Archive for jean segura

Today we’re on a quest of sorts. It’s not a holy grail-type of quest, but then again, in a way we are looking for a grail: it’s just the grail of never walking. That’s not the actual intention of these hitters, because walks are a good thing if you’re a batter, and at some point you simply have to walk — no matter how hard you try not to — because a pitcher is going to come along and throw you nothing but junk. The lack of walks for these guys are just a product of their approach, and hitters with this kind of approach either quickly lose their job or are really good at other aspects of the game.

Take, for instance, the hitters we’re going to discuss today: Jean Segura and Salvador Perez. You might not have visited their player pages recently, but take a look at a few select categories in their stat lines from this past season:

A few things jump out. Holy moly those walk rates. Below average (in one case, very below average) offensive numbers. And finally: solid defensive ratings. That last point is the main reason these two players garnered a combined 1137 plate appearances this past season despite their woeful offensive production: Segura is an above-average defensive shortstop (also providing speed on the base paths), and Perez is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball. Even though Segura’s playing time will be in question following his trade to the Diamondbacks, this goes to show you the kind of bat that can stick at these thin positions for most or all of a season.

The walk rates are the thing on which we really want to focus today, however, because they’ve rarely been paralleled in the past century. If we look at individual season walk rates going back to the start of the live-ball era (1920), we find Segura and Perez at the extreme end of the leaderboard among qualified hitters: in 2015, Segura tied for the 23rd-lowest walk rate since 1920 at just 2.2%, and Perez (with a walk rate of 2.4%) tied for the 40th-lowest mark. We could go into the hundredth decimal place to break some of those ties, but we won’t. We could even go further and factor in intentional walks, noting that Segura had two and Perez had four, but that seems unnecessary. We get the point: in relation to average full-time major league hitters, these two basically never walk.

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Seeing prospects in person is my passion. In 2012, I was fortunate enough to visit parks in five different leagues — collecting information and video on 200 legitimate prospects or more. The lists released over the next few weeks will highlight the best prospects I’ve seen in person at each position during the 2012 season. The rankings will be adjusted based on projected position at the major league level, not present position (in italics if ranking includes position shift). After writing the first three lists, I realized there’s really no way to keep statistical information out of the equation completely and focus on scouting/projection alone. This has caused me to hedge my bets a bit on high ceiling talents and focus more on the complete player. Additionally, understand this is not meant to be a complete list of the best prospects at each position across all of Minor League Baseball, but the best of what I’ve seen.

Previous Rankings:
The Catchers
The First Basemen
The Second Basemen
The Third Basemen

1. Carlos Correa, Houston Astros

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During Jean Segura’s six year minor league baseball career, he has proven to be a very productive player when healthy. After missing a substantial amount of time in 2011, the young shortstop has rebounded with a .304/.358/.413 line in 2012 including a scorching .433/.500/.533 over his last ten games prior to being promoted. As the key piece in a deal sending Zack Greinke to Los Angeles, the Milwaukee Brewers are counting on Segura’s minor league numbers translating into major league production on the middle infield. Having seen Segura during his last two starts for Double-A Huntsville of the Southern League, I’m confident the Brewers have acquired a talented — but unrefined — player. Segura is likely to need additional seasoning at the minor league level before cementing himself as an everyday player.

Video below the jump

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The Milwaukee Brewers finally pulled the trigger on the trade that everyone was expecting: The team traded starting pitcher Zack Greinke. In return, the Los Angeles Angels sent a three-prospect package, which middle infielder Jean Segura headlined.

Segura, 22, was recently promoted to the majors for the first time in his pro career and was one of the Angels’ top prospects — if not their best, with the graduation of MVP candidate Mike Trout — but the system is also among the bottom 10 in baseball (and now possibly is one of the five worst). Milwaukee — another bottom-feeder, in terms of their minor league system — moves up a couple of slots with this deal that also included Double-A pitchers John Hellweg and Ariel Pena.

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Los Angeles caught lightning in a bottle with the addition of rookie Mike Trout earlier this season. Now the team will look to do the same with the addition of Jean Segura. Back in November, I ranked the rookie as the club’s fourth-best prospect entering the this season.

The middle infield prospect was promoted to the majors for the first time in his pro career after starting shortstop Erick Aybar fouled a pitch off his foot on Saturday. X-rays were inconclusive, but the swelling has yet to subside. It remains to be seen how long he’ll be out of action. Segura, 22, has battled injury woes of his own and missed a good chunk of the 2011 season when he hurt a hamstring. I wrote less than a month ago that the infielder was about a year away from helping the big league club, so I’m not expecting a huge impact from the Dominican Republic native in 2012.

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Marc Krauss, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
Current Level: AA
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: NR
Current Value: Improving

Krauss spent the first two years of his career destroying pitching in the low minors. Promoted to double-A in 2011, the now-24-year-old outfielder faced the first true, long-term struggles of his pro career which saw him hit .242 with a wRC+ of 109. Returning to the level in 2012, Krauss has shown steady improvements and currently sports a wRC+ of 168, as well as an ISO rate of .234. The left-handed hitter could carve out a solid career as a platoon left-fielder (and/or DH) who beats up on right-handed pitching but runs screaming like a school girl from southpaws.

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sa577984There is good news and bad news in terms of the Los Angeles Angels’ minor league system. The good news is that the club graduated – and leaned on heavily – a large number of prospects in 2011, including 1B Mark Trumbo, C Hank Conger, RHP Tyler Chatwood, RHP Jordan Walden, and RHP Bobby Cassevah. The bad news is that the promotions pretty much stripped the system in terms of upper-level depth. One more bit of good news, though, is that the club still has the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball.

1. Mike Trout | CF
BORN: August 7, 1991
EXPERIENCE: 3 seasons (AA/MLB in 2011)
ACQUIRED: 2009 1st round, New Jersey HS (25th overall)
2010-11 TOP 10 RANKING: 1st

SCOUTING REPORT: Trout is about as close to a legit five-tool player that you can get. He can hit for average, has the potential to steal 30+ bases, throws well and could eventually win a Gold Glove or five. The power tool is the biggest question mark but he posted a .218 ISO rate in a potent double-A league.

YEAR IN REVIEW: Trout did not turn 20 until August but he received 123 big league at-bats in 2011. The youngster struggled, which in no way diminishes his future potential, and hit just .220/.281/.390. As a player with good speed, Trout will not continue to post BABIPs in the .240-.250 range. Although power is not a key component of his game right now, he knocked out five home runs and posted a .171 ISO and made some good, hard contact (20.7 line-drive rate).

YEAR AHEAD: While in the minors in 2011, Trout hit .326/.414/.544 in 353 double-A at-bats as a teenager. He doesn’t have much else to learn riding the buses but some time in triple-A would not hurt. With a full, mostly veteran outfield already in place in Los Angeles Trout may have to bide his time in the minors. He’d most likely be the first player recalled should an injury occur to Vernon Wells, Torii Hunter or Peter Bourjos.

CAREER OUTLOOK: As one of the Top 2 minor league prospects in all of baseball (along with Bryce Harper), it’s clear that Trout has a very bright future ahead. He won’t produce the kind of power that Harper will but Trout should have a stronger all-around game with excellent speed and defense, decent power and a solid on-base average. If he can stay healthy, it’s not hard to forsee him playing 15-20 years at the MLB level.

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