Ryan Westmoreland = Grady Sizemore?????

by King Billy Royal on Jul 30, 2009 2:49 PM EDT

I have a new man crush and his name is Ryan Westmoreland. Hyped as a Grady Sizemore type player, Westmoreland fell to the 5th round of the 2008 draft due to signability concerns. A two way player in high school, Ryan has a gun of an arm from centre and even struck out 19 of 21 batters in a perfect game in April 2008. He missed the beginning portion of this season as he was recovering from labrum surgery, however since that time he has been mashing the ball. Here is some information:

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 195 lbs

Born: April 27, 1990 in Portsmouth, R.I.

Club (League)	Class	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	SH	SF	GIDP	OBP	SLG	OPS
Lowell (NYP)	SS	.285	34	130	23	37	7	2	6	25	23	31	11	0	0	2	1	.391	.508	.899

It isn't just the numbers that drive my Ryan Westmoreland man crush. Scouts are raving about his talent. Kevin Goldstein writes "He combines plus power with plus-plus speed, plays a very good center field, and has a big-time arm. His silky smooth actions and extreme athleticism gives him a ceiling higher than any player in the system." The praise doesn't stop there with Jim Callis calling him one of the five biggest coups of the 2008 draft. While his strikeout total is a little concerning, I am very impressed with his power, speed, and plate discipline to date. When that is combined with his plus defense, I think that in five years from now people aren't going to be looking for the next Grady Sizemore, they are going to be looking for the next Ryan Westmoreland.

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On his preseason Red Sox top 11

KG also had this:

Perfect World Projection: He’ll be a five-tool superstar.

Now, caveat is this was a “perfect world projection”… but if you regularly read these, he never writes that.

by alskor on Jul 30, 2009 3:08 PM EDT reply actions

sure he does

he said the same thing about Cameron Maybin going into last year

by jsmall404 on Jul 30, 2009 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Link Please

Do you have a link where he says that?

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Jul 30, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions

2007 w/ Tigers:

Perfect World Projection: A transcendent star who puts fannies in the seats.

2008 w/ Marlins:

Perfect World Projection: He’s a bigger, healthier Eric Davis minus a tick of power and speed, but with plenty of both nonetheless.

But either way – lets say this qualifies. If Westmoreland is on the same level of prospect as Cameron Maybin was I think the point stands…

by alskor on Jul 30, 2009 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Cameron Maybin=Felix Pie

Randy Wells. A product of the Roy Halladay School of Pitching, located in Toronto, Canada. Possible relocation.

by Cub Style on Jul 31, 2009 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions

what a foolish statement...

he’s 22 years old

by soxkid on Aug 4, 2009 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions

so was

Felix Pie. i couldn’t resist.

by wobatus on Aug 5, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Grady Sizemore is overrated

People are blinded by his fantasy value in pools due to his stolen bases. He still can’t hit lefties, his K % is going up, his BB % is going down. Westmoreland has the potential to be better than Grady.

Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!

by Dewey Finn on Jul 30, 2009 3:20 PM EDT reply actions

Ryan Westmoreland = Mickey Mantle?

by PissedMick on Jul 30, 2009 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions

who's that?

Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!

by Dewey Finn on Jul 30, 2009 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not sure if you're joking

TheSouthWing.com - A Magazine of essays, prose and poems

by OldProspects on Jul 30, 2009 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

by RollingWave on Jul 31, 2009 1:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Eh, I dunno about that...

He’s having a down year (a .252 babip, 65 pts below his career average, doesn’t help), but over the last 3 seasons, he is 14th in baseball in wins above replacement. He turns 27 in a week, so the best could be yet to come.

I guess it depends on where you view Sizemore. I think he’s in the tier below the very best players in baseball (Pujols, Utley, etc), but he isn’t one of the very elite in the game.

by acesfull86 on Jul 30, 2009 7:30 PM EDT up reply actions

he's been fighting an elbow injury all year.

by Daniel Berlyn on Aug 6, 2009 12:49 AM EDT up reply actions

Obviously a long, long way to go

before we can compare him to the best CFers in the game… but if youre trying to identify a guy with all the tools early, well, this is your guy.

by alskor on Jul 30, 2009 3:21 PM EDT reply actions

You're killing me, Smalls

My Commodores sure lost a lot when Westmoreland and Milligan were signed out of that ’08 draft.

by parish on Jul 30, 2009 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah but at least we kept Sonny Gray and Jason Esposito

by deezle on Jul 30, 2009 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I still wish the Cubs made a whopper

of an offer to Gray and tested his commitment. Oh well.

2011 is gonna be nasty at the top. At least, it’s shaping up that way. I love Hultzen’s potential.

by toonsterwu on Jul 30, 2009 9:20 PM EDT up reply actions

well done

Truly you are staking your claim to be known as the poor man’s Dewey Finn.

Of course, Dewey Finn long ago staked his claim as the Geraldo Rivera of minorleagueball.com.

by mrkupe on Jul 30, 2009 5:21 PM EDT reply actions

Both SSKL Members. :D

Hey guys, I run a music blog. alternative, powerpop, punk, electronica, screamo, etc etc, check it out. http://muzikdizcovery.blogspot.com/ artist interviews and many other stuff. free cookies! (not really, but still) :D

by cwhitman412 on Jul 30, 2009 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions

I think he just MIGHT be joking

TheSouthWing.com - A Magazine of essays, prose and poems

by OldProspects on Jul 30, 2009 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions

What is wrong with this post?

I provided stats, quotes from scouts, and a reasonable comp to generate discussion. Not sure what issue you would have with this post, especially when I never see you posting a fanpost of any substance.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Jul 31, 2009 12:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Satirically or seriously?

TheSouthWing.com - A Magazine of essays, prose and poems

by OldProspects on Jul 31, 2009 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions

While he hasn't posted

many fanposts as of late, I think the 3 part Prospect Smackdown series mrkupe gave us a couple of years back when John busy on something or other was easily some of the best work any member of this community has given us in the 5 years or so I’ve been reading this site. They happened before you joined the site I believe, but check them out when you have time.

RIP Nick Adenhart

by gatling on Jul 31, 2009 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions

the thoughts are appreciated

I’d be interested in doing some other writing, perhaps even in conjunction with other members of the community who are more sophisticated with numbers-crunching than I am . . .Prospect Smackdowns are John’s territory and so I personally feel uncomfortable doing such things while he’s able to do them.

Looking back now, I did all right for myself on the Smackdowns . . .Snider > Marrero, at least thus far. Buchholz and Chamberlain are pretty much a push, although I’m a Buchholz junkie, he could easily be the best prospect in the game were he still eligible. Walker and Headley . . .well, lol. Neither has been too hot. I thought Walker’s development in plate discipline @ AA was at least partly for real, and I think he would have been fine if that were the case. Still he is only 23 and his power has developed as expected. Headley’s been disappointing too, don’t think he’ll ever be much of an average hitter. He is smart though, maybe he makes adjustments and turns into more of a TTO player? I could see that.

by mrkupe on Jul 31, 2009 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions

another kid from Rhode island

Like baldelli, the Woonsocket Rocket. With hopefully a less brittle body, and better walk rate.

by wobatus on Jul 30, 2009 6:03 PM EDT reply actions

I could easily see him being a top 5 prospect in the game going into 2011

by Jimothy on Jul 30, 2009 8:20 PM EDT reply actions

Part of me

understands the love for Westmoreland. Part of me is taking a wait and see.

That said, it’s a loaded system for OF prospects. It was funny a few weeks back when one of the mlbtr writers said their system lacked OF depth.

I’ve said this before, but I think one of the more underrated guys in not only the Red Sox system, but the minors in general, is Che-Hsuan Lin. He’s been red hot after a slow first month, when he was probably a bit jittery (K/BB improved markedly). He’s also probably one of, if not, the best defensive CF’s in the minors, if you buy the reports (only seen him a few times).

by toonsterwu on Jul 30, 2009 9:24 PM EDT reply actions

Lin

has crazy tools . he and Luo Ko Hui are clearly the two best tools guys from Taiwan.

by RollingWave on Jul 31, 2009 2:00 AM EDT up reply actions

too bad

Lo’s (I think he’s listed as Kuo-hui Lo) approach is bleh. I think he is Chin-Feng Chen’s nephew.

by toonsterwu on Jul 31, 2009 7:44 AM EDT up reply actions

RWML

I’ve seen RWML play a half-dozen times this season and I can definitely see where the comparison comes from. Not only does he have above average tools all around, he has a similar stance, plane of swing, and plate approach. Sizemore, who strikes out quite a lot, has an amazing ability to let the ball get deep on him and still turn on it. I’ve seen this from RWML quite a few times. His K rate is a little high, and he has gotten fooled on some breaking balls in the dirt down in the count. But I love his patience and his ability to battle back when he is down in the count.

Here is a video I took of his first professional HR:

Link

And his second:

Link

by templeUsox on Jul 31, 2009 11:08 PM EDT reply actions

Posted this as a FanShot on OTM...

Over there, we’ve begun referring to him as Manifest Destiny b/c of his last name. Everyone can’t wait for him to start his ascension through the majors, and he’s one of the first names most people probably look for in USG’s daily Minor Lines FanPosts.

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bdalebs on Aug 1, 2009 5:28 PM EDT reply actions