when should i start worrying about our top hitting prospects?

[Will M]

Here are Redszone's preseason prospect rankings:

Prospect #1 - Aroldis Chapman

Prospect #2 - Yonder Alonso - .724 OPS in AA (!)

Prospect #3 - Mike Leake

Prospect #4 - Todd Frazier - .600 OPS in AAA

Prospect #5 - Juan Francisco - .607 OPS in AAA. two walks in 80 PAs. sad.

Prospect #6 - Yorman Rodriguez

Prospect #7 - Travis Wood

Prospect #8 - Chris Heisey - .737 OPS in AAA. Called up to the bigs due to general ineptitude on the AAA roster.

Prospect #9 - Zack Cozart

Prospect #10 - Brad Boxberger

Our top pitching prospects have played well but four out of our top five hitting prospects are off to very poor starts. Heck, I thought Frazier would be in the bigs by now & Heisey and Alonso would be ready for the bigs at some point this year. When should I start worrying? Are any of these guys going to improve enough to help the big league team this year?

[dougdirt]

I would start to worry in July if all of them are still struggling.

[Kc61]

Here are Redszone's preseason prospect rankings:



Prospect #5 - Juan Francisco - .607 OPS in AAA. two walks in 80 PAs. sad.

?

Don't be sad for Francisco. He now has 12 hits in the last four games.

[GIDP]

When the season is over.

[Will M]

When the season is over.

i can't buy into that reasoning.

every time i brought up Rolen's fragile nature i was told by people that if Rolen went on the deal it was no big deal. Frazier would be called up to play. tough to hit in the bigs when you hit .185 in AAA

heck, a lot of folks (me included) hoped Frazier would make the team as a supersub

i felt that Walt's plan for LF was to duct tape it with Gomes & Nix until one of the top prospects was ready. it was about the best plan he had since Bob wouldn't spent money. problem is Gomes & Nix are worse than in 2009 & none of these four guys is ready to take over

so i think Walt & others were planning/hoping one a couple of these guys helping the big league club THIS season

[Will M]

Don't be sad for Francisco. He now has 12 hits in the last four games.

yes but i personally don't think he will be a successful pro hacking at every pitch within 2 feet of home plate. i am sure he has been told dozens of times that he needs to be more selective. yet he can't or won't do it. since i think this will prevent him from a successful big league career i think thats kind of sad.

[RedLegsToday]

Hey, at least Meso has an OPS over 1!

[GIDP]

i can't buy into that reasoning.

every time i brought up Rolen's fragile nature i was told by people that if Rolen went on the deal it was no big deal. Frazier would be called up to play. tough to hit in the bigs when you hit .185 in AAA

heck, a lot of folks (me included) hoped Frazier would make the team as a supersub

i felt that Walt's plan for LF was to duct tape it with Gomes & Nix until one of the top prospects was ready. it was about the best plan he had since Bob wouldn't spent money. problem is Gomes & Nix are worse than in 2009 & none of these four guys is ready to take over

so i think Walt & others were planning/hoping one a couple of these guys helping the big league club THIS season

Well if we are talking injuries and stuff like that I see your point. I was going for the basic "If they dont hit for a full season then there is a problem".

[edabbs44]

Friggin Dusty.

[Will M]

Well if we are talking injuries and stuff like that I see your point. I was going for the basic "If they dont hit for a full season then there is a problem".

fair enough.

[HokieRed]

Note: there's just a reshuffling going on of the "top hitting prospects." See OBM's thread on Soto.

[jmcclain19]

Alonso's lack of power is most concerning - because we're not talking about a month, we're talking about three years now of that power just not showing up on the field.

For a guy who was drafted because of his superior hitting skills, I'd hope that the Reds would get better than one month of power out of him - excuses about hand injuries and everything else still abound.

[Benihana]

Revisit a month from now. Alonso is most concerning to me.

[HokieRed]

Revisit a month from now. Alonso is most concerning to me.

I'm not concerned about Alonso at all and I'm really pleased to see the guy I consider the 2nd best position prospect in the org--Soto--picking it back up. Things look right on course for the real difference makers.

2nd best prospect at High A or above, where you can really start to sort them out.

[camisadelgolf]

Alonso's decline in power is expected due to the injury he had last year.