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Thread: Baseball America top prospects by League

  1. #1
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    Baseball America top prospects by League

    Leagues announced so far:

    Midwest League:
    #3: Robert Stephenson
    #9: Jesse Winker

    Pioneer League:
    #2: Phillip Ervin
    #6: Ben Lively

    Arizona League:
    No Reds prospects in the top 20

    The two players rated ahead of Stephenson, #1 Byron Buxton and #2 Carlos Correa, were the top two overall selections in the 2012 draft. Stephenson was the top pitcher on the list.

    Winker was the #3 outfielder, trailing Buxton and #6 Albert Almora of the Cubs, the sixth overall pick in the 2012 draft. Good recognition for Winker, who was clearly one of the best players in the league as a 19 year old.

    Ervin gets placed about where you would expect in the Pioneer League.

    Lively being ranked that high as a fourth round pick is a statement that his exceptional season was not a case of a college pitcher with fringy stuff dominating younger players, but more a case of him showing legitimate stuff.

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Disappointed that SMB is not in the top 20. Maybe I'll ask a question about him....

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Very few college guys on that list. I am as big a SMB fan as anyone but I have said that he is not the kind of player that is going to get the credit he deserves on the prospect lists because he has not (yet) hit a ton of homers as a corner infielder. I say he is an example of the difference between a player who does not have much power and a player who does not hit a lot of home runs. Two different things. Seth has tremendous raw power. But he only hit 11 homers this season. If and when he learns to turn on pitches, the homers will come. He played in a college ballpark where no one hit over eight homers for a team that won the CWS, where players developed a different approach at the plate of hitting the ball up the middle and to the opposite field.

    Baseball America likes toolsy position players and hard-throwing pitchers (as do most scouts). Seth is a hard-nosed gamer with a strong arm, great defensive skills, and a good bat. He does not run particularly well. Baseball America also likes players who play up in terms of age and Seth's age was equal to or slightly higher than the league he was in this season. Average age in the Midwest League is a tick below 22 and Seth turned 22 in April.
    Last edited by redsof72; 09-30-2013 at 12:11 PM.

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  7. #4
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    If you are over 20 in Low-A you really have to perform to show up on these lists, not be just solid-good.

    I wouldn't have SMB in the Top 20 based on what I saw in 2013. He is a prospect, but he isn't that caliber at this point.

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    To me SMB strikes me a guy who is a little different than some of the other guys the Reds have developed. Having seen him in Dayton, several times, I like how he handles at bats. I agree with the grinder take. He is more of what the Cardinals have developed recently, the hard out. Doesn't give at bats away, and tends to work the count to his favor in terms of swinging the bat. 55BB to 83K over 558 PA helps too.

    You need guys like him in the lineup. Contact ability, with line drive power.
    Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    I like how he handles at bats.
    Agree 100%. Same routine every pitch. Excellent combination of relaxation and concentration. Most guys can't find that or don't believe they need it.

    It's a great approach for a young guy climbing the ladder. One pitch at a time.

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    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Yorman Rodriguez #13 in the California League. No other Reds from the league (not terribly surprising, though I thought perhaps Moscot/Contreras could be one of the last few guys on the list).

    Scouting report looks interesting, though I would like to see it lined up against reports from his time in the Southern League. From watching him just about every day, some of the things at the plate don't line up for me, but I also think the reports are probably correct from his time in the California League. If you look at his season, numbers wise, he was just scraping along, then went on a torrid stretch from June 8th-16th. He was promoted immediately. From June 8th through the end of the year, he hit .283/.346/.437 with 30 walks and 86 strikeouts. From the start of the year up to June 6th he hit .225/.292/.413 with 17 walks and 67 strikeouts. The strikeout rate dropped and the walk rate went up. The power went down, but that could be two fold. First, the California League and Bakersfield specifically will boost power output because of center field. Secondly, Rodriguez goes to right field more than he pulls the ball. Pensacola's right field destroyed power this year. There were more than 3 times as many home runs hit to right field in Pensacola road games (involving both teams) than there were hit at home (involving both teams).

    The light may have came on and the Reds saw it and reacted quickly to it, leaving people who saw him in the California League not seeing him once that light came on.

  13. #8
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    I just realized this thread had no link to any of the lists.

    http://www.baseballamerica.com/minor...pects-index-2/

    That has the lists and the dates for when future ones will come out. Scouting reports require a subscription.

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Quote Originally Posted by dougdirt View Post
    I just realized this thread had no link to any of the lists.

    http://www.baseballamerica.com/minor...pects-index-2/

    That has the lists and the dates for when future ones will come out. Scouting reports require a subscription.
    The one thing that struck me on Yorman is on how he is playing against players who are older and more experienced than him. This year may be the first year he ever plays against people his own age and experience level.

    Doug you specifically commented on this earlier this year and I don't think it gets enough play.

    Also anybody know if he is playing winterball?
    Last edited by bellhead; 10-04-2013 at 12:49 AM.

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    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Quote Originally Posted by bellhead View Post
    The one thing that struck me on Yorman is on how he is playing against players who are older and more experienced than him. This year may be the first year he ever plays against people his own age and experience level.

    Doug you specifically commented on this earlier this year and I don't think it gets enough play.

    Also anybody know if he is playing winterball?
    Yorman Rodriguez finally faced a pitcher younger than him in 2012. Before then, it had never happened as a professional. In 2012 he faced a pitcher younger than him for 19 plate appearances. In 2013 he faced a pitcher younger than him for 3 plate appearances. So in his professional career, 22 plate appearances have come against pitchers younger than him.

    As for winter ball, he is playing in the Arizona Fall League. After that, I honestly don't know.

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    For winter ball I imagine he'll go home to Venezuela and play, if not I would imagine the Dominican....

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Quote Originally Posted by bellhead View Post
    For winter ball I imagine he'll go home to Venezuela and play, if not I would imagine the Dominican....
    A team in Venezuela has the rights, so he won't be playing in the Dominican.

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Quote Originally Posted by dougdirt View Post
    A team in Venezuela has the rights, so he won't be playing in the Dominican.
    Sounds like he'll go home and play a month or two...

  20. #14
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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Quote Originally Posted by bellhead View Post
    Sounds like he'll go home and play a month or two...
    Perhaps. In Venezuela, their winter league actually has a minor league called Liga Parallela. When he has played in the past, that is where he was playing. However now that he has shown something in AA, there could be a promotion to the big kid squad if a spot is open.

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    Re: Baseball America top prospects by League

    Quote Originally Posted by dougdirt View Post
    Perhaps. In Venezuela, their winter league actually has a minor league called Liga Parallela. When he has played in the past, that is where he was playing. However now that he has shown something in AA, there could be a promotion to the big kid squad if a spot is open.
    I'd just like to see him be the man for a month or two and kill it to boost his confidence... Success breeds more success.


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