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Baseball America released its top 100 prospects in baseball on Wednesday evening, and outfielder Joc Pederson is the highest-rated Dodger at No. 34 overall. He is narrowly ahead of shortstop Corey Seager, ranked No. 37 overall.
Other Dodgers in the top 100 were left-handed adolescent pitcher Julio Urias at No. 51, and right-handed pitcher Zach Lee at No. 95. Urias, 17, is the youngest player on the list.
Ben Badler of Baseball America had high praise for Pederson, who turns 22 in April.
Joc Pederson is the Dodgers' No. 1 prospect, No. 34 in baseball, and I still think he's underrated. #BA100
— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) February 20, 2014
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was singing Pederson's praises earlier Wednesday when discussing the outfielder, in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.
"I don't have to study Joc too much, seeing his stroke three years ago you could see it was going to be there. He's got really nice hands, he's fluid in terms of the way the swing's supposed to look, easy. He's more Cano-ish, if you want to throw categories out there, CarGo and those guys; his swing looks a lot like those guys," Mattingly said. "It's about Joc developing and understanding his keys for certain pitchers and his approach to those guys. I think everyone has high hopes for Joc."
Combining the top 100 prospects by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, MLB.com and ESPN, the Dodgers have a consensus top four.
Dodgers 2014 top prospect rankings | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | BA | BP | MLB | ESPN | Average |
Seager ss |
2nd (37th) |
2nd (44th) | 1st (34th) | 2nd (18th) | 33.25 |
Pederson of |
1st (34th) |
3rd (50th) | 2nd (36th) | 3rd (41st) | 40.25 |
Urias lhp |
3rd (51st) |
1st (35th) | 4th (64th) | 1st (14th) | 41.00 |
Lee rhp |
4th (95th) |
4th (84th) | 3rd (63rd) | 4th (75th) | 79.25 |