Baseball’s 20 Hottest Prospects From The Past Week (4/11/23)

The Hot Sheet is back! Baseball America’s staff ranks the 20 hottest prospects from the previous week. This installment of the Prospect Hot Sheet considers what minor league players did through April 10. Contributing this week were Josh Norris, Geoff Pontes, Ben Badler, J.J. Cooper and Kyle Glaser.

This simply recognizes what the hottest prospects in the minors did in the past week—it’s not a re-ranking of the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects.

Josh Norris will be hosting a chat at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday to discuss this week’s Hot Sheet. You can submit your questions here.

1. Matthew Liberatore, LHP, Cardinals
Team: Triple-A Memphis (International)
Age: 23

Why He’s Here: 2-0, 0.00, 10 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 14 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: The Cardinals No. 4 prospect reminded everyone over his first few starts why he was so highly touted coming out of the draft in 2018. After consecutive underwhelming seasons in 2021 and 2022, Liberatore started his third season at Triple-A with two impressive outings—he went five scoreless while striking out seven in each start. He was up to 97 mph with his fastball and upped his curveball usage, leading to 13 swinging strikes against the pitch across his two starts. Liberatore could be in line for a promotion shortly. (GP)

2. Nolan Jones, OF/3B, Rockies
Team: Triple-A Albuquerque (Pacific Coast)
Age: 24

Why He’s Here: .353/.476/.941 (12-for-34) 11 R, 2 2B, 6 HR, 13 RBIs, 7 BB, 9 SO.

The Scoop: Picking up Jones last offseason when the Guardians needed to clear 40-man roster space is exactly the kind of move the Rockies should be making. Jones has been a Top 100 prospect in the past, and at his best he’s shown he can hit for average and hit 15-20 home runs as well. He’s currently second in the minors with six home runs, and overall he still looks like a solid hitter with decent pop. Jones is unlikely to turn into a star, but the Rockies could use a hitter who can play four spots (left and right field, first and third base) and has a plus-plus arm. (JC)

3. Chase Silseth, RHP, Angels
Team: Triple-A Salt Lake (Pacific Coast)
Age: 22

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: After dominating at Double-A Rocket City last year and making his major league debut, Silseth is picking up right where he left off with Triple-A Salt Lake. Silseth tossed five scoreless innings in his first start with the Bees and followed up with six scoreless innings, one hit allowed, two walks and seven strikeouts in…