Since this is the mid-season write-up, it's just a quick overview of the player. When we get to the preseason re ranking in the offseason, they'll be a lot more involved.
All stats are current as of /4/2019.
All write-ups were published during all-star weekend.
Prospect #1: OF Dylan Carlson
Springfield Cardinals
Drafted in the 1st round of the 2016 draft
Age 20
Truth be told, Dylan Carlson is everything. Everything that you'd want in a young man AND a prospect.
He's a switch hitting Stephen Piscotty, but with a higher ceiling.
He's a great corner outfielder that's turned himself into an IMPRESSIVE center fielder.
He's a great base-runner.
He's an unmatched worker.
He has elite baseball smarts or instincts or IQ or all of those things depending on how you define all of those things. He just understanding the game. And he comes from a great family, too.
Maybe more importantly than any of this, he appears to be getting better and better every day.
The Cardinals have challenged Carlson at every level, and he's answered those challenges admirably. The fun thing about Carlson is, we all knew that this 2019 breakout was coming, yet he manages to be more and more impressive each day.
And how did we know? There's a lot of talk about all of the stuff that I mentioned above. Couple that with what his peripheral stats were saying leading into the 2019 season. Add that to his natural abilities. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. What I'm saying is, it just made sense that he was going to bust out.
The truth is, we knew it was coming because Carlson is just a special young man and a special baseball player. He's gotten better at every level, even though he's been substantially out-seasoned at those levels. He's constantly learning and adjusting and working and getting better.
Now, this isn't to say that his development is done, and that he should be inserted into the Cardinals lineup after the all-star break. He still could use time to refine and develop in the minors. There just might be a September call-up in his 2019-future (although doubtful), but there is reason to believe that a then 21-year-old Carlson will have every chance to break spring training 2020 with the Cardinals.
If he stays on his current developmental track, I have no doubt that he'll be ready for the task.
Thanks to FanGraphs for the stats!!
Thanks For Reading!!
Kyle Reis