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Baseball Factory Alumni On Baseball America’s 2016 Top 10 Prospects List: N.L. East

Continuing our weekly look at Baseball America’s 2016 Top 10 Prospects Index and where our Baseball Factory alumni rank by division, we check in with Baseball Factory alumni from the National League East.

Players from across the country have attended Baseball Factory player events, ranging from Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryouts to the Under Armour All-America Game. A total of 82 Baseball Factory alumni across all 30 baseball teams make up the list in 2016.

Rankings are prioritized by Baseball America and numbered 1 through 10 for each team. In our opening preview, we take a look at Baseball Factory’s alumni from the National League East, where a total of 11 players land on this week’s list.

Atlanta Braves

Touki Toussaint

Touki Toussaint – RHP (BA’s Rank: #7)

Touki was selected out of Coral Springs Christian Academy in Coral Springs, FL as the 16th overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He spent all of 2014 and a portion of 2015 in Arizona’s system before being traded to the Atlanta Braves with Bronson Arroyo for infielder Phil Gosselin.

The Braves re-stocked their pitching depth and potential by trading for Toussaint, who features a mid-90s fastball and a drop-off-the-table curve and a change that sits low-to-mid-80s. Touki made seven starts at Single-A Kane County in the D-Backs organization, going 2-2 with a 3.69 ERA in 39.0 innings and after the trade, made his debut with Single-A Rome in the South Atlantic League with a 3-5 record and an ERA a shade over two runs higher (5.73).

Toussaint attended the 2012 Under Armour Fall Classic and Team One Futures East showcases before being named a 2013 Under Armour All-American. The talent is there for Touki to be a front-line starter for the Braves one day. In 2016, he’ll look to continue to refine his delivery that made him a special high school player, work on his secondary pitches and control of his pitches.

Austin Riley

Austin Riley – 3B (BA’s Rank: #8)

Riley comes in at No. 8 on the Braves list after being the 41st selection in the first round (supplemental pick) in last year’s Draft out of DeSoto Central High School in Southhaven, MS.

The former 2014 Under Armour All-American who was one of the top two-way players from the ’15 class at the event, made a very nice showing in his limit time last season, splitting time between Gulf Coast League Braves and the Appalachian League Danville. Riley hit a combined .304 with 14 doubles, 12 homers and 40 RBI in the first 60 games of his pro career, showing the type of impressive power that we saw at All-America with his short, powerful stroke. What is also intriguing is Riley threw mid-90s at our premier event, but the Braves saw the true potential in his bat.

Riley is young at just 18 and still developing, but the potential is there for a bat that could hit a good amount of homers and drive in runs in the future.

Miami Marlins

Tyler Kolek

Tyler Kolek – RHP (BA’s Rank: #1)

Kolek attended Shepherd High School in Shepherd, TX where he was selected second overall by the Marlins in the 2014 Draft. Kolek has struggled at times with his command and secondary pitches, but the Marlins feel a turnaround is just around the corner as he continues to mature and continue to develop an arsenal that made him one of the nation’s top high school pitching prospects.

Tyler attended an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout & Premium Video Program in Houston, TX back in February of 2011 and was a 2013 Under Armour All-American where he threw in the high-90s and even topped at 100 on some radar guns.

Going 4-10 last season with a 4.56 ERA, the Marlins hope Kolek can continue to develop his fastball that sits mid-90s and know that he has the size to handle a major-league workload when he finally reaches that level. Miami hopes he can take a big leap forward in 2016.

Josh Naylor

Josh Naylor – 1B (BA’s Rank: #2)

We saw the swing and raw power potential emanating from this left-hander’s bat during the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game with some prodigious blasts during BP and other times throughout the week. He was able to find the barrel consistently and with his advanced approach the Mississauga, Ontario, Canada native was sure to be drafted fairly early in 2015.

Naylor was the Marlins first selection last year and intrigued by the raw power and brute strength that Naylor has, selected him 12th overall out of St. Joan of Arc Catholic in Mississauga. In a limited number of games after being drafted, Naylor hit .327 with four doubles, one triple, a homerun and 16 RBI in 98 at-bats over 25 games.

He’ll likely start out in Low-A Greensboro if the Marlins feel like his bat will play to the next level of pitching. Naylor will likely stick at first base because of his power, strong arm and decent athleticism around the bag.

Stone Garrett

Stone Garrett – OF (BA’s Rank: #4)

Yet another Under Armour All-American to make the list, Stone participated in a variety of Baseball Factory events, starting with an Under Armour Baseball Factory College PREP event in Houston, TX in November of 2011. The Sugar Land, TX native was a two-time Under Armour Pre-Season All-American in 2012 and 2013 as well as another National Tryout event and Team One South and Futures Texas events in 2012. In the 2013 All-America Game, Garrett collected two hits and scored a run.

Drafted in the eighth round of the 2014 Draft out of George Ranch High School in Richmond, TX, Garrett played in 40 games in ’14 with the Gulf Coast Marlins but couldn’t really get things going, hitting only .236 with four extra base hits. Last season, Garrett impressed last year, improving his slash line, hitting .297, slugging .581 and showing signs of a power bat with 18 doubles, six triples, 11 homers and 46 RBI in 58 games for short-season Batavia in the New York-Penn League.

New York Mets

Dominic Smith

Dominic Smith – 1B (BA’s Rank: #3)

The Mets selected the left-handed hitting first baseman with the 11th overall pick in 2013 out of Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, CA. Scouts like Smith’s power potential and discipline at the plate, evidenced by his 51 walks at Single-A Savannah in 2014 and 35 last year at High-A St. Lucie to go along with 33 doubles in ’15, so it seems the power is right around the corner with more experience and at-bats against better pitching.

Dominic was a 2012 Under Armour All-American and came to Wrigley Field as one of the best overall hitters and the best defensive first baseman in the 2013 class. Defensively, he has the arm strength, range and skill-set around the bag, making him a potential Gold-Glove type defender in the future.

A breakout season could be had by Dominic in 2016 with an above-average bat speed, generating the power that will turn doubles into fly-ball homers. We began to see that in the Arizona Fall League last Fall when Smith hit .364 and slugged .511 with four doubles, a homer and six RBI playing for the Salt River Rafters. Smith won’t turn 21 until June and likely starts at Double-A this season, making him one of the youngest and certainly one of the more talented players.

Gavin Cecchini

Gavin Cecchini – SS (BA’s Rank: #4)

Cecchini, the Mets 12th overall selection in the ’12 Draft out of Barbe High School in Lake Charles, LA finally had the season that everyone expected from him and was waiting to see, bringing him in at No. 4 on the Mets Top Prospects list.

Playing in 109 games last season with Double-A Binghamton, Cecchini hit .317 (second-best in the Eastern League), showing a penchant for extra-base hits (26 doubles, four triples, seven homers) with 51 RBI, 64 runs scored and 42 walks. That type of season landed him the Eastern League’s Rookie of the Year award.

Cecchini also has an older brother who is playing professional ball (Garin is with the Boston Red Sox) and both are Baseball Factory alumni. Gavin participated in the 2010 Team One South showcase and was a 2011 Under Armour All-American where he earned MVP honors for the American Team also taking home the Under Armour Silver Spike Award for most outstanding player over the course of the week in Chicago.

Gavin has received some at-bats this spring at big league camp, going 2-for-7 thus far, but scouts vary on where Gavin could stick in the majors, defensively, either at short stop or second base. Currently, the Mets have players ahead of Gavin at short, but the 6’2″, 200 pounder will have a place in the Mets lineup because of his bat, maybe as early as late-season 2016, but he’ll begin at Triple-A Las Vegas.

Brandon Nimmo

Brandon Nimmo – OF (BA’s Rank: #5)

Nimmo was the Mets first round selection in 2011 (13th overall) from East High School in Cheyenne, WY and was a 2010 Under Armour All-American.

Nimmo’s power numbers were down in 2015, but he has good plate discipline (48 walks) and still collected 25 extra-base hits in ’15 between St. Lucie, Binghamton and Las Vegas. He hit .269 collectively in 104 games and seemed to get back on track with the power at Triple-A with three homers and eight RBI in 32 games, also drawing 18 walks to 20 strikeouts.

The Mets will likely start Nimmo out in Las Vegas this season, giving him more opportunities in center field and the corner spots as well and getting him to attack pitchers earlier in the count and ahead in the count as well.

Desmond Lindsay

Desmond Lindsay – OF (BA’s Rank: #8)

The Mets selected Lindsay in the second round of last year’s Draft from the Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota, FL. Desmond handled himself well in his pro debut, hitting .263 with a .386 on-base percentage in 35 games between the Gulf Coast League and New York-Penn League. He has a decent eye for pitches, drawing 18 walks, has speed and the ability to drive balls to the gap (seven doubles, two triples).

His tools stand out big time, as we first saw them on display at the April, 2014 Under Armour National Tryout in Tampa, FL and two months later at the Team One Florida event as a junior where he ran a 6.65 60-time and defensively, light on his feet and a good track to baseball.

He’s an intriguing prospect for the Mets, who will likely start him out with the Savannah Sand Gnats to start 2016.

Philadelphia Phillies

J.P. Crawford

J.P. Crawford – SS (BA’s Rank: #1)

The Phillies top organizational prospect, Crawford put together a solid 2014 campaign between High-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading, hitting .288 with 22 doubles, seven triples, six homers, 42 RBI and 68 runs scored in 107 games. Crawford can swing the bat and he can really pick it at short, evidence he put forth all the way back in September, 2009 when J.P. attended a National Tryout in Azusa, CA and later on a national stage at the 2012 Under Armour All-America Game as a high school junior.

Selected out of Lakewood High School in Lakewood, CA with the 16th overall selection in 2013, Crawford is still very young, turning 21 in January, relative to where he’ll begin the 2016 season (likely Triple-A) and is only getting stronger at the plate and is a smart base runner and plus defender at short. So far this spring, Crawford did receive some at-bats in big league camp, with three hits in 20 at-bats with an RBI and three walks. He’s moved very quickly through the ranks, but will likely get the time to receive at-bats in Triple-A and continue to hone his skills.

Washington Nationals

A.J. Cole

A.J. Cole – RHP (BA’s Rank: #7)

The 24-year old native from Oviedo, FL attended Oviedo High School and was a 2009 Under Armour All-American as a junior and one of the top pitchers in the 2010 class.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2010 Draft by the Washington Nationals, Cole has steadily risen through the ranks, finally making his major league debut last season in a less-than memorable start against the Atlanta Braves where he pitched just two innings, allowing 9 runs (four earned). He returned to Triple-A Syracuse where Cole settled into a groove, making 19 starts with a 3.15 ERA, striking out 76 and walking 34 in 105 2/3 innings.

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