The hottest prospects in baseball

By the staff of Baseball America

Yankees catching prospect Jesus Montero is having a monster season. Cliff Welch/Icon SMI

It's worth remembering that one bad year does not mean a player is no longer a prospect. There are few better examples of that than the No. 1 player on this list, Brandon Allen. Back in 2006 Allen hit .213/.257/.380 for low Class A Kannapolis. As a first baseman whose best position may be as a DH, that would seem to be a death sentence. Instead, here he is, three years later, on the cusp of the big leagues.

These are the hottest prospects in baseball right now, with stats taken from games of July 17-23. (Contributing: Ben Badler, Dan Budreika, J.J. Cooper, Matt Eddy, Matt Forman, Conor Glassey, Jim Shonerd.)

1) Brandon Allen, 1B, Diamondbacks

Team: Triple-A Reno (Pacific Coast)
Age: 23
Why He's Here: .385/.500/1.000 (10-for-26), 5 HR, 1 2B, 10 RBIs, 8 R, 6 BB, 3 SO, 3-for-3 SB

The Scoop: Making a positive first impression on a new employer is always important. No need to tell that to Allen, though, as the Diamondbacks' newly acquired first baseman smacked five home runs on the week.

Allen needed time to adjust to pro ball after the White Sox made him a fifth-round pick in 2004, but he broke out last year, hitting 29 home runs between high Class A and Double-A, and he has continued that trend into 2009. Allen is up to 15 home runs for the season, having hit eight before being traded and seven already in 12 games with Reno. He hit three homers in four games against Sacramento, one of the PCL's better pitching staffs, then homered in back-to-back games against Portland, including a two-homer game on Wednesday.

Allen's hit tool has been coming around as well. A .256 lifetime hitter coming into the season, he's hitting .296 in 338 at-bats between stops at Double-A and Triple-A this year. He has registered hits in 11 of his 12 games since joining the Aces, and his strikeout rate has fallen markedly, as he has fanned only 65 times in 88 games this year, down from his career rate of more than a strikeout per game entering the year.

2) James Darnell, 3B, Padres

Team: High Class A Lake Elsinore (California)
Age: 22
Why He's Here: .400/.471/.833 (12-for-30), 3 HR, 2 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBIs, 6 R, 4 BB, 8 SO, 1-for-1 SB

The Scoop: Darnell still ranks first in the Midwest League in on-base percentage (.468) and third in slugging (.518), but he didn't accumulate enough plate appearances with Fort Wayne to lay claim to those titles. No worry. In all likelihood he would have begun the season in the Cal League were it not for Logan Forsythe, whose promotion to Double-A paved the way for Darnell's bump to Elsinore. The '08 second-rounder continues to hit and hit for power, as evidenced by his one four-hit and two three-hit games on the week, including a two-homer outburst at Inland Empire on Sunday. Defensively speaking, Darnell has not been as steady. His fielding percentage at the hot corner sits at .897 on the year -- that's 26 errors in 105 games.

3) Mike Stanton, RF, Marlins

Team: Double-A Jacksonville (Southern)
Age: 19
Why He's Here: .435/.462/.783 (10-for-23), 2 HR, 2 2B, 5 RBIs, 7 R, 0 BB, 8 SO

The Scoop: Stanton needed time to make the transition to Double-A. He hit just .202 in his first 27 games with Jacksonville in what was the first really protracted slump of his career. That's over now. Stanton is on an eight-game hitting streak and has upped his line with the Suns to .252/.337/.476 in 147 at-bats. The second of his two home runs on the week came off a newly-minted Mariner Dan Cortes of West Tenn, against whom Stanton crushed a two-run shot in the fifth inning that upped his home run totals to 20 on the season and eight already in Double-A.

4) Thomas Neal, LF, Giants

Team: High Class A San Jose (California)
Age: 21
Why He's Here: .400/.471/.767 (12-for-30), 2 HR, 5 2B, 7 RBIs, 10 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 3-for-3 SB

The Scoop: The No. 1 prospect on this list a week ago, Neal has been on fire of late. Over the past two weeks he has gone 22 for 53 with eight doubles, one triple and three home runs. On the season he's up to .350/.435/.625, while leading the Cal League in average and doubles (32). His slugging percentage ranks third best in all of the minors' full-season leagues. While the Cal League is a hitter's paradise, Neal has hit well at home and on the road and against righties and lefties.

5) Logan Morrison, 1B, Marlins

Team: Double-A Jacksonville (Southern)
Age: 21
Why He's Here: .429/.692/.500 (6-for-14), 1 2B, 6 RBIs, 5 R, 12 BB, 1 SO, 1-for-1 SB

The Scoop: Pitches to hit were few and far between for Morrison, which wasn't altogether surprising since he's been the one batting cleanup behind Stanton in the Jacksonville order. Even given that, drawing 12 walks in a week (none of them intentional, either) is a pretty impressive feat of plate discipline. Morrison needed a little time to get back in form after a right wrist fracture sidelined him for two months, but he's been heating up in July, batting .311/.500/.525 in 61 at-bats.

6) Jesus Montero, C, Yankees

Team: Double-A Trenton (Eastern)
Age: 19
Why He's Here: .360/.429/.680 (9-for-25), 2 HR, 2 2B, 9 RBIs, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 SO

The Scoop: On the season Montero is hitting .334/.391/.552 in 317 at-bats, with 15 home runs, 63 RBIs and a 28-to-43 walk-to-strikeout ratio. His production stands on its own merits, but just consider the supporting evidence: He's 19, he has caught in 53 of his 84 games played and he has compiled huge numbers in two pitcher-friendly leagues, the Florida State and now the Eastern. If he's got another month in him like the ones that have come before, you may be looking at our Minor League Player of the Year.

7) Lance Lynn, RHP, Cardinals

Team: Double-A Springfield (Texas)
Age: 22
Why He's Here: 1-1, 0.00, 14 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 14 SO

The Scoop: Lynn is one of the biggest men in the minor leagues at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds. He won't overpower hitters with mid-90s velocity, but his fastball regularly checks in in the low 90s with good command, thanks in part to a clean delivery. This week Lynn breezed through his starts against Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa, showing why the Cardinals made him their supplemental first-round pick out of Mississippi one year ago.

8) Deolis Guerra, RHP, Twins

Team: Double-A New Britain (Eastern)
Age: 20
Why He's Here: 2-0, 2.03, 13 1/3 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 15 SO

The Scoop: After spending parts of four long, tumultuous seasons in the high Class A Florida State League, Guerra was finally given a shot at Double-A in early July. It feels like he's been around forever, yet he's still young for Double-A at age 20, and he has gone 3-0, 3.52 in his first four starts with New Britain. Guerra has regained some his velocity, which had declined last year as he battled inconsistencies with his delivery after coming over from the Mets in the Johan Santana trade. He struck out 12 over seven shutout innings against Portland on Thursday night, and has fanned 23 in 23 innings for the Rock Cats.

9) Madison Bumgarner, LHP, Giants

Team: Double-A Connecticut (Eastern)
Age: 19
Why He's Here: 1-0, 1.29, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 SO

The Scoop: From a strictly pitching standpoint, this wasn't Bumgarner's most dominating game. However, he also went 2 for 3 with a go-ahead grand slam, nearly winning the game single-handedly. It was Bumgarner's first professional home run, and he has allowed just eight as a pitcher in 40 career starts. On the year the 6-foot-4 left-hander is 10-2, 1.54 with 75 strikeouts and 24 walks over 94 innings. He's striking out a tick over 20 percent of the batters he faces, an impressive feat given that he doesn't turn 20 until Aug. 1.

10) Jon Gaston, LF, Astros

Team: High Class A Lancaster (California)
Age: 22
Why He's Here: .348/.348/1.217 (8-for-23), 6 HR, 1 3B, 10 RBIs, 9 R, 5 BB, 10 SO

The Scoop: A seventh-round pick last year out of Arizona, Gaston didn't show many signs of future success when he hit .193/.292/.285 in his debut at short-season Tri-City. But the Astros promoted him aggressively to high Class A Lancaster this season, and he has responded with a breakout year. Thanks to a pair of two-home run games this week, Gaston took over the minor league lead in home runs with 27. He also leads the minors in triples (14), extra-base hits (64), runs scored (88), total bases (243) and slugging percentage (.673). Lancaster is a fabulous place to hit, and Gaston's true ability rests somewhere between his .339/.422/.790 line at home and his less overheated .274/.370/.549 performance on the road.