Yadier Alvarez ranks first among Baseball Prospectus 2017 top Dodgers prospects

Baseball Prospectus revealed their top 10 Dodgers prospects on Wednesday, with familiar faces Yadier Alvarez, Cody Bellinger, and Jose De Leon at the top of the list.

Alvarez tops the list, as he did the FanGraphs list in November.

The right-hander struck out 81 with a 2.12 ERA in 59 innings between rookie-level Arizona and Class-A Great Lakes in 2016 in his pro debut and doesn’t turn 21 until March.

“There’s still some projection left in his lean, athletic frame,” Jeffrey Paternostro wrote of Alvarez and his 100-mph arm. “Unlikely he adds much more velocity but some added weight/strength might help tone down some of the effort in his delivery and make everything more repeatable generally.”

Alvarez ranked sixth on the Baseball Prospectus list before the 2016 season.

Bellinger checks in at No. 2, up from ninth before last season, and De Leon ranks third, in the same spot as one year ago.

Those three give the Dodgers three different top prospects by national outlets. Alvarez tops this list and FanGraphs, while Bellinger topped the Baseball America list last week, and De Leon topped John Sickels’ top 20 Dodgers prospects.

Baseball Prospectus is high on Walker Buehler after the Dodgers’ 2015 first-round selection came back from Tommy John surgery. Buehler is ranked as the sixth-best Dodgers prospect, after not making top 10 prior to the 2016 season, with BP praising his curve and changeup, both of which project as above average.

A pair of 2016 draftees made the top 10, with first-round pick Gavin Lux ranked ninth and supplemental first-rounder Jordan Sheffield (pick No. 36 overall) rounding out the top 10.

“Sheffield has a power pitcher’s arsenal,” Paternostro wrote. “The fastball regularly bumped 96-97 in short bursts as a pro even after a long NCAA season at Vandy.”