How did the Rangers do in Keith Law’s Top 100 Prospects?

At 7:20am this morning The Athletic posted an article by Keith Law about his top 100 prospects in baseball. Law has covered the sport since 2006 and prior to that was a special assistant to the general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays. With MLB Pipeline and Baseball America’s top 100 lets see how the Rangers faired for Law’s top 100 prospects

Sebastian Walcott

He ranked Walcott as the number 2 prospect in all of baseball. It is safe to say he is very high on Walcott as are all of Ranger fans. Here is what Mr. Law had to say about Sebastian Walcott, “Walcott started the year in High A as an 18-year-old, joining Ethan Salas as the only players that young to start 2024 anywhere above Low A, and he started very slowly, hitting just .196/.326/.315 through the end of May. From then on, he cooked, hitting .296/.351/.511 until a late-season promotion to Double A, so that on the whole he ended the year with an OBP 17 points above the Sally League average and a slugging percentage 78 points above it — all as the league’s youngest regular. The Bahamian-born Walcott looks like a man among boys, as he’s 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5 and clearly more than his listed 190 pounds, with a wide frame that’s going to let him pack on some upper body strength. He’s an excellent athlete with above-average speed and gets very high marks for his feel for the game, including his ability to make in-game and in-season adjustments. He’s got tremendous bat speed and already produces hard contact at a very high rate, so there’s every reason to hope he can be a 30-homer guy with a high average even if his strikeout rate remains in the 24-25 percent range. Walcott is a shortstop now, and not bad there, but he’s extremely likely to outgrow the position — he’s going to be larger than Carlos Correa or Corey Seager, two bigger guys who defied expectations to remain at short. At worst, you’ve got a right fielder who hits for average and power. He won’t even turn 19 until the first week of March, so he has plenty of time to keep turning these immense physical gifts into baseball skills. I think he’s underrated already, and he’s my pick to be the No. 1 prospect a year from now.” Walcott being ranked number 2 came as a surprise to me. I would have thought he would have ranked other guys in front of him, but I agree that he could make a run at being the top prospect in baseball next year. I think Walcott has a crazy high ceiling, and he is only just starting to show his potential.

Kumar Rocker

Mr. Law ranked Kumar Rocker at number 51. Safe to say after last year that Rangers fans have a lot to be excited about Kumar Rocker. He was untouchable through the minor leagues and he pitched well in the big leagues through his first three games of his career. Here is what Law had to say about Kumar Rocker, “Rocker’s road to the majors was … uh, rocky? Sorry, I’ll work on that. He was the No. 10 pick in 2021, but the Mets didn’t like something in his post-draft physical, so he went to indy ball and pitched well enough to go No. 3 to Texas in 2022, but blew out his elbow six starts into his pro debut the next year. He returned in 2024 and the Rangers kept moving him up as he kept posting, eventually getting him three starts in the majors in September where he looked as good as he had since his freshman year at Vanderbilt. He had lowered his arm slot back in 2022, but it’s back to its original position, which allows him to get more depth on his slider. The slider is easily plus and might be a 70 once again, and keeps him on top of his 94-97 mph four-seamer. His path from here is largely about him — he has succeeded in the past by out-stuffing guys, and being very aggressive with those two main pitches (he has a curve and changeup, but uses them less), but in the big leagues he’s going to have to show better command to get ahead of hitters and to avoid a lot of four-inning, 85-pitch starts. This is a bet that he’ll make those adjustments and end up at least a mid-rotation starter, perhaps someone who pitches at a higher level than that but needs to skip some starts here and there to keep him healthy.” I agree with Mr. Law about keeping him healthy, but I disagree slightly that he can be a middle of the rotation guy. I think he can be a number 2 starter and make a good amount of starts if the Rangers can manage him correctly.

Round Rock Express on August 28, 2024. Photo by: Eddie Kelly/ProLook Photos" class="wp-image-43228" />

Alejandro Rosario

Law ranked Alejandro Rosario the number 64 prospect. Rosario is another guy that gets a lot of fans excited. He gets me excited for sure, he just needs to continue what he is doing. Here is Mr. Law’s thoughts on Rosario, “Rosario posted a 7.11 ERA in his draft year for the University of Miami, and a 7.05 ERA as a sophomore, despite a good arm and a potential out pitch in his splitter that he barely used, as Miami had him working more sinker/changeup. The Rangers took him in the fifth round for the quality of his stuff — obviously not for the quality of his results — and told him to throw the splitter and go with a four-seamer up, and voila!, instant prospect! He works from the extreme third-base side of the rubber, getting some more deception against righties, as he has the splitter for lefties and can still be effective against them even without throwing offspeed stuff on the inner third to them. He has elite control already, pounding the strike zone with his fastball and walking just 3.7 percent of batters he faced at both levels of A-ball last year, although that’s likely to go up as older hitters lay off the splitter when it’s out of the zone. He repeats his delivery to keep up the control, and while he’s not very tall he looks strong enough to handle a starter’s workload. Even as is, sitting 92-95 with the plus splitter and a maybe-average slider, he should be a mid-rotation starter and get to the majors this year.” I disagree with what Law says at the end. I don’t think it would be a good idea to bring him up to the majors this year. There is not need to rush him to the majors there are plenty of starters that could start in front of him. In 2026 he could definitely start for the big league club.

Overall I don’t think his ranks were bad at all. I loved where he put Walcott and all Rangers fans love it to. I think Rosario was a little bit low on the list and Kumar I think can go up some spots. But overall Keith did a good job in my opinion.