Is Ryan Mountcastle headed for top 100?

About two weeks ago in this space, I wrote about the big year Orioles minor league outfielder Austin Hays is having, and that he may be underrated by national analysts.

There may be another O's minor leaguer who fits that bill in Double-A Bowie third baseman Ryan Mountcastle. Like Hays, Mountcastle has some stats that compare favorably to other prospects who are rated much higher.

While Hays moved up from Single-A Frederick to Bowie and continued to rake, Mountcastle moved up also, but did not do as well at bat upon his move to Bowie. But we also need to keep in mind he is playing in the Eastern League at age 20. Beyond that, he has started to hit, batting .324 during a nine-game batting streak, raising his average with the team to .221 in 36 games.

Weighted Runs Created plus (wRC+) is a stat that attempts to credit a hitter for the value of each outcome (single, double, etc.) rather than treat all hits or times on base equally. It is scaled so that league average is 100 and every point above or below is equal to one percentage point better or worse than league average.

In that stat, Mountcastle ranks fourth on the year among some of the youngest talents in the game who have played at the High-A level or above this year. Here is a list of players who began the year age 21.5 or younger and have 200 plate appearances on the season, along with their wRC+ ratings. Also listed is age as of opening day:

195 - Brendan Rodgers, Colorado (age 20.7)
162 - Eloy Jimenez, Colorado (age 20.4)
158 - Kyle Tucker, Houston (age 20.2)
145 - Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles (age 20.1)
142 - Victor Robles, Washington (age 19.9)

Both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com rank Rodgers, Jimenez, Tucker and Robles among their top 11 prospects in the game, but neither has Mountcastle in their mid-season top 100 list.

In addition, Mountcastle not only moved up a level to Double-A in mid July, but he moved from shortstop to third base. While there are, it seems, many critics of his defense, one scout from another organization did say he saw defensive progress recently from the kid.

"Arm strength is playing better at third. Accuracy is coming. Hands and footwork are solid. He's going to be fine," he said.

Baseball America recently published this article, listing players who have made a big leap up on prospects lists this year. Hays was listed No. 1 among the gainers, with BA concluding that: "He ranked No. 99 on our midseason top 100 that was compiled in late June/early July. If we were re-ranking right now, he'd be 50-plus spots higher."

Mountcastle should probably be on top-100 lists next winter as well. In fact, the Orioles could go from having one player on those lists -- catcher Chance Sisco after the 2016 season -- to three, or maybe as many as five, next winter.

Sisco and Hays will certainly be there. Right-hander Hunter Harvey is another strong possibility. He's healthy again and has thrown 17 2/3 scoreless this year with 25 strikeouts. Baseball America ranked Harvey No. 68 at the end of the 2014 season. That same year, ESPN's Keith Law ranked Harvey No. 38 and Dylan Bundy No. 31. If healthy, and he is, he's top 100 for me.

So Sisco and Hays should be consensus top-100 picks, while Mountcastle and Harvey could join them. So too could Double-A lefty Tanner Scott. Scott has a 2.28 ERA and .189 average against for Bowie over 23 games and 67 innings. He has fanned 83 for an average of 11.1 per nine innings. He is the rare lefty who can touch 100 mph with his fastball, and his slider made nice gains this year. In July he pitched in the Futures Game.

This year on the farm has been pretty solid for the Orioles. In addition to those already mentioned, there are many other players who have had strong seasons. It's a long list, but to just mention a few names, there are outfielders Cedric Mullins and DJ Stewart and pitchers Alexander Wells and David Hess, who has had a strong finish on the mound for Bowie. Oh yeah, and outfielder Ademar Rifaela from Curaçao was the MVP for Frederick in the Carolina League. The Orioles could have three minor league teams in the playoffs.

If the Orioles get more players on those top-100 lists, they will move up, perhaps significantly so, in team organizational rankings. The narrative has been, "The Orioles' minor league teams are not good."

Yet the Orioles are contending for a fourth playoff berth in six seasons, and with an offense that has been led more often by younger homegrown players such as Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop and Trey Mancini than by veterans acquired from other organizations. On the mound, starters Bundy and Kevin Gausman, first round picks in 2011 and 2012, respectively, are leading the way.

Mancini was never rated top 100 by anyone, and Schoop barely made it. Hays is finally getting notice and others may follow suit. The public perception and national perception of the Orioles' minor league players may be in for a change over the next year.