this kind of body and just assume they will add good weight and strength, especially in the Dodgers org, but it has not come yet. De Paula will likely be a solid source of stolen bases, as he has swiped thirty bases in 128 games and has clocked plus run times. The contact numbers suggest plus or better contact, and De Paula’s barrel control is high-end. If and when the power comes, it is only a matter of time before De Paula soars up prospect lists.

96. OF Miguel Bleis, Alamo Short Stacks

Bleis signed for $1.5 million out of the Dominican Republic in January of 2021, and after a solid showing in the DSL that year, he created huge buzz on the complex in Fort Myers throughout 2022 because of his bat speed and power. As FanGraphs put it, who ranked Bleis inside their Top 20 entering last season, "This is one of the toolsiest prospects in all the minors and was one of the players on the overall Top 100 who entered 2023 with a chance to "Chourio," i.e. leap into the top-10 mix within the next year." Instead Bleis had a rough first month of full-season ball, strained his left shoulder during a swing at the end of May, and ended up needing season-ending surgery. Bleis slid to the back of the 55 FV tier in a small May Top 100 update before the injury occurred. The shoulder complicates things, but his evaluation really hasn't changed, even with the early 2023 struggles. Bleis has All-Star talent and just about all of his underlying indicators suggest he's a better hitter than his surface stats do, though he is more chase-prone than is ideal.

Entering 2024 healthy, Bleis has a chance to "Chourio" again this season and become a more household name for the Alamo Short Stacks.

Unranked: RHP Cade Cavalli, Mt. Diablo Devils

There has never been much doubting of Cavalli’s stuff dating back to his days at Oklahoma, but the durability is somewhat concerning. In his first pro season in 2021, Cavalli made it to Triple-A and had the most successful season of his career as he pitched 123.1 innings with a 3.36 ERA and 175 strikeouts.

His Triple-A numbers in 2022 were also strong as he struck out 104 batters across 97 innings with a 3.71 ERA. Unfortunately, Cavalli had Tommy John surgery after a strong Spring Training in 2023, pushing his return toward June of 2024.

When healthy, Cavalli has a fastball sitting near 96 and touching near triple digits while featuring a curve, slider, and changeup. The curve is his most used secondary, which sits in the mid-80s and averages nearly 50 inches of vertical break. The slider and changeup sit in a similar velocity band in the upper 80s, having over 25 inches of separation between the two.

With health, Cavalli could take off as a starting pitcher, but there are risks given Cavalli’s health track record and durability.

Five More That Could Rise: 55. RHP Edward Cabrera (Clovers), 62. RHP Jackson Jobe (Crats), 79. OF Sammy Zavala (Stacks), 63. 3B Muketaka Murakami (Goutfish), 83. RHP Chase Burns ('Crats)

Team Breakdown of the RDBL 2024 Pre-Season Top 100 Prospect List

The Roger Dorn Baseball League Top 100 Prospects for 2024 Pre-Season was released Sunday night with Lake Merced Goutfish right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking home the top spot.

The Asti Grape Stompers and Alamo Short Stacks lead the RDBL with 12 representatives in the Top 100 with the Maltese Falcons and Las Vegas Aristocrats, each with 11 representatives, closely trailing behind. The Grapes are led by slugging outfielder Jordan Walker (7) while the Stacks group is topped by breakout outfielder Evan Carter (8).

Few teams can match the star power of the Burlingame Blue Ducks who hold three of the top nine prospects in the RDBL in Paul Skenes (4), Dylan Crews (5) and Wyatt Langford (9), all former collegiate picks by GM Ryan Walsh. The 'Crats aren't far behind with a three-headed monster of Jackson Holliday (3), Jackson Chourio (11) and Gavin Williams (12).

Here's the breakdown of the RDBL Top 100 by Franchise.

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Asti Grape Stompers (12)

7. OF Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals

19. C Francisco Alvarez, New York Mets

20. SS Jordan Lawlar, Arizona Diamondbacks

28. OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs

32. LHP Kyle Harrison, San Francisco Giants

34. OF Colton Cowser, Baltimore Orioles

43. C Ethan Salas, San Diego Padres

58. OF Emmanuel Rodriguez, Minnesota Twins

59. 2B/3B Curtis Mead, Tampa Bay Rays

64. RHP Dylan Lesko, San Diego Padres

84. LHP Carson Whisenhunt, San Francisco Giants

85. RHP Mick Abel, Philadelphia Phillies

Not Ranked: 3B Cam Collier (CIN), SS Felnin Celestin (SEA)

Alamo Short Stacks (12)

8. OF Evan Carter, Texas Rangers

14. 3B/SS Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays

33. SS Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox

39. SS Masyn Winn, St. Louis Cardinals

40. SS Marcelo Mayer, Boston Red Sox

41. IF Adael Amador, Colorado Rockies

46. OF Max Clark, Detroit Tigers

51. IF Jordan Westburg, Baltimore Orioles

79. OF Sammy Zavala, San Diego Padres

80. OF Gabriel Gonzalez, Seattle Mariners

88. C/1B Tyler Soderstrom, Oakland Athletics

96. OF Miguel Bleis, Boston Red Sox

Not Ranked: SS Jacob Wilson (OAK), SS Jacob Gonzalez (CHW), 3B Braden Taylor (TB), 3B Tommy White (LSU)

Las Vegas Aristocrats (11)

2. IF Jackson Holliday, Baltimore Orioles

11. OF Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee Brewers

12. RHP Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians

56. RHP Max Meyer, Miami Marlins

57. 3B Brett Baty, New York Mets

61. RHP Hurston Waldrep, Atlanta Braves

62. RHP Jackson Jobe, Detroit Tigers

71. RHP Tink Hence, St. Louis Cardinals

83. RHP Chase Burns, Wake Forest

86. RHP Gavin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers

89. C Shea Langeliers, Oakland Athletics

Not Ranked: RHP Kumar Rocker (TEX), 3B Yohandy Morales (WSH), OF Ivan Melendez (ARZ)

Maltese Falcons (11)

3. RHP Eury Perez, Miami Marlins

16. 1B Triston Casas, Boston Red Sox

17. 3B Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins

23. OF James Wood, Washington Nationals

25. 2B Edouard Julien, Minnesota Twins

38. 3B Coby Mayo, Baltimore Orioles

70. OF Sal Frelick, Milwaukee Brewers

74. OF Luis Matos, San Francisco Giants

76. C Austin Wells, New York Yankees

90. OF Josue De Paula, Los Angeles Dodgers

95. OF Druw Jones, Arizona Diamondbacks

Not Ranked: OF Zac Veen (COL), RHP Daniel Espino (CLE)

Cloverdale Clovers (9)

10. SS/3B Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds

26. SS Anthony Volpe, New York Yankees

30. RHP Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies

37. LHP Ricky Tiedemann, Toronto Blue Jays

54. OF Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox

55. RHP Edward Cabrera, Miami Marlins

72. SS Zach Neto, Los Angeles Angels

73. SS Marco Luciano, San Francisco Giants

77. C Dalton Rushing, Los Angeles Dodgers

Not Ranked: 1B Nick Pratto (KC), RHP Marco Raya (MIN), SS Liover Peguero (PIT)

Lunatic Fringe (9)

6. RHP Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles

21. SS/3B Noelvi Marte, Cincinnati Reds

24. RHP Triston McKenzie, Cleveland Guardians

35. SS Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres

53. RHP Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees

60. SS Carson Williams, Tampa Bay Rays

68. RHP Josiah Gray, Washington Nationals

69. C Harry Ford, Lunatic Fringe

100. IF Brayan Rocchio, Cleveland Guardians

Not Ranked: N/A

Burlingame Blue Ducks (6)

4. RHP Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

5. OF Dylan Crews, Washington Nationals

9. OF Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers

31. RHP Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays

36. 1B Kyle Manzardo, Cleveland Guardians

82. RHP Rhett Lowder, Cincinnati Reds

Not Ranked: C Ivan Herrera (Cardinals), IF Jace Jung (DET), C Daniel Susac (Athletics), OF Heliot Ramos (SF), OF Travis Swaggerty (PIT), C Ronaldo Hernandez (ARZ), IF Jeter Downs (NYY)

Lake Merced Goutfish (6)

1. RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers

15. RHP Bobby Miller, Los Angeles Dodgers

44. OF Kevin Alcantara, Chicago Cubs

49. IF Ronny Mauricio, New York Mets

63. 3B Muketaka Murakami, Japan

87. SS Edwin Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds

Not Ranked: SS Oswald Peraza (NYY), SS Elijah Green (WSH), OF Andy Pages (LAD)

Mission Viejo Maulers (6)

22. 1B/OF Nolan Jones, Colorado Rockies

27. OF Jasson Dominguez, New York Yankees

48. SS Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins

97. OF Vance Honeycutt, University of North Carolina

98. 1B/OF Jac Caglianone, University of Florida

99. 3B Orelvis Martinez, Toronto Blue Jays

Not Ranked: OF George Valera (CLE), OF Drew Waters (KC), 2B Nick Gonzales (PIT), SS Cristian Hernandez (CHC)

Meinert Hops (4)

42. OF Chase DeLauter, Cleveland Guardians

78. OF Henry Davis, Pittsburgh Pirates

91. OF Joey Wiemer, Milwaukee Brewers

93. RHP Chase Dollander, Colorado Rockies

Not Ranked: IF Casey Schmitt (SF), 3B Jacob Berry (MIA), LHP Asa Lacy (KC),

RHP Ty Madden (DET), RHP Forrest Whitley (HOU), OF Erick Pena (KC)

Mt. Diablo Devils (4)

47. C Bo Naylor, Cleveland Guardians

50. SS/3B Brady House, Washington Nationals

52. IF Michael Busch, Los Angeles Dodgers

94. RHP Owen White, Texas Rangers

Not Ranked: 3B Cam Collier (CIN), C Diego Cartaya (LAD), RHP Cade Cavalli (WSH), RHP Luis Patiño (SD), RHP Deivi Garcià (CHW)

St. Joseph Jokers (4)

13. RHP Roki Sasaki, Japan

18. SS/2B Matt McLain, Cincinnati Reds

67. LHP MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals

81. C Endy Rodriguez, Pittsburgh Pirates

Not Ranked: 2B Nick Yorke (BOS), C Kevin Parada (NYM), LHP DL Hall (BAL), OF Trevor Larnach (MIN), C Korey Lee (CHW), SS Tyler Freeman (CLE), OF JJ Bleday (OAK), RHP Adonis Medina (NYM)

Spokane Fightin' Fish (3)

65. OF Heston Kjerstad, Baltimore Orioles

66. 2B Termarr Johnson, Pittsburgh Pirates

75. 2B Connor Norby, Baltimore Orioles

Not Ranked: RHP Emerson Hancock (SEA), 1B Matt Mervis (CHC), RHP Ben Joyce (LAA)

San Mateo Oppo Tacos (2)

45. OF Walker Jenkins, Minnesota Twins

92. OF Spencer Jones, New York Yankees

Not Ranked: OF Gavin Cross (KC), LHP Matt Liberatore (STL), 3B Brock Wilken (MIL)

Honolulu Hammerheads (1)

29. RHP Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks

Not Ranked: OF Benny Montgomery (COL), RHP Quinn Priester (PIT), RHP Gordon Graceffo (STL), C Drew Romo (COL), OF Robert Hassell III (WSH), RHP Drey Jameson (ARZ)