2001 top hitting prospects

 
Rather than try to play Karnak the Magnificent and predict who the next great players are going to be, I'm going to give you the information I have and let you decide.  I've made a list of the top hitting prospects in baseball, at least according to most of the major players in the prospecting game - Baseball America, John Sickels, Spring Training magazine.  What I've done is presented you their numbers and offered a ranking based on what they did in their last complete season.  This ranking is called ERPm, which stands for Expected Runs Produced - minor league adjusted.  The ERPm/500 just shows what a player would produce with 500 at bats.

ERP is a stat developed by a guy named Paul Johnson.  Bill James thought highly enough of it to profile it extensively in his 1985 Statistical Abstract. The stat is a pretty decent effort to account for all the things offensively a player can do.  The modification I've added accounts for a player's age relative to his level, and for the difficulty of the position he plays.  I've also accounted for the league the player was in.

Anyway, use these results to help see what a player is capable of doing, but by no means think of this as a definitive total evaluation of his  talent.  There are lots of factors that can affect a prospects performance, such as injuries, disappointment over not getting promoted, etc.  I just didn't want you to get the impression that I was sayng that Jackie Rexrode is a better prospect than Vernon Wells; he just had a better year than him.

PLAYER AGE TEAM AVG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IB SO SB CS SLG OBP ERPm ERPm/500
Johnson, Nick ('99) 21 NYY 0.345 132 420 114 145 230 33 5 14 87 123 6 88 8 6 0.548 0.525 133.03 158.36
Perez, Antonio 18 Sea 0.276 98 395 90 109 208 36 6 17 63 58 1 99 28 16 0.527 0.376 107.16 135.64
House, J.R. 20 Pit 0.348 110 420 78 146 246 29 1 23 90 46 2 91 1 2 0.586 0.414 109.38 130.22
Mench, Kevin 21 Tex 0.334 132 491 118 164 302 39 9 27 121 78 3 72 19 7 0.615 0.427 127.49 129.83
Blanco, Tony  18 Bos 0.353 61 218 33 77 132 114 1 13 50 20 2 50 7 4 0.606 0.415 56.55 129.70
Choi, Hee Seop  21 ChC 0.298 132 467 85 139 260 34 6 25 95 62 5 116 7 2 0.557 0.383 116.59 124.83
Snelling, Chris 18 Sea 0.305 72 259 44 79 125 9 5 9 56 34 3 34 7 4 0.483 0.386 64.13 123.80
Giles, Marcus 21 Atl 0.290 132 458 73 133 216 28 2 17 62 72 6 71 25 5 0.472 0.388 111.46 121.68
Kearns, Austin 20 Cin 0.306 136 484 110 148 270 37 2 27 104 90 5 93 18 5 0.558 0.415 117.29 121.16
Cust, Jack 21 Az 0.293 129 447 100 131 235 32 6 20 75 117 12 150 12 9 0.526 0.440 108.30 121.14
Burroughs, Sean 19 SD 0.291 108 392 46 114 157 29 4 2 42 58 6 45 6 8 0.401 0.383 94.72 120.82
Wilkerson, Brad  22 Mon 0.295 129 441 93 130 237 47 3 18 79 87 2 98 13 8 0.537 0.416 106.18 120.38
Montanez, Luis  18 ChC 0.317 58 221 52 70 107 17 7 2 37 28 1 48 11 7 0.484 0.411 53.19 120.33
Cresse, Brad  21 Az 0.312 63 215 44 67 129 8 0 18 66 23 1 62 0 0 0.600 0.398 51.10 118.84
Patterson, Corey 20 ChC 0.261 118 444 73 116 218 26 5 22 82 45 5 115 27 15 0.491 0.338 105.15 118.41
Betemit, Wilson  18 Atl 0.331 69 269 54 89 123 15 2 5 37 30 2 37 3 4 0.457 0.393 63.11 117.31
Hill, Bobby (Ind) 21 ChC 0.326 132 481 109 157 236 22 9 13 82 101   57 81 15 0.491 0.443 112.85 117.31
Dunn, Adam 20 Cin 0.281 122 420 101 118 197 29 1 16 79 100 4 101 24 5 0.469 0.428 97.26 115.78
Nunez, Abraham 20 Fla 0.276 74 221 39 61 102 17 3 6 42 44 1 64 8 6 0.462 0.392 51.10 115.60
Pujols, Albert  20 StL 0.314 133 490 74 154 266 41 7 19 96 46 7 47 4 5 0.543 0.378 112.25 114.54
Crede, Joe 21 ChW 0.306 138 533 84 163 261 35 0 21 94 56 10 111 3 4 0.490 0.384 121.96 114.40
Mendez, Deivi  16 NYY 0.300 56 210 37 63 91 20 1 2 25 26 0 39 4 0 0.433 0.382 48.03 114.37
Nady, Xavier 21 SD 0.400 2 5 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0.400 0.500 1.14 114.04
Pena, Carlos 21 Tex 0.299 138 529 117 158 282 36 2 28 105 101 10 108 12 0 0.533 0.414 118.78 112.27
Wilson, Craig 23 Pit 0.283 124 396 83 112 239 24 2 33 86 44 2 121 1 2 0.604 0.383 87.25 110.17
Hinske, Eric 22 ChC 0.259 131 436 76 113 212 21 9 20 73 78 3 133 14 5 0.486 0.373 95.65 109.70
Ortiz, Jose 22 Oak 0.351 131 518 107 182 298 34 5 24 108 47 0 64 22 9 0.575 0.408 113.50 109.56
Buck, John 19 Hou 0.282 109 390 57 110 173 33 0 10 71 55 6 81 2 4 0.444 0.374 85.07 109.07
Broussard, Ben 23 Cin 0.255 87 286 64 73 131 8 4 14 51 72 3 78 15 2 0.458 0.413 62.02 108.43
Ginter, Keith 24 Hou 0.333 125 462 108 154 268 30 3 26 92 82 3 127 24 11 0.580 0.457 97.61 105.64
Hamilton, Josh 18 TB 0.301 96 392 62 118 186 23 3 13 61 26 3 72 14 6 0.474 0.345 81.90 104.46
Huff, Aubrey 23 TB 0.316 108 408 73 129 231 36 3 20 76 51 4 72 2 3 0.566 0.394 85.19 104.41
Escobar, Alex 21 NYM 0.288 122 437 79 126 213 25 7 16 67 57 5 114 24 5 0.487 0.375 90.99 104.10
Rollins, Jimmy 21 Phi 0.274 133 470 67 129 215 28 11 12 69 49 1 55 24 7 0.457 0.341 97.32 103.53
Rivas, Luis  20 Min 0.272 123 485 89 132 201 37 7 6 65 49 0 62 18 8 0.414 0.344 99.61 102.69
Gerut, Jody 22 Col 0.285 109 362 48 103 150 32 3 3 57 76 2 54 18 11 0.414 0.405 74.33 102.66
Rexrode, Jackie 21 ChW 0.288 90 337 60 97 113 10 3 0 14 68 1 39 19 11 0.335 0.408 68.83 102.12
Hart, Jason  22 Oak 0.324 140 564 102 183 327 45 3 31 125 70 5 119 4 0 0.580 0.400 114.39 101.41
Blalock, Hank 19 Tex 0.299 139 512 66 153 219 32 2 10 77 62 3 53 31 8 0.428 0.373 102.71 100.31
Ndungidi, Ntema  21 Bal 0.269 131 449 70 121 190 22 4 13 73 85 2 116 18 7 0.423 0.389 89.77 99.97
Stenson, Dernell 21 Bos 0.268 98 380 59 102 185 14 0 23 71 45 6 99 0 0 0.487 0.349 75.89 99.85
Cole, Brian  21 NYM 0.301 137 551 104 166 272 35 7 19 86 42 3 79 69 15 0.494 0.347 108.42 98.39
Rolison, Nate 23 Fla 0.330 123 443 88 146 258 37 3 23 88 70 5 117 3 1 0.582 0.423 86.90 98.09
Uribe, Juan 19 Col 0.256 134 485 64 124 199 22 7 13 65 38 0 100 22 5 0.410 0.314 93.27 96.16
Crawford, Carl 18 TB 0.301 135 564 99 170 231 21 11 6 57 32 1 102 55 9 0.410 0.342 108.32 96.02
Urquiola, Carlos  19 Az 0.328 108 390 67 128 148 14 3 0 30 35 1 33 37 13 0.379 0.390 73.73 94.52
Crespo, Cesar 20 Fla 0.257 134 482 96 124 184 21 6 9 60 77 3 118 41 15 0.382 0.359 90.93 94.33
Ozuna, Pablo 21 Fla 0.308 118 464 74 143 201 25 6 7 59 40 0 55 35 24 0.433 0.368 86.40 93.10
Clark, Jermaine 23 Det 0.293 133 447 80 131 178 23 9 2 44 87 3 69 38 8 0.398 0.421 82.51 92.29
Dawkins, Travis 20 Cin 0.231 95 368 54 85 135 20 6 6 31 40 0 71 22 10 0.367 0.310 67.46 91.66
Lopez, Felipe 19 Tor 0.257 127 463 52 119 172 18 4 9 41 31 0 110 12 11 0.371 0.303 84.40 91.15
Munson, Eric 22 Det 0.252 98 365 52 92 166 21 4 15 68 39 5 96 5 2 0.455 0.348 66.37 90.92
Torcato, Tony  20 SF 0.327 121 498 78 163 225 37 2 7 90 41 8 63 19 4 0.452 0.380 89.77 90.13
Santiago, Ramon 18 Det 0.272 98 379 69 103 123 15 1 1 42 34 1 60 39 12 0.325 0.346 68.30 90.11
Ensberg, Morgan 24 Hou 0.300 137 483 95 145 263 34 0 28 90 92 3 107 9 12 0.545 0.416 86.78 89.84
Wigginton, Ty 22 NYM 0.285 122 453 64 129 222 27 3 20 77 24 0 107 5 5 0.490 0.319 81.09 89.50
Deschaine, Jim  22 ChC 0.292 134 486 84 142 237 33 4 18 78 71 2 92 19 9 0.488 0.385 86.58 89.08
Sandberg, Jared  22 TB 0.266 70 259 32 69 110 18 1 7 42 33 0 61 5 3 0.425 0.350 45.96 88.73
Sizemore, Grady  17 Mon 0.293 55 205 31 60 77 8 3 1 14 23 0 24 16 2 0.376 0.380 36.31 88.56
Thurston, Joe 20 LA 0.303 138 551 97 167 226 31 8 4 70 56 1 61 43 25 0.410 0.380 96.38 87.46
Johnson, Ben  19 SD 0.230 122 439 69 101 183 28 3 16 59 60 1 103 17 9 0.417 0.331 76.28 86.88
Borchard, Joe  21 ChW 0.311 27 103 13 32 47 7 1 2 18 13 0 21 0 0 0.456 0.392 17.88 86.77
Soriano, Alfonso 22 NYY 0.290 111 459 90 133 213 32 6 12 66 25 1 85 14 7 0.464 0.327 79.40 86.49
Bradley, Milton  22 Mon 0.304 88 342 58 104 144 20 1 6 29 45 3 56 10 15 0.421 0.385 58.86 86.05
Christianson, Ryan 19 Sea 0.249 119 418 60 104 163 20 0 13 59 50 1 98 1 6 0.390 0.328 71.93 86.04
Valent, Eric 22 Phi 0.258 128 469 81 121 219 22 5 22 90 70 1 89 2 3 0.467 0.356 80.69 86.02
Wells, Vernon 21 Tor 0.243 127 493 76 120 213 31 7 16 66 48 1 88 23 4 0.432 0.313 84.13 85.32
Piedra, Jorge  20 ChC 0.301 126 499 83 150 207 22 7 7 69 35 1 72 29 9 0.415 0.347 84.91 85.08
Suzuki, Ichiro (JL) 27 Sea 0.387   395 73 153 213 22 1 12 73 54 4 36 21 4 0.539 0.464 67.19 85.05
Ludwick, Ryan 21 Oak 0.264 129 493 86 130 249 26 3 29 102 68 0 128 10 6 0.505 0.359 82.43 83.60
Henson, Drew  20 Cin 0.266 80 308 50 82 132 19 2 9 49 25 1 107 2 6 0.429 0.322 51.33 83.32
Kielty, Bobby  23 Min 0.260 138 484 87 126 208 34 3 14 67 105 4 119 6 4 0.430 0.395 80.53 83.19
Romano, Jason 20 Tex 0.271 131 535 87 145 208 35 2 8 70 56 0 84 25 10 0.389 0.343 88.89 83.08
Peeples, Mike 23 Tor 0.280 123 475 70 133 221 26 4 18 73 46 1 71 11 8 0.465 0.350 78.60 82.73
Infante, Omar  18 Det 0.267 91 307 42 82 99 11 0 2 29 25 0 36 12 5 0.322 0.324 50.58 82.38
Rowand, Aaron 22 ChW 0.258 139 532 80 137 233 26 5 20 98 38 4 117 22 7 0.438 0.321 87.13 81.89
Feliz, Pedro 23 SF 0.298 128 503 85 150 287 34 2 33 105 30 4 94 1 1 0.571 0.337 82.14 81.65
Gordon, Brian 21 Az 0.311 127 476 98 148 236 26 13 12 66 47 1 107 19 14 0.496 0.371 76.62 80.48
Davis, J.J. 21 Pit 0.243 130 485 77 118 216 36 1 20 80 52 2 171 9 4 0.445 0.319 77.88 80.29
Cuddyer, Mike 21 Min 0.263 138 490 72 129 193 30 8 6 61 55 2 93 5 4 0.394 0.351 78.08 79.68
German, Esteban  21 Oak 0.256 133 503 95 129 173 15 10 3 41 79 0 107 83 11 0.344 0.364 79.63 79.16
Restovich, Mike 21 Min 0.263 135 475 73 125 194 27 9 8 64 61 1 100 19 7 0.408 0.350 74.74 78.67
Abernathy, Brent  22 TB 0.290 119 449 61 130 176 27 2 5 50 37 1 43 23 15 0.392 0.345 69.93 77.87
Brown, Dee 22 KC 0.269 125 479 76 129 235 25 6 23 70 37 5 112 20 3 0.491 0.324 73.76 77.00
Inge, Brandon  22 Det 0.244 133 488 63 119 194 34 4 11 73 41 1 124 12 4 0.398 0.300 74.94 76.79
Melian, Jackson  20 Cin 0.250 83 296 34 74 117 8 4 9 38 18 1 69 17 1 0.395 0.297 45.11 76.21
Freeman, Choo 20 Col 0.266 127 429 73 114 161 18 7 5 54 37 0 104 16 8 0.375 0.326 65.26 76.06
Reed, Keith  21 Bal 0.264 135 512 76 135 222 26 2 19 90 46 7 114 29 5 0.434 0.332 77.50 75.69
Wilson, Jack  22 Pit 0.282 134 529 89 149 225 27 11 9 57 55 1 86 5 9 0.425 0.354 79.97 75.59
Zuleta, Julio 25 Ch 0.311 107 392 76 122 227 25 1 26 94 31 2 77 5 4 0.579 0.372 58.29 74.36
Saturria, Luis 23 StL 0.277 129 477 78 132 237 25 10 20 77 45 5 124 18 11 0.497 0.343 70.52 73.92
Owens, Jeremy 23 SD 0.256 138 570 99 146 243 29 10 16 63 63 1 183 54 12 0.426 0.333 79.22 69.49
Estrada, Johnny 23 Phi 0.295 95 356 42 105 159 18 0 12 42 10 2 20 1 0 0.447 0.322 49.28 69.22
McDonald, Donzell  25 NYY 0.243 68 247 40 60 92 11 6 3 16 58 1 47 25 7 0.372 0.391 33.45 67.71
Cota, Humberto 21 Pit 0.261 112 429 49 112 158 20 1 8 44 21 1 80 6 4 0.368 0.297 56.64 66.02
Chen, Chin-Feng 22 LA 0.277 133 516 66 143 194 27 3 6 67 61 3 131 23 15 0.376 0.355 67.43 65.34
Garbe, B.J. 19 Min 0.233 133 476 62 111 144 12 3 5 51 63 2 91 14 7 0.303 0.333 62.19 65.32
Jimenez, D'Angelo  22 NYY 0.219 33 114 19 25 39 4 2 2 7 15 2 19 2 0 0.342 0.313 14.86 65.19
Bell, Mike 25 Cin 0.268 115 429 70 115 214 29 2 22 78 45 6 76 0 0 0.499 0.342 55.60 64.80
Everett, Adam 24 Hou 0.245 126 453 82 111 155 25 2 5 37 75 0 100 13 4 0.342 0.363 55.08 60.80
Perez, Santiago 25 SD 0.275 106 408 74 112 167 26 7 5 34 44 3 96 31 8 0.409 0.346 49.32 60.44
Faison, Vince 19 SD 0.219 117 457 65 100 160 20 2 12 39 26 0 159 21 4 0.350 0.267 53.40 58.43
Redman, Tike 23 Pit 0.261 121 506 62 132 190 24 11 4 51 32 0 73 24 18 0.375 0.306 51.85 51.23
Izturis, Cesar 20 Tor 0.218 132 435 54 95 121 16 5 0 27 20 0 44 21 11 0.278 0.253 41.96 48.23
PLAYER AGE TEAM AVG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IB SO SB CS SLG OBP ERP ERP/500
Last Updated on 3/5/01