Bailey and Bruce ranked as 10th and 11th best prospects in baseball

[OnBaseMachine]

24-75 comes out tomorrow, you gotta figure Joey Votto will crack the to 50 and either Cueto, Wood, or Ward should be in the top 75.

10. Homer Bailey, sp: Reds (AA)

Bailey was not an oversight in my listing of the top pitching prospects weeks ago, I told someone after that article that Bailey wouldn't rank high for me until he showed "consistent dominance." So, upon promotion, Bailey decided to go off, and currently has a 17 inning scoreless streak going at Double-A. He has earned his status as the game's 1A pitching prospect, especially after a dominating performance in Sunday's Futures Game.

Hughes was not as good on Sunday, but his stuff was solid, and you could see the makings of a very good player. Unlike Bailey he won't always necessarily amaze a scout, but his polish is pretty unique for a player his age. It's a good sign that Hughes has already turned a corner in AA, and at this pace, he should be up to New York at some point next season.

11. Jay Bruce, of: Reds (A-)

Earlier in the season, I did a study on teenage hitters in the Midwest League. Needless to say, the list of success stories was a short one; the expectation level for this group is (as a result) low. The type of season that Jay Bruce is having so far is unprecedented. Bruce is hitting for power at rates that even Prince Fielder did not at such an age. And he's doing so with a decent-enough strikeout rate. On the shortlist of people that wouldn't surprise me to be atop this list in a year.

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives...idseason_4.php

[cincy09]

especially after a dominating performance in Sunday's Futures Game.

Some on here thought he wasn't so dominant. Looks like he is starting to get some serious respect around the baseball world. With more experience and development that dominance could carry over the major league level.

[Joseph]

The fastball was impressive, no question, but until he is willing to use off speed and breaking stuff, then he's going to get hit hard once he comes up here. 98 is great, but guys like Pujols just hit 98 mph fastballs 50 feet further than the normal homerun. Yeah, he'll blow away his fair share of hitters, but he'll be able to make them look downright foolish with a nice hard slider, or a curveball, or even a change up.

[Steve4192]

The fastball was impressive, no question, but until he is willing to use off speed and breaking stuff, then he's going to get hit hard once he comes up here. 98 is great, but guys like Pujols just hit 98 mph fastballs 50 feet further than the normal homerun. Yeah, he'll blow away his fair share of hitters, but he'll be able to make them look downright foolish with a nice hard slider, or a curveball, or even a change up.

Agreed.

I love Homer's potential and think he deserves the recognition he is getting, but he is more a 'thrower' at this point than he is a 'pitcher'.

In addition to seeing him continue to develop his changeup/curve, I'd love to see him work on varying the speeds on his #1. Everything he threw on Sunday was 95+ MPH. While that is impressive velocity, mixing in a few 92 MPH two-seamers with that blistering 98 MPH four-seamer would work wonders.

[BrooklynRedz]

Reds would be wise to cash in on the hype and offer him in a package to Florida for Willis. And fast.

[redsfan30]

Reds would be wise to cash in on the hype and offer him in a package to Florida for Willis. And fast.

I wouldn't want to do that.

[dougdirt]

I wouldn't want to do that.

Agreed.

[Superdude]

What has Maybin done this season to rank ahead of Jay Bruce this season? Maybin strikes out more and his BABIP on the season is possibly the highest I have ever seen. Is his cieling just that much higher that it propels him ahead of Jay?

Posted by: doug at July 11, 2006 09:11 AM

I don't know who Doug is, but I definitely agree with him. How unbelievable is Maybin's potential that you could overlook what Bruce has done this year?

[dougdirt]

that was me

[Falls City Beer]

Reds would be wise to cash in on the hype and offer him in a package to Florida for Willis. And fast.

Damn skippy, my good man.

[Aronchis]

I wouldn't because Willis is vastly overrated, has logged many innings at a early age, has a poor delivery and is getting overly expensive for his production which WILL NOT match his career year of 2005. Fools gold deal. Buyer beware.

[Caveat Emperor]

Fools gold deal. Buyer beware.

I'd say the same thing (if I were a Florida fan) about giving up a proven ML pitcher for a kid that just turned 20 and can't throw a change-up.

[Cedric]

Agreed.

I love Homer's potential and think he deserves the recognition he is getting, but he is more a 'thrower' at this point than he is a 'pitcher'.

In addition to seeing him continue to develop his changeup/curve, I'd love to see him work on varying the speeds on his #1. Everything he threw on Sunday was 95+ MPH. While that is impressive velocity, mixing in a few 92 MPH two-seamers with that blistering 98 MPH four-seamer would work wonders.

You guys have watched him pitch in person this year? Or going by an all star game?

[Aronchis]

I'd say the same thing (if I were a Florida fan) about giving up a proven ML pitcher for a kid that just turned 20 and can't throw a change-up.

Nope, he can throw a changeup.

[tbball10]

Reds would be wise to cash in on the hype and offer him in a package to Florida for Willis. And fast.

dontrelle is the hype, not homer.