Purple Row After Dark: Who ranks it right?

It’s that time of year. The longest days of the summer are behind us—though the heat is not—and the Major League Baseball season is about to enter the final stretch. It’s also that magical time of year where Purple Row’s mid-season PuRPs prospect rankings hit the website. These are the very same rankings that you, the delightful Purple Row readers and commenters, voted on!

The PuRPs top 30 rankings will begin tomorrow while, perhaps coincidentally (or maybe they’re trying to compete with our powerhouse rankings!), MLB Pipeline has updated their own top 30 prospect rankings for each team. Let’s take a look at how the cards fell.

The Top Ten

1. SS Ethan Holliday
2. CF/2B Roldy Brito
3. 1B/OF Charlie Condon
4. SS Tyler Bell
5. OF Cristian Arguelles
6. C Daniel Jackson
7. RHP Logan Reddemann
8. RHP Jackson Cox
9. C Jack Natili
10. OF Jared Thomas

The top ten list isn’t two surprising. Hopeful franchise savior and Holliday scion Ethan Holliday remains the team’s No. 1 overall prospect while a healthy dose of 2026 draft selections have been given quite favorable rankings. It’s also nice to see breakout star and potential Arizona Complex League MVP Cristian Arguelles in the top five.

An interesting move is 2023 first round pick Charlie Condon dropping to No. 3 despite having a very solid season so far with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. Taking his place at No. 2 is last year’s Arizona Complex League MVP Roldy Brito in a testament to how good he was last season and how good he continues to be this season. It’s hard to believe the 19-year-old was an unranked prospect just one year ago.

The Rest of the Rankings

• No. 11: OF Zac Veen
• No. 12: OF Sterlin Thompson
• No. 13: 2B Roc Riggio
• No. 14: RHP Gabriel Hughes
• No. 15: OF Max Belyeu
• No. 16: RHP Brody Brecht
• No. 17: SS Andy Perez
• No. 18: 1B Tanner Thach
• No. 19: LHP Konnor Eaton
• No. 20: RHP Tyler Putnam
• No. 21: RHP Mason Adams
• No. 22: LHP Sean Sullivan
• No. 23: LHP Welinton Herrera
• No. 24: OF Robert Calaz
• No. 25: RHP JB Middleton
• No. 26: 3B Ethan Hedges
• No. 27: INF Juan Martinez
• No. 28: INF Wilder Dalis
• No. 29: C Bryant Betancourt
• No. 30: RHP Angel Jimenez

The rest of the rankings are more of a mixed bag. Many prospects who have already made their debuts are included here, such as Zac Veen, Sterlin Thompson, Gabriel Hughes, and Sean Sullivan. Also included are two of the Rockies’ newest trade acquisitions in Mason Adams—part of the Brenton Doyle trade—and Juan Martinez—part of the Antonio Senzatela trade. Multiple players in the bottom 20 have suffered season-ending injuries such as Welinton Herrera and JB Middleton.

The ranking that stands out to me the most is infielder Wilder Dalis all the way down at No. 28 when I believe he should be ranked much higher. Dalis—much like his teammate Roldy Brito—exploded onto the scene last season in the Arizona Complex League and has continued to establish himself as a quality prospect this season.

Final Thoughts

It always seems like these prospect rankings always differ from site to site. Baseball America’s recently published top 30 rankings are likely quite different from MLB Pipeline, and as they trickle out, the mid-season PuRPs are bound to be fairly different as well.

What do you think MLB Pipeline got right? What did they get wrong? How would you compare this list to your own rankings and how do you think it will compare to the PuRPs? Let us know in the comments!

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