It‘s right there on page 458. “Rowen’s pure stuff might be the worst in the 2014 Prospect Handbook.” His Baseball America write-up goes on to say Rowen — the No. 23 prospect in the Texas Rangers system — has “a chance to crack the big league bullpen in 2014.”

Ben Rowen is a submariner. The 25-year-old right-hander out of Virginia Tech is also a sinkerball specialist. Last year between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock, he logged a 3.4 GB/FB rate. In 51 relief appearances he had a 0.69 ERA.

Rowen talked about his down-under delivery earlier this week. Read the rest of this entry »

The Rangers’ reliance on the minor league system to fill holes at the big league level has ensured that the depth is not quite as deep as it used to be. However, the organization still has an enviable system and some exciting talent on the way — especially in the infield. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier today, polite and Canadian and polite Marc Hulet published his 2014 organizational prospect list for the Atlanta Braves.

It goes without saying that, in composing such a list, Hulet has considered the overall future value those prospects might be expected to provide either to the Atlantans or whatever other organizations to which they might someday belong.

What this brief post concerns isn’t overall future value, at all, but rather such value as the prospects from Hulet’s list might provide were they to play, more or less, a full major-league season in 2014.

Other prospect projections: Arizona / Baltimore / Chicago AL / Chicago NL / Cincinnati / Cleveland / Colorado / Houston / Kansas City / Los Angeles AL / Miami / Milwaukee / Minnesota / New York AL / New York NL / Philadelphia / St. Louis / San Diego / San Francisco / Seattle / Tampa Bay / Toronto.

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The sample size isn’t huge and the level of competition hasn‘t been high, but Tommy La Stella’s numbers still have meaning. The Atlanta Braves second-base prospect has hit .327/.412/.496 in 999 plate appearances in three professional seasons. Last season, at Double-A Mississippi, he hit .343.

An eighth-round pick in 2011 out of Coastal Carolina, La Stella is steady. He isn’t flashy, nor does he possess elite tools. What he brings, though, are a combination of solid all-around skills and a disciplined approach. The 25-year old has more walks than strikeouts as a professional.

La Stella talked about his development in the final week of the Arizona Fall League season. Read the rest of this entry »

Some weak draft results and limited international budgets have hindered Atlanta’s ability to build depth throughout the minor leagues. Some interesting names are beginning to bubble to the surface although most of the key names are still in the low minors. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier today, polite and Canadian and polite Marc Hulet published his 2014 organizational prospect list for the St. Louis Cardinals.

It goes without saying that, in composing such a list, Hulet has considered the overall future value those prospects might be expected to provide either to the Cardinals or whatever other organizations to which they might someday belong.

What this brief post concerns isn’t overall future value, at all, but rather such value as the prospects from Hulet’s list might provide were they to play, more or less, a full major-league season in 2014.

Other prospect projections: Arizona / Baltimore / Chicago AL / Chicago NL / Cincinnati / Cleveland / Colorado / Houston / Kansas City / Los Angeles AL / Miami / Milwaukee / Minnesota / New York AL / New York NL / Philadelphia / San Diego / San Francisco / Seattle / Tampa Bay / Toronto.

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A little over a month ago, I wrote this piece, examining how minor league catchers cut down on their passed ball rates over time. Indeed, anyone who peruses Baseball-Reference minor league catcher pages probably notices the tendency for teenage backstops to let pitches by them at alarming rates, only to ultimately settle into a more acceptable range as they reach their mid-twenties. On at least an anecdotal level, one can observe a similar phenomenon with left-side infielders–third base and shortstop are the most error-prone positions, and these tendencies can be blown up by inexperience. The worst qualified fielding percentage by an MLB shortstop in 2013 was Jed Lowrie‘s .962, and the worst from a qualified third baseman was Pablo Sandoval’s .940, but in, say, the Low-A South Atlantic League, ten of the fourteen third basemen who got over fifty games at the spot fell below that .940 fielding mark, and twelve of the fifteen shortstops didn’t break .962. And the short-season levels are a level of magnitude worse than that.

As with catchers, then, we can assume that left-side infielders cut down on their error totals significantly as time goes on. In this piece, I’m going to examine the development of shortstops in this area.

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James Ramsey is blessed with natural talent. Pair that with the knack the St. Louis Cardinals have for developing hitters, and the 24-year-old outfield prospect has a bright future. It doesn’t hurt that Ramsey’s brains are every bit a match for his brawn.

A former Rhodes Scholar candidate who was drafted 23th overall in 2012 out of Florida State University, Ramsey achieved passing grades in his first full professional season. Swinging from the left side, he hit .265/.373/.440, with 16 home runs, between high-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield.

Not all evaluators have faith in Ramsey becoming an impact player — “high floor, low ceiling” is a refrain — but even the skeptics agree he’s a future big-leaguer. Ramsey finished up his 2013 campaign in the Arizona Fall League, where he discussed his development. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier today, polite and Canadian and polite Marc Hulet published his 2014 organizational prospect list for the Cleveland Indians.

It goes without saying that, in composing such a list, Hulet has considered the overall future value those prospects might be expected to provide either to the Clevelanders or whatever other organizations to which they might someday belong.

What this brief post concerns isn’t overall future value, at all, but rather such value as the prospects from Hulet’s list might provide were they to play, more or less, a full major-league season in 2014.

Other prospect projections: Arizona / Baltimore / Chicago AL / Chicago NL / Cleveland / Colorado / Houston / Kansas City / Los Angeles AL / Miami / Milwaukee / Minnesota / New York AL / New York NL / Philadelphia / San Diego / San Francisco / Seattle / Tampa Bay / Toronto.

Read the rest of this entry »

A month after being drafted 15th overall in 2012, Tyler Naquin talked about how his approach to hitting is “very simple” and about how he’d “never had a hitting instructor.” A little more than 18 months later, the 22-year-old outfield prospect is a more-refined version of the same player. He is also the most promising young hitter in the Cleveland Indians system.

Naquin spent most of his first full professional season at High-A Carolina, where his left-handed stroke produced a .275/.345/.424 slash line. He subsequently scuffled in an 18-game stint at Double-A Akron, but rebounded to hit .339 in the Arizona Fall League. Along the way, he made subtle, yet meaningful, adjustments.

Naquin talked about his developmental strides, and his expectations of hitting for plus-power, late last week. Read the rest of this entry »