BA's Breakout Prospects

by DrBGiantsfan on Feb 16, 2008 1:24 AM EST Comment 20 comments

Seems like we see a lot of diaries asking for breakout prospects, prospects who's stock will rise dramatically over the next season. Well, BA lists a breakout prospect for each team in their Prospect Handbook. Though you all might be interested:

ARI: Tyrell Worthington, OF
ATL: Tyler Flowers, 1B/C
BAL: Tyler Henson, SS
BOS: Will Middlebrooks, SS
CHI: Robert Hernandez, RHP
CWS: Brian Omagrosso, RHP
CIN: Kyle Lotskar, RHP
CLE: Sung-Wei Tseng, RHP
COL: Michael McKenry, C
DET: Wilkin Ramiriz, OF
FLA: Logan Morrison, 1B
HOU: Chris Johnson, 3B/1B
KC: Jose Duarte, OF
LAA: Trevor Reckling, LHP
LAD: Javy Guerra, RHP
MIL: Zach Braddock, LHP
MIN: Deibinson Romero, 3B
NYM: Greg Veloz, 2B
NYY: Mark Melancon, RHP
OAK: Josh Horton, SS
PHI: Freddy Galvis, SS
PIT: Marcus Davis, OF
STL: Kyle McClellen, RHP
SD: Raynor Contreras, 3B/2B
SF: Waldis Joaquin, RHP
SEA: Carlos Peguero, OF
TB: Alex Cobb, RHP
TEX: Christian Santana, C
TOR: Kyle Ginley, RHP
WAS: Hassan Pena, RHP

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Tseng

pretty good stuff and makeup / polish. but he seemed to tired a lot in the later half last year and was horrendous when he returned to Taiwan to play in the olympics qulifier asian round.

he's probably a RP going foward. he could be REALLY good there with his mid 90s heat and good splitter. kinda doubt he has the size to be a SP, and he's not exactly young enough for the Indians to spend a few years building up his stamina.

by RollingWave on Feb 16, 2008 2:34 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Info. on Tseng!

Hello everyone,

RollingWave is correct on a lot of aspects about Tseng in terms of his projecting to be a reliever long-term and the fact he tired toward the end of last season. That's why I think his fastball velocity had fallen down to around 85-89 MPH, which likely didn't help him finish strong.

One other note regarding Tseng's split-fingered pitch, which Tony Lastoria of TheClevelandFan.com reports as being projected to be a swing-and-miss pitch at the ML level, Tseng was only allowed to use it 1-2 times in games last season in order for him to concentrate on developing his other pitches more. He'll likely be able to use that split-fingered fastball more often in 2008, where he is projected to start at AA Akron. He'll eventually move to the bullpen, though he might remain in the rotation to start 2008 just to build his arm strength up further and allow him to get more innings in American baseball.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

Take care and have a great day!

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Feb 16, 2008 10:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

mcclellan

pretty boring pick for the cardinals. how can a middle reliever seriously be considered a break out prospect?

by fewgoodcards on Feb 16, 2008 3:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

well

quiet a few of those guys up there are RPs or potential RPs

by RollingWave on Feb 16, 2008 3:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

My sentiments exactly when I saw that. Seems like the Cards have plenty of guys that are just one adjustment away from putting their tools to better use and breaking thru....

Jon Edwards
D'Marcus Ingram
Mark McCormick
etc.

Or, of course, the poster boy of all, Tyler Greene. man, I wish that guy would get on track.

gogotabata: "I'm like the biggest Walden fan around here (adult division)..."

by siddfynch on Feb 16, 2008 12:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

McClellen

Here's the comment from BA that followed the McClellen pick:

"After putting two elbow surgeries behind him and moving to the bullpen, he quietly posted a 1.81 ERA last season and could sneak into the big league bullpen this year."

McClellen appears to be a TJ success story as his fastball now reaches 94 MPH with "diving sink," whereas he didn't break 90 MPH prior to the surgeries.

by DrBGiantsfan on Feb 16, 2008 12:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Jesse Todd?

by jfish26101 on Feb 16, 2008 6:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Henson will be very good

Reminds me a bit of Brandon Wood.

by Bravesin07 on Feb 16, 2008 7:22 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Henson

As an O's fan, I'm interested in how Henson progresses. However, in the game I saw him last year, he looked absolutely horrible in the field. That game was the David Hernandez 18-K game, which Henson's team (Frederick) lost. Henson's extremely poor play was the reason they lost that game (in the 10th inning). Looked bad at the plate, too. Hopefully, he was just nervous about being brought up to Hi-A ball for the 1st time. But, supposedly his defense does need a lot of work.

by rhd on Feb 17, 2008 6:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Middlebrooks

is the best of the bunch, talent wise. Worthington and Lotzkar are nice players also.

by Buchholzz on Feb 16, 2008 10:20 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

just curious

what are you basing this one. it was a pretty bold statement- especially coming from a guy named Buchholzz. Just want to make sure it's not a case of homerism.

by yoshimi on Feb 16, 2008 10:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with this one

Middlebrooks has the most talent on that list. The only reason he wasn't drafted in the first or second round last year is because almost everyone thought he wouldn't sign, instead opting to go to college for football with a future in the NFL. I doubt he'll stick at short but he has some very good power potential and could be a very good thirdbaseman in the future.

Check out MVN.com/mlb-braves for the best Braves coverage

by was385 on Feb 17, 2008 1:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Waldis Joaquin?

Waldis might have something to say about that. I'm not that familiar with most of the names on the list, but Joaquin has some serious talent and will be in his second season post TJ.

by DrBGiantsfan on Feb 16, 2008 11:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you

Good info for me to spend some time researching.

by bbaffert on Feb 16, 2008 12:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I like Juan Ramirez over Peguero

in Seattle's system. Not a big Peguero fan. Maybe that'll change this year.

by elrey34 on Feb 16, 2008 12:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ramirez vs Peguero

BA ranked Ramirez at #7 in the Seattle organization. I don't think they picked any of their "breakout" prospects from a top 10. Peguero ranked #11 which might be the highest of any of the "breakouts." BA's comment was bland:

"His big lefty power should play nicely in the hitter-friendly California League."

by DrBGiantsfan on Feb 16, 2008 12:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If they mean "breakout"

as in Peguero playing half his games on a field where infield popups and groundballs turn into home runs and ground rule doubles, then yes, Peguero will breakout. Just in the same sense every hitter playing for High Desert will "breakout."

But now that you mention it, if Ramirez pitches for High Desert and if he indeed does breakout, it will be severely masked by "failure." I still like him over Peguero, however. But Peguero should be fun to watch this year.

by elrey34 on Feb 17, 2008 2:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cal League

Yes, I had about the same reaction to BA's comment on Peguero. If putting up specacular numbers in High Desert is their definition of breakout, you and I might have a different definition than BA.

by DrBGiantsfan on Feb 17, 2008 2:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs