Baseball America’s Hot Sheet ranks the 20 hottest prospects from the previous week. This installment of the Prospect Hot Sheet considers how minor league players performed through April 29. Contributing this week were Baseball America staffers Josh Norris, Geoff Pontes, J.J. Cooper and Matt Eddy.
This simply recognizes how the hottest prospects in the minors did in the past week—it’s not a re-ranking of the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects.
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The Scoop: This week is a perfect illustration of what enticed the Guardians to pick De Los Santos in last December’s Rule 5 draft. He was always going to be a tough player to keep on the roster, which is why Arizona was willing to take the risk of leaving him unprotected. But now that he’s back with the D-backs, De Los Santos is again showing the massive power potential that could make him a future everyday first baseman. De Los Santos is making a pretty strong argument to move up to Triple-A. He spent the tail end of 2022 and all of 2023 with Amarillo, and now that he’s hitting .395/.449/.716. He can convincingly argue that there’s just not much left for him to learn at Double-A. (JC)
2. Quinn Mathews, LHP, Cardinals
Team: Low-A Palm Beach (Florida State)
Age: 23
Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 SO, 0 HR
The Scoop: Outside of Mariners righty Logan Evans, there may be no pitcher who has boosted his stock more than Mathews in the early part of the season. As Ben Badler covered last week, Mathews fastball velocity has taken a substantial jump while maintaining his above-average fastball shape. Last week he continued his dominance of Low-A hitters, striking out 13 and allowing just three hits. Mathews mixes a four-seam fastball at 94-95 mph with above-average ride with a mid-80s slider, a mid-70s curveball and a changeup. Mathews has a history of knowing how to pitch with the ability to rack up innings and high pitch counts. It looks like the Cardinals found a gem in round four of last year’s draft. (GP)
3. Brock Selvidge, LHP, Yankees
Team: Double-A Somerset (Eastern)
Age: 21
Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 SO, 0 HR
The Scoop: Over the last two seasons, Selvidge has raised his stock considerably. In 2023, the lefthander reached full-season ball for the first time and whiffed 137 hitters…