Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com released his top 100 prospects on Tuesday night, with four Pirates prospects making the list. One notable player that was missing was right-handed pitcher Luis Heredia. When MLB.com posted an updated top 100 list back in September, Heredia was on the list at number 73. When the 2013 list was announced, he wasn’t included.
Mayo mentioned after the list was announced that Heredia just missed the top 100. Today, Mayo released the next ten prospects, giving a view of who was ranked 101-110. Heredia came in at number 104 on the list.
I’m not surprised to see Heredia left off the top 100 list. He will be very hit or miss on these lists, and it will all depend on who is doing the rankings. A lot of his evaluation is based on potential, rather than actual results. He’s still very young, and still developing some of his secondary pitches. He’s also a long way from the majors, and hasn’t pitched in a full season league yet. There might be players who fit that “young/hasn’t played a full season/still kind of raw” description on the top 100 list, and I couldn’t answer why Mayo went with them instead of Heredia.
What will be telling about where Heredia lands on each list is where he ranks in relation to Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco. Those two seem to be consensus top 100 prospects. MLB.com didn’t release their Pirates top 20 before the top 100 came out (the top 20 comes out next week), but we know based on the rankings that Heredia finished behind those two. Baseball America rated Heredia ahead of both hitters, and Baseball Prospectus rated Heredia fourth in the system, right ahead of Alen Hanson. I’m guessing he’ll crack the top 100 on each of those lists. Keith Law hasn’t released any rankings yet, so it’s hard to say where Heredia will end up on his list.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
I agree that you could leave Heredia off the list, but it doesn’t make sense to move him down 30 spots, especially since he had a good year at age 17.
The Pirates could have slot of prospects in the top 100 next year. Taillon, Polanco, Heredia and Hansen should all still be in the minors while Josh Bell, Barrett Barnes, Whyatt Mathiesen and Tyler Glasgow could all get in with good years.I still think Alex Dickerson is being severely underrated.
I SHOULD add that I LOVE your optimism!!!
🙂 🙂
at best, Dickerson will be a James Loney clone, but with not as good a glove. Unless he turns on the HR power…..
I should add…JMHO….:)