I wrote last week about a little-known RP prospect, Jonathan Ortiz, and decided to write up a similar post today.  I hope that the analysis that follows this can provide some insight and discussion on the 2 prospects I highlight- neither of them have received much of it in the past.  If you're expecting Evan Longoria-meets-Francisco Liriano, stop reading...  These prospects are not studs, but just promising players who could one day be pretty good.  Cubs SP prospect Hung-Wen Chen is the first, and probably the most important, player that I'm featuring here.  The second is Freddy Galvis, a young SS that the Phillies signed out of Venezuela back in 2006.

Chen signed with the Cubs out of Taiwan in April 2007, for $200,000, and actually reported stateside before the season was over, getting in 7.2 innings.  His fastball is clocked as high as 94, but he generally pitches in the high 80s.  Chen is definitely a finesse pitcher- as a prospect, he reminds me a lot of the White Sox' Mark Buehrle, and his first full season in 2008 verifies that comparison.

Looking at Chen's BB% and K% this season (4.8% and 16.6%, respectively), they closely model- and actually a little better than- Buehrle's career numbers in those categories (5.5% and 14.1%, respectively).  That being said, at the age of 22, Buehrle was playing in his second major league season.  Chen is graduating high A.

The more I look at the two, though, the more I love that comparison.  If Chen can pitch as well as he did this year in 2009, when he'll likely be in AA, there's a chance the Cubs challenge him with a Spring Training audition in 2010.  While his ceiling may very well be similar to Buehrle's, it's far more likely that Chen ends up in the bullpen.  He was already used as a reliever in 7 of his 29 appearances this year, and while that number should decrease next year, the Cubs have many SP prospects ahead of Chen.

Philadelphia Phillies SS Freddy Galvis, meanwhile, is on the opposite end of the spectrum as Chen.  Galvis, despite having great tools and scouting blurbs, has not quite been able to translate that into numbers.  The consensus is that Galvis is one of the minors' best defensive infielders, that he could be a top defensive SS in the majors right now.  And, it's probably not an exaggeration for the 18-year old prospect.  Kevin Goldstein gave Galvis some ink back in July, and he's been named the Phillies' best defensive infielder by Baseball America in each of the last 3 (!) seasons.

The question- and, admittedly, it's a big one- is with Galvis' bat.  He still hasn't put up an OPS over .590, and his speed (which he is said to have) has not translated into success on the basepaths (a career 23-for-34).  There is hope for Galvis to develop offensively, but his ceiling in that department is still a 1999/2000 version of Pokey Reese.  It's not a bad thing- Reese was a starting SS for over 4 years- but at an increasingly offensive position, Galvis needs to start producing.  Luckily for him, there is almost definitely a spot on a major league team (in some capacity) for a guy with this good a glove.  Besides, he's making some progress already- the one time BA mentioned him this season, it was for his bat.

Let's see what you guys think of these two.  Have you heard anything about them before?  Does Chen have a shot to move quickly in 2009 (the Cubs already challenged him last season)?  Can Galvis come around as a cross between Reese and Adam Everett?  I have a few other prospects for whom I want to write articles similar to this, if the reception here is good...  Thanks for reading, regardless of that.