They unveil the new No. 1 prospect in all of MLB and the top 10

The chips have moved more than ever in the new list of the Top 100 MLB Pipeline Prospects. A total of 27 players have graduated from our preseason rankings and have been called up to the Big Top, while performances have been more volatile than ever after a 2020 season with no minor leagues.

Rays shortstop Wander Franco had topped our last four preseason and midseason Top 100 lists, but now that the Dominican has lost his rookie / prospect status, Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, ranks first. For just the second time since MLB.com began compiling its rankings in 2004, the same team boasts the best position prospect and the best prospective pitcher.

Baltimore right-hander Grayson Rodriguez is the top-ranked pitcher at No. 8 overall. The only other organization to achieve that milestone was the White Sox, with Yoán Moncada at the top and Michael Kopech at No. 12 on our mid-2017 list.

Let’s take a look at our new Top 10 list in several ways.

Top 10

1. Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles

2. Julio Rodríguez, OF, Mariners

3. Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Royals

4. Spencer Torkelson, 3B / 1B, Tigers

5. Marco Luciano, SS, Giants

6. CJ Abrams, SS, Padres

7. Riley Greene, OF, Tigers

8. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Orioles

9. Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox

10. Francisco Álvarez, C, Mets

The cream of the crop on our list consists of five repeat players from our preseason Top 10 (Rutschman, Julio Rodríguez, Witt, Torkelson, Abrams), four more who were within the best 50 of that Top 100 (Luciano, Greene, Grayson Rodríguez, Álvarez) and our top-ranked prospect from the 2021 Amateur Draft (Mayer).

Jim Callis / MLB.com

Gabriel Delgado

I started as a rookie on Al Bat in early 2018 and am going for my third season covering Major League Baseball as a web reporter. I am a fan of the San Francisco Giants, a number one defender of Barry Bonds and a critic of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto and Ronald Acuña are the future of baseball, Mike Trout is overrated, and the Astros deserved to be taken away from the World Series for cheating. Besides baseball, I also enjoy soccer, football, basketball, and just about any other game that includes a ball or a ball. I am also an amateur musician, penniless gamer and very nerdy. Graduated in journalism from the University of Guadalajara, I graduated in 2017. Born in the shrimp capital of the world, Escuinapa, Sinaloa. I lived in Australia for a while; i survived giant spiders, tasmanian devils and fought a kangaroo and didn’t die trying.

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