With a quarter of the MLB season in the books, and some of the baseball’s best prospects now suiting up for their respective big league squads, it’s time to reflect on the performances of our Top 50 Prospects.  Today we look at 24-20, which includes: Mike Montgomery, Manny Machado, Mike Minor, John Lamb and Freddie Freeman.

24. Mike Montgomery, LHP, Kansas City Royals

Triple-A: 2-2, 5.18 ERA, 57.1 IP, 34 BB, 48 K, 1.57 WHIP, 5.3 BB/9

23. Manny Machado, SS, Baltimore Orioles

Class-A: .333/.450/.611, 20 R, 6 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 21 RBI, 3 SB, 19 BB, 14 K

22. Mike Minor, LHP, Atlanta Braves

Triple-A: 2-2, 2.56 ERA, 52.2 IP, 14 BB, 54 K, 6 HR, 1.158 WHIP

MLB: 0-1, 5.40 ERA, 10 IP, 6 BB, 7 K, 2.00 WHIP

21. John Lamb, LHP, Kansas City Royals

Double-A: 1-2, 3.09 ERA, 35 IP, 13 BB, 22 K, 1.314 WHIP

20. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves

MLB: .249/.332/.390, 22 R, 10 2B, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 21 BB, 42 K, 2 SB

Shortly after the turn of the New Year, we began unveiling our Top 50 Prospects for the 2011 season.  The list is the product of hours of deliberation between Dee and myself, and is far from your average, cookie-cutter top prospect list.

Our rankings are based on a number of criteria such as ceiling, refinement, age, level, performance, and health thus far.  Positional scarcity and chances to stay at a premium position in the Major Leagues carries some weight too, but is a lesser component. No pitcher rankings are based off of potential as relievers because no top arm ends up in the bullpen unless the front office decides to lose its mind.

In case you have missed any player on our list, here is a recap of 20-30:

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#21 John Lamb – Kansas City Royals

LHP

DOB: 7-10-90

ETA: 2012

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#24  Mike Montgomery – Kansas City Royals

LHP

DOB: 7-1-89

ETA: 2011

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• The start to the final week of 2010 brought the disturbing news that FIU’s Garrett Wittels had been charged with the rape of two 17-year old girls while on vacation in the Bahamas.  Wittels, who currently holds the second-longest hitting streak in NCAA history at 56 games, is headed into his senior season and has a chance to make history- he is two games shy of tying Robin Ventura’s record of 58 games.  It is too early to know, or speculate for that matter, what type of impact the allegations will have on Wittels’ eligibility.

• With Carl Crawford long departed, the Tampa Bay Rays are hoping that rookie Desmond Jennings will fill the void in left field.  Jennings, who has comparable speed but less pop than his predecessor, will have Spring Training to prove to the Rays that he is the man for the job.  If not, Matt Joyce should have no problem manning the position.  Realistically, the Rays want Jennings to be their left fielder, so I’d expect a platoon scenario…at least until one of their two youngsters shows some consistency.

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