This week’s risers and fallers is all about my recently released Top 100 Fantasy Baseball Prospects updated list for July. On the risers side are two players from the deepest system in the league, Lazaro Montes and Colt Emerson, of the Seattle Mariners, and the athletic catcher in the Kansas City Royals organization, Blake Mitchell. On the fallers side, we have dominant, but rarely healthy, left-handed fireballer Ricky Tiedemann, Diamondbacks shortstop Tommy Troy and an I-was-a-year-too-early Angels prospect, Nelson Rada.

RISERS

Lazaro Montes – June #38 -> July #6 – Montes is the crown jewel of the best minor league system in baseball, in my opinion. He has titanic, elite++ power, a good eye at the plate and is an okay fielder, but needs to work on his bat to ball skills and leveraging more of his power in game. After he hit 23 home runs across three levels last year, the Mariners had him start his second professional season in Low-A, where he basically performed exactly the same, just with a lower strikeout rate and more line drives and fly balls. He hit 13 home runs over 309 plate appearances, with a 19.1% strikeout rate and a 13.9% walk rate, with a wRC+ of 149. He was promoted to High-A the week of June 25th and has a home run, two doubles and a 0.360 batting average through his first six games. The Mariners have developed their hitters very, very well over the last few seasons and I believe they will have Montes ready to be a big leaguer much sooner rather than later. Montes has 40 to 50 home run upside and may only be a three true outcomes hitter in the future, but with some improvement in his hit tool and in right field and the floor becomes much safer. He has a real chance to end the season as the #1 prospect and could be pushed through the upper levels aggressively if he shows he can handle the more advanced pitching as he goes. the sky is the limit for the left handed Cuban.

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