2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 11

Note: Today is nomination day!

With the latest installment of the Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List, we now have a top 10 list. Rounding out the top 10 is catcher Patrick Bailey, who has been voted by the community as the 10th-best prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization.

It’s a fairly familiar spot for Bailey. He was No. 8 in his inaugural CPL two years ago, and No. 9 last year. The 23 year old, who was a first-round pick in 2020, had a 2022 with ups and downs. He put up decent offensive numbers — 113 wRC+ — but did so in High-A, repeating a level after a mediocre 2021. The offensive performance is a little odder when put under a microscope ... he struggled to get hits, as he had just a .225 batting average (and was just .185 in his 33-game stint in High-A last year). But his numbers were propped up by a sky-high walk rate (15.1%) and a decent amount of power (12 home runs in 325 plate appearances). He also had massive splits despite being a switch-hitter: he hit .252/.370/.481 as a lefty, but just .131/.239/.213 as a righty.

But despite some mediocre offense given his age and level, Bailey did win a Minor League Gold Glove Award, so there’s a lot of reason for optimism there. 2023 could be a make or break year for him.

The top 10 is now set, and it features one player from the 2019 draft, three from the 2020 draft, one from the 2021 draft, two from the 2022 draft, and one international signing by Farhan Zaidi’s group. The other two are international signings by the previous front office.

On we march to the next 34 spots. And today is nomination day, so head to the comments not just to vote for this CPL, but also to nominate players for Wednesday’s CPL.

The list so far

1. Kyle Harrison — LHP
2. Marco Luciano — SS
3. Casey Schmitt — 3B
4. Luis Matos — CF
5. Vaun Brown — OF
6. Grant McCray — CF
7. Aeverson Arteaga — SS
8. Carson Whisenhunt — LHP
9. Reggie Crawford — LHP/DH
10. Patrick Bailey — C

Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.

On to No. 11!

No. 11 prospect nominees

Mason Black — 23.0-year old RHP, 4.52 FIP in High-A (77.2 IP), 2.66 FIP in Low-A (34.1 IP)
Jairo Pomares — 22.4-year old OF, 113 wRC+ in High-A (386 PAs)
Heliot Ramos — 23.3-year old OF, -13 wRC+ in MLB (22 PAs), 65 wRC+ in AAA (475 PAs)
Eric Silva — 20.2-year old RHP, 5.05 FIP in Low-A (85.2 IP)

Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page.

Reminder: voting is now in the comments!