Daily Prospect Notes: 5/10/21
These are notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.
Corbin Carroll, CF, Arizona Diamondbacks
Level & Affiliate: Hi-A Hillsboro Age: 20 Org Rank: 1 (20 overall) FV: 60
Line: 3-for-5, HR, 3B, BB, 2 SB
Notes
I’m going to bet Carroll goes to the Futures Game and ends up promoted to Double-A shortly after the showcase. He’s shown no signs of slowing down after looking like the best player in all of Arizona during 2020 instructs. This is the kind of player who’s going to out-produce his raw power in games because the quality of his contact is just so good. His homer yesterday (which tied the game in the ninth) was hit to the opposite field. It wasn’t like a lot of oppo bombs that rely on brute strength (think of Giancarlo Stanton’s right-center homers) or just happen to suit the swing path of someone with big power (Ryan Howard). Instead, Carroll just dove to try to cover the outer third of the plate and poked the barrel there, and he hit the bottom of the ball with the sweet spot of the bat.
Kaden Polcovich, 2B/CF, Seattle Mariners
Level & Affiliate: Hi-A Everett Age: 22 Org Rank: tbd FV: 40
Line: 3-for-4, HR, 2B, BB, SB
Notes
Polcovich is listed at just shy of 6-feet tall but he’s really closer to 5-foot-7 or so. He is not lacking strength or explosion, though. He swings as hard as anyone in the org and has shocking power for a person his size. There’s pop from both sides of the plate and plus speed here. There’s also real hit tool risk and no guarantee that, even though Polcovich is fast, that he’s going to be able to play a premium defensive position. He really struggled at second during my amateur looks at him, and so far Seattle has played him there for a handful of games and in center field for one. His skillset reminds one of a watered down Ian Happ.
Oswald Peraza, SS, New York Yankees
Level & Affiliate: Hi-A Hudson Valley Age: 20 Org Rank: 3 (68 overall) FV: 50
Line: 4-for-6, 2 SB
Notes
That’s seven steals in six games for Peraza. I consider him a high-probability everyday player more than a toolsy superstar sort of prospect, which often correctly hits as “better in real life than fantasy” to our readers, but the stolen bases might close that gap. This night buoyed what was otherwise a slow first week for Peraza.
René Pinto, C, Tampa Bay Rays
Level & Affiliate: Double-A Montgomery Age: 24 Org Rank: NR FV: 30
Line: 4-for-4, 2 2B
Notes
Pinto went from an honorable mention prospect to one who was not on the Rays list at all. Removing him may have been premature. He plays the scarcest position with the lowest offensive bar in the entire sport and has a .280/.335/.421 career line. Even though Francisco Mejía is out with a strained oblique, there are so many catchers (including a couple with big league experience) ahead of Pinto on the Rays organizational depth chart (Kevan Smith, Joseph Odom, Brett Sullivan) and prospects who likely will be long-term (Ford Proctor, Blake Hunt).
Zach Remillard, SS, Chicago White Sox
Level & Affiliate: Double-A Montgomery Age: 27 Org Rank: HM FV: 35
Line: 2-for-2, 3B, HR, 2 BB
Notes
Realistically an upper-level org player and perhaps a future ex-pat, Remillard is a well-rounded player who I just like to watch. He has the arm strength to hides other flaws at shortstop (and he plays all over the field) and he has a high-effort, buggywhip style swing with a bat wrap. It creates a lot of noise and length in his swing, but it looks really sweet when he connects. He’s got a .258/.316/.381 career line (lately as an old-for-the-level player). The big league average batting line at shortstop right now is .236/.303/.382. With Danny Mendick clearly ahead of him as the shortstop/utility bench player on the big league roster, Remillard might make for an interesting minor league free agent or overseas option soon, especially if his swing can be toned down without taking away its explosion, since Remillard needs every bit of it.
Eric Longenhagen is from Catasauqua, PA and currently lives in Tempe, AZ. He spent four years working for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate, two with Baseball Info Solutions and two contributing to prospect coverage at ESPN.com. Previous work can also be found at Sports On Earth, CrashburnAlley and Prospect Insider.
Polcovich is that short compared to his listed height? It’d be intriguing if difficult to compare listed H/W to measured H/W. Somehow I doubt Eloy Jimenez is still 205lb…
Small typo: Remillard is listed as at Double-A Montgomery (Biscuits), prolly copied from Pinto’s above. He’s at Double-A Birmingham (Barons), CHW’s affiliate.
I like Polcovich, wanted to draft him last year…He hit .305/.426/.473 in the CCBL with a near 1 K:BB and the plate discipline’s been excellent since. That writeup seems right on the nose tho and basically explains why he had no shot at the first or even second round despite being a switch hitting college bat playing the IF with more track record of hitting with wood than most in the class
Corbin Carroll or PCA? Both are future first division stars and leadoff hitters, I think, tough call. Two of my favorite HS prospects in recent memory for sure
Corbin Carroll has the higher probability of being a star, so really not a tough call
Does this have most to do with PCA having 27 career PAs coming into today or is there any actual meat to this?
I think PCA is underrated and would have shot up the boards in a “normal” senior HS season… but I think Carroll is a perennial all-star while PCA is a really good first-division CF who will make an AS team or two during his career.
I think PCA’s underrated, full stop. He was among the earliest favorites for top HS player last year, in a great HS class, came out looking awesome last Spring, and in what few PAs he’s taken has dominated as a pro. I see them as very, very similar talents and if Crow-Armstrong had been able to play last year imagine there would not be a huge gap in perception. PCA maaaaay be the better defender too
I feel like Dennis Reynolds does about being rated on a dating app when I see the dumb, arbitrary thumbs down here. Who even are these people?!? Are they people?! It’s such a sign of the times! Discussion and really the internet is dead, killed in a gd coup to the benefit of our reptile overlords as always
The hyperlink for Peraza goes to Robert Hassell’s page