Walker Buehler tops 4 Dodgers on Baseball America top 100 prospects list

A quartet of Dodgers were named on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list on Monday, led by pitcher Walker Buehler as the No. 13 prospect in baseball.

Buehler made his major league debut in September after a rapid rise through three levels. The 2015 first-round pick had a 3.35 ERA in 88⅔ innings in the minors in 2017, with 125 strikeouts (a 35% rate) and 31 walks. Buehler, who pitched just five innings in 2016 after missing nearly the entire season following Tommy John surgery, was not ranked in the BA top 100 before last season.

Following Buehler on the top 100 list is outfielder Alex Verdugo, who also made his major league debut in September, at No. 37, up from No. 58 last year. Mitchell White, drafted in the second round in 2016, is No. 69.

The big riser was catcher Keibert Ruiz at No. 40. The switch-hitting catcher hit .316/.361/.452 in 101 games between Class-A Great Lakes and Advanced-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2017, and was named the Dodgers minor league player of the year (Buehler was named pitcher of the year). Ruiz is just 19.

A notable omission is pitcher Yadier Alvarez, who was ranked the No. 26 prospect in baseball by Baseball America before last season. Alvarez put up a 4.68 ERA in 92⅓ innings between Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa in 2017, with 97 strikeouts and 50 walks.

Keith Law of ESPN revealed the first half of his top 100 prospects on Monday as well, and Alvarez checked in at No. 52 on that list. Ruiz was ranked No. 97 by Law

The Dodgers also had four players in the top 100 on last year’s BA list, headed by No. 7 Cody Bellinger, the National League Rookie of the Year winner.