The divisional reports are a new series put out by the PitcherList dynasty team. These reports provide a list of the top 10 prospects on each team in the division and highlight two players from each organization. Each division will be updated once per month by our divisional experts. This article focuses on the NL West.
Be sure to head over to the Pitcher List dynasty page to check out the farm system reports already published.
NL West
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Promotions
- A new number one appears; drafted out of Georgia where he hit 37 home runs in 60 games, Charlie Condon is the number one fantasy prospect out of the MLB Draft Class of 2024 and immediately takes the top spot in the Colorado Farm report. He’ll begin his career at High-A in the Midwest league but the weaker pitching and friendly ballparks will likely lead to some big numbers and a rather quick promotion to Double-A. He has the potential to be a high-level run producer, though it is expected he will likely end up as an outfielder rather than a corner infielder. Condon likely will go second, at worst, in most rookie drafts, as power-hitting prospects with an anticipated floor as high as his do not come along too often.
- Yanquiel Fernández was promoted from the Hartford Yard Goats to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes after a red-hot July. Fernandez, after playing to around a .730 OPS for the first few months, turned it up and had a July where he slashed .310/.370/.464 – by far his best month. He should be a player that we see make an impact in the majors next season. He’s expected to be another good power bat coming out of this Colorado farm system. If he stays with the Rockies and gets to play at Coors, and this goes for Condon too, the power could be even more highly beneficial in fantasy.
Notable Performances
- Cole Carrigg is currently 4th in the Northwest League in OPS, which comes on the back of being both tied for 10th in home runs with 10 while also having 10 triples which is double the next player. Carrigg’s speed is a major tool and his strong arm should continue to translate into the next levels. He is only three runs scored behind the league leader while having played 12 fewer games and put together a month of July where he slugged .490 and stole 10 bags. He should be making a splash by 2026 and with his tools, there’s a good chance at him having a long career at the top of a batting order.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Promotions
- No big movement amongst the top prospects for Arizona, there isn’t much room at the top to bring hitters up but there could be some pitching call-ups later in the season.
Notable Performances
- Druw Jones, son of five-time All-Star, and 10-time Gold Glover Andruw Jones, has had a really nice season at Single-A. At 20 years old, Jones is slashing .271./.403/.393 in his first full season of minor league ball. Those might not sound like the highest numbers, but it’s good for ninth in the California League behind names like Lazaro Montes, Jeral Perez and Leodalis De Vries. Throw in the plus arm, speed and clearly inherited fielding ability, and Jones likely wouldn’t need to be a great hitter to be a prospect. If he’s anything like his dad, who FanGraphs rates as the most valuable defensive outfielder of all time, he’s going to make an impact – and that’s why he was signed with a Diamondbacks-record bonus of over eight million dollars after being selected second overall last year. The hitting looking good, thus, is a big deal. He should find his way into major league play within the next two or three years, and he’ll stick, especially if the hitting continues to translate as he progresses.
San Fransisco Giants
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Promotions
- Marco Luciano, who we seem to talk about every month around here, is back with the Giants after a call-up on July 30th after the Giants traded away Jorge Soler. Luciano is expected to see regular playing time the rest of the way. He is still working to get up to MLB speed, hitting just 3 for 17 with 8Ks since being recalled.
- James Tibbs II makes the list, the 13th overall pick should be an exciting prospect. The ACC player of the year was second in the country in RBI across all of college baseball at Florida State and led his team to the College World Series finals.
Notable Performances:
- Bryce Eldridge was promoted to High-A in late June and has been doing even better at the higher level than he was in Single-A. The 19-year-old is slashing .305/.429/.457 in his first 29 games at with the Eugene Emeralds and has 23 RBI already. He can also pitch, but the Giants aren’t having him work on that – he should be a great first baseman in a couple of years and his bat speed numbers back it up.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Promotions
- River Ryan was called up to the big leagues on July 22nd and has since made three starts for the Dodgers, he’s 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP across 15.2 innings, and he’s racked up 14 strikeouts so far as well. He’s faced Houston, Oakland and San Fransisco so far and impressively struck out 8 of his 14 total against the Astros, who some might consider the toughest of this group. Unfortunately, the other two starts have been a bit less dominant, but at 25 years old there is still plenty of time for Ryan to figure it out. His fastball has real potential and with the issues with the Dodgers rotation, he could stick around for a while.
- Dalton Rushing was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A just this week, through 77 games at the Double-A level he was slashing a monstrous .270/.378/.512 with 17 home runs and 59 RBI. It’s great to see one of the consensus top prospects in the Los Angeles system moving so quickly, he was at High-A this time last year. The intrigue, as with all catching prospects, is whether will he stay behind the plate. Reports are that his defensive skills are progressing so as long as that continues to be the case, he will stay atop fantasy prospect rankings as well as baseball prospect rankings.
- Hyun-Seok Jang was moved up to Single-A from Rookie ball – he struck out 49 batters in 24.1 innings in the Arizona Complex League this season.
Notable Performances
- Technically another promotion as well, Eduardo Quintero was bumped up a level this week, from Rookie ball to Single-A. The 18-year-old sits near 20th on MLB.com’s rankings but has been in my top 10 all year for exactly this reason, he’s a baller. Quintero’s Dominican Summer League performance, where he hit to a 1.090 OPS, translated to the Arizona Complex League where he ranked 8th with a .908 OPS. He also ranked second in stolen bases with 29 in his ACL tenure. He’s got a plus-hitting tool and the speed should continue to serve him well as he progresses. He’s a long-term investment, as even the best prospects don’t usually debut til they’re 22 or 23, but if you’re in a full dynasty and want a player that could be considered a top prospect in a few years, Quintero is your guy.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Promotions:
- Graham Pauley and Robby Snelling were traded to the Marlins, and Dylan Lesko to the Rays, so they departed the list. They were number 2, 3 and 5, respectively. The Padres’ aggressive moves at the deadline make room for Kash Mayfield at the bottom of the, who is the most recent first-round draft pick for San Diego straight out of high school. This is something the Padres do a lot, the 9th straight year of taking a high school player in the draft, and past selections Jackson Merrill and CJ Abrams, are now All-Stars – which bodes well for Mayfield. Kash went 8-0 with a 0.16 ERA across 44 innings this last year at Elk City. He struck out 115 (!!) while allowing just four hits and eight walks in the campaign.
- Brandon Valenzuela got the call to Triple-A this week, the 23-year-old has been in the minors since 2018 and while it’s been a bit bumpy, he is nearing readiness for the Major League level. He’s not going to be a star catcher by any means, but he will likely contribute – his placement on the list indicates a bit of the barren nature of this Padres farm system that has repeatedly sold off assets over the last couple of years.
Notable Performances:
- Victor Lizarraga is coming off a nice stretch across June and July, in his 10 starts across the two-month span he stuck out 59 batters in 53.1 innings while only allowing 20 earned runs. The strikeouts are a welcome sight, as his biggest downside has been the inability to generate whiffs. He’s always been young compared to the competition, which is a great sign, so if the strong performance keeps up he could be on track to be a solid end-of-the-rotation starter.