Every year, a handful of pitchers jump from off the 101 to the middle of the list. In looking at the 2019 edition, some obvious archetypes appear for pitching prospects who jumped. Here’s a look at eight pitchers who climbed onto the list and why we decided to move them up.
Post-Tommy John Breakouts
Brusdar Graterol (33)
We flagged Graterol as a “positive risk” who might have a higher ceiling than we credited him for, but we sure didn’t see this coming. A few pitchers every year consolidate everything at once and gain an enormous amount of helium, and Graterol is this year’s most obvious example. He missed all of 2016 with Tommy John surgery, and while he flashed promise in 2017, he also battled through the typical command and consistency problems that plague Tommy John rehabbers. Everything came together in 2018: he cut through both full-season A-ball levels and the stuff is now better than just about anyone else’s in the minors.
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