The July trade deadline and the August waiver period are not the only ways teams can add to their rosters for the stretch run, as September also brings an influx of new players when the active rosters expand from 25 to 40.
Generally this is a time when teams promote the guys that have bounced between the minors and majors for most of the season, adding a few arms to the bullpen and bats to the bench in the process.
However, there are always at least a handful of top prospects who are given a chance to show what they can do during this time as well.
Last season, names like Joc Pederson, Daniel Norris, Maikel Franco, Dalton Pompey, Cory Spangenberg and Brandon Finnegan headlined the crop of September prospect promotions.
So who could we see get the call this year?
What follows is my best guess at the top 25 prospects likely to be promoted when Sept. 1 rolls around.
A few things to consider before we begin:
- Prospects are ranked based on their overall ceiling and future upside, not necessarily on the impact they are expected to make over the final month of the season.
- To be considered for inclusion, a player must still have rookie eligibility (130 AB, 50 IP), so you won’t see names like Javier Baez or Lance McCullers on the following list.
- Atlanta Braves prospect Hector Olivera was not included, as I expect him to be promoted as soon as he’s finished rehabbing and likely ahead of the Sept. 1 expansion date.
Hopefully that clarifies what we were looking for when putting these rankings together. Now on with the show.