Top 5 First-Half Performances from MLB Prospects Under the Radar

It's hard enough to pick the top five performances by major league prospects so far this season without trying to complicate the matter further by narrowing it down to those prospects who are considered to be "under the radar."

We define "under the radar prospects" as being those who are not listed on their respective team's top-10 lists.

There have been so many great performances so far in 2013 that it's hard to pick out just a few. In fact, if you asked 100 different experts to pick out their top five performances, you would probably get 100 different responses. Sure, there may be some similarities, but the lists would probably have many more differences than similarities.

With that in mind, here is a look at some of the most stunning performances that we have seen from prospects who are not considered to be top prospects by the experts, the fans or even their own teams. 

Corey Dickerson, Colorado Rockies

Corey Dickerson was tearing up PCL pitching before getting the call to The Show at the end of June.

He led the PCL in batting before joining Colorado, leaving Colorado Springs just a handful of hits short of hitting .400 with a .386 average.

Dickerson has solid power to all fields and his bat will carry him as a ballplayer at the big league level. He doesn't strike out much, which is a great attribute for someone as aggressive as Dickerson is at the plate.

This season has been another solid year in the minors for Dickerson. If he can keep hitting at that pace in the major leagues, the Rockies may have found the next Todd Helton.

Minor League Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2010	21	Casper	Rk	69	308	276	54	96	22	9	13	61	.348	.412	.634	1.046
2011	22	Asheville	A	106	435	383	78	108	27	5	32	87	.282	.356	.629	.986
2012	23	2 Teams	AA-A+	127	559	506	83	154	40	7	22	81	.304	.358	.542	.899
2012	23	Modesto	A+	60	270	240	43	81	24	4	9	43	.338	.396	.583	.980
2012	23	Tulsa	AA	67	289	266	40	73	16	3	13	38	.274	.322	.504	.826
2013	24	Colorado Springs	AAA	66	303	277	56	107	19	13	9	38	.386	.429	.646	1.075
4 Seasons				368	1605	1442	271	465	108	34	76	267	.322	.381	.603	.984

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/3/2013.

Jayce Boyd, New York Mets

Jayce Boyd was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 draft out of Florida State University. He played both third and first base while attending FSU and put up impressive college numbers.

He ended his career at FSU with a .349 average, 20 home runs, and 160 RBI. He was also a second team All-American in 2012. After deciding to forego his senior season at FSU, he signed with the Mets.

In 2013, Boyd has been playing like he's a man on a mission. That mission will, hopefully, end when Boyd joins the Mets in New York someday.

He's definitely off to a great start. Boyd leads the South Atlantic League in hitting with a .366 batting average although Boyd isn't even listed among the Mets' top 20 prospects

The most impressive thing about Boyd this season is that he has the same amount of walks as strikeouts, which shows he has an advanced approach at the plate. His approach is like putting a square peg into a square hole in regards to the Mets’ offensive philosophy — a perfect fit.

Minor League Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2012	21	Brooklyn	A-	54	228	201	18	48	9	5	19	25	30	.239	.320	.368	.688
2013	22	2 Teams	A-A+	76	335	295	49	108	19	7	57	35	35	.366	.434	.515	.949
2013	22	Savannah	A	65	288	249	40	90	16	5	46	35	32	.361	.441	.494	.935
2013	22	St. Lucie	A+	11	47	46	9	18	3	2	11	0	3	.391	.391	.630	1.022
2 Seasons				130	563	496	67	156	28	12	76	60	65	.315	.388	.456	.844

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/2/2013.

Chris Colabello, Minnesota Twins

You won't find Chris Colabello's name on any top prospect lists, but what he has accomplished simply cannot be ignored.

Colabello spent his college years playing at Assumption College, a Division II school in New England. He put up very solid numbers, but it wasn't enough to get him drafted or signed to any teams as a free agent. He decided to continue chasing his dream, and signed to play independent league ball in the Can-Am League.

Following a standout first season in the league in 2006, he was invited to spring training with the Detroit Tigers. He didn't even last a month, as he was released by the Tigers and went back to play in the Can-Am League.

Over the seven years Colabello spent in the Can-Am League, he put up the kind of numbers that would have everyone scratching their heads as to why no teams gave this guy a shot sooner.

The Twins finally gave him another shot in 2012.

At 28 years old, most players would have given up on their dream to reach the majors. Instead, Colabello finds himself as a 29-year-old rookie who made his major league debut in June.

He was absolutely destroying Triple-A pitching before getting called up to the major leagues. 

Minor League Stats 

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2012	28	New Britain	EL	AA	134	561	496	78	141	37	19	98	47	94	.284	.358	.478	.836
2013	29	Rochester	IL	AAA	73	318	275	47	99	21	20	65	34	68	.360	.431	.655	1.085
Ind (7 seasons)				Ind	583	2522	2206	387	699	166	86	420	243	323	.317	.390	.514	.903
AA (1 season)				AA	134	561	496	78	141	37	19	98	47	94	.284	.358	.478	.836
AAA (1 season)				AAA	73	318	275	47	99	21	20	65	34	68	.360	.431	.655	1.085

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/3/2013.

Taylor Jordan, Washington Nationals

Taylor Jordan had an 1.00 ERA over 90.1 innings pitched in the minors this season. The most impressive thing about those numbers is the fact that he is only about one year removed from Tommy John surgery.

Jordan is one of those rare cases where his velocity actually improved following the surgery, and he is being clocked at 96 mph with his heater. 

Jordan throws a lot of strikes with his best pitch being a sinker which generates a ton of ground outs. He had a perfect 7-0 record in Double-A before making his major league debut on June 29.

Two of his seven wins at Double-A were complete-game shutouts. 

Minor League Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP
2012	23	2 Teams	A-A-	3	7	.300	5.13	15	15	54.1	71	37	31	2	11	45	1.509
2012	23	Auburn	A-	0	3	.000	8.16	6	6	14.1	19	15	13	0	2	17	1.465
2012	23	Hagerstown	A	3	4	.429	4.05	9	9	40.0	52	22	18	2	9	28	1.525
2013	24	2 Teams	AA-A+	9	1	.900	1.00	15	14	90.1	68	15	10	1	15	72	0.919
2013	24	Nationals (Woodbridge, VA)" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&id=d53824f9">Potomac	A+	2	1	.667	1.24	6	6	36.1	31	9	5	1	6	29	1.018
2013	24	Harrisburg	AA	7	0	1.000	0.83	9	8	54.0	37	6	5	0	9	43	0.852
5 Seasons				25	16	.610	3.19	72	65	339.0	331	153	120	14	78	272	1.206

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/3/2013.

Cesar Puello, New York Mets

Cesar Puello was once considered a top prospect in the Mets' organization. However, after a few nagging injuries and a couple of down seasons, Puello seemed to fall out of favor among the majority of top prospect lists.

However, 2013 has been a breakout season for the young outfielder.

Puello is easily one of the most talented offensive players in the Mets' farm system right now. He has great speed and excellent gap-to-gap power. That power has finally translated to home run power, as he has gone on a tear in Binghamton with 15 home runs in 62 games this season.

To put that into perspective, Puello only hit four home runs in St. Lucie last year over a span of 66 games.

Puello is a deadly combination of speed and power that could easily be putting up 20/20 seasons in the big leagues as soon as 2015.

Minor League Stats

Year	Tm	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2010	Savannah	A	109	469	404	80	118	22	1	34	45	.292	.375	.359	.734
2011	St. Lucie	A+	117	488	441	67	114	21	10	50	19	.259	.313	.397	.710
2012	St. Lucie	A+	66	252	227	36	59	17	4	21	19	.260	.328	.423	.751
2013	Binghamton	AA	63	261	236	51	78	15	15	55	18	.331	.395	.602	.996
6 Seasons			444	1854	1655	295	473	91	36	200	129	.286	.353	.421	.773

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/3/2013.