Prospect Team of the Month, May 2024

Beck breaks down the top prospects from the month of May

I’m a few days late pulling this together but the nice thing is I have another chance to be on time next month! May is when we start getting a large enough sample to feel good about the conclusions we’re drawing for a number of prospects, and that is really reflected in this group. James Wood has catapulted himself into my top 5, Lazaro Montes and Aidan Miller made big jumps into my top 30, and Luke Keaschall and Zebby Matthews earned their way into the top 100 for the first time. 

As a reminder, while this is technically my team of the month, it’s only my team insofar as it’s comprised of prospects that appeared (or will appear) on my latest ranking update. The rest is up to the players. Those who performed the best in May made the cut. 

SP: Zebby Matthews, Minnesota Twins (AA)

May: 1.21 ERA, 33.3% K%, 1.9% BB%, 29.5% CSW in 23.0 IP

I mean, the guy walked two batters over the course of an entire month. He’s actually only walked two of the 192 batters he’s faced this year. He’s showing otherworldly control even after having added a sweeper to his arsenal and seeing his fastball velocity jump year-over-year, which has earned him the title of top pitching prospect in the Twins system. It’s not unlikely we see Zebby in Minneapolis over the summer.

C: Kyle Teel, Boston Red Sox (AA)

May: .357/.443/.560 with 3 HRs and 2 SBs in 97 PA

It wasn’t the gaudiest month in terms of counting stats but his slash line does the talking. A lot of the damage was done with doubles, of which he collected eight, but he has plenty of juice for the position when he’s elevating. He carried a 105.8 mph 90th percentile exit velocity with aluminum while at Virginia, which can be roughly translated to MLB average underlying power in the absence of publicly available figures. The bar for catcher offense is rather low and Teel clears it easily, plus he’s an excellent defender and the Red Sox will want him playing as often as possible.

1B: Tre’ Morgan, Tampa Bay Rays (A+)

May: .403/.489/.610 with 2 HRs and 2 SBs in 92 PA

It’s really hard to argue with the surface performance Tre’ Morgan has put together across Single- and High-A thus far. He left LSU with excellent plate skills and bat-to-ball ability, both of which have translated immediately to pro ball. It’s never a bad thing to perform well, of course, but it’s also worth noting that he played in a college power conference and is 21-years-old, so some level of domination at Single-A is expected. I have a hard time figuring out what to do with him because his profile is just weird. He’s a legitimate 80 defender at first base, but first base defense isn’t extraordinarily valuable. He’s got a tremendous hit tool, but very little pop for a corner infielder. All told he’s probably a better play in a points format than rotisserie, but he doesn’t provide the ceiling you’d typically look for in a fantasy 1B.

2B: Luke Keaschall, Minnesota Twins (AA)

May: .375/.468/.596 with 5 HRs and 6 SBs in 126 PA

Keaschall’s torrid May earned him a promotion to Double-A Wichita on May 28th, which was probably a bit overdue. He’d collected hits in 13 of the 15 games preceding his bump up with 26 total hits in that span. Coming out of college he looked like a bag of 50’s and 55’s, but the hit tool has really shined so far (albeit aided heavily by a .370 BABIP) and the underlying contact and swing decision data backs it up. He’s similar to Tre’ Morgan in the sense that he doesn’t present a ton of upside, but I prefer his profile at a position that has less pressing offensive demands.

3B: Aidan Miller, Philadelphia Phillies (A)

May: .309/.478/.588 with 3 HRs and 3 SBs in 90 PA

Miller was one of the most decorated prep hitters in recent history having participated on the USA Baseball U-12, U-15, and U-18 squads and winning a Gold Medal in the World Cup. I had the opportunity to see him in person at the Phillies Spring Breakout game in Florida this spring and he was both physically impressive and composed in a 1-for-2 effort against advanced pitching. He’s rocketed up my rankings from 73rd in January to 30th in the latest iteration.

SS: Kristian Campbell, Boston Red Sox (AA)

May: .371/.467/.663 with 6 HRs and 2 SBs in 107 PA

Campbell worked in the offseason to gear his swing for impact and it has worked fabulously. He’s up to eight home runs in 204 plate appearances on the year and has already surpassed his college and summer wood bat league home run total combined. The tradeoff has been some contact ability – he has a tendency to fly open and leave a hole on the outer half of the plate – and it might get taken advantage of against better pitching. He was promoted to Double-A Portland on June 3rd, so we’ll find out soon enough.

OF 1: Brennen Davis, Chicago Cubs (AAA)

May: .254/.430/.619 with 7 HRs and 1 SB in 86 PA

Old friend alert! Davis was all the rage after he climbed three levels in 2021 and performed well along the way, ultimately finishing with an .869 OPS in 68 plate appearances with Triple-A Iowa as a 21-year-old. Unfortunately injuries have taken a lot of the luster off of his profile over the last two years and there are a number of concerns remaining despite a truly outstanding month of May. He’s making contact at a scary low rate and the exit velocity figures suggest the power surge thus far isn’t sustainable.

OF 2: James Wood, Washington Nationals (AAA)

May: .394/.506/.747 with 7 HRs and 2 SBs in 89 PA

Wood’s seven home runs came on just 89 plate appearances, which rocks, but the reason his May was abbreviated did not rock. He hasn’t played since May 23rd after experiencing right hamstring tightness, and while it isn’t a major injury, I’m a little wary of how his enormous body will hold up. Soft-tissue stuff is no fun (ask Byron Buxton), and for a guy who should be initially tasked with roaming center field it may be a tall task. Anyway, he’s awesome. He hits the ball extremely hard, has shored up some of the holes in his swing, and is impossibly fast for his size. I’m probably being a little too much of a worry-wart.

OF 3: Lazaro Montes, Seattle Mariners (A)

May: .369/.447/.602 with 6 HRs and 1 SB in 123 PA 

Lazaro has been one of the most productive hitters in minor league baseball across any level. He’s leading the Cal League in wRC+, OPS, batting average, and slugging, and is top 10 in ISO and top 20 in walk rate. He’s enormous, hits the ball extremely hard, and has cut his K-rate by a full 8.0% in 2024. He’s long overdue for a promotion and is a top 30 prospect in baseball for fantasy purposes.