2010 Arizona Diamondbacks Top 20 Pre-Season Prospects in Review
by John Sickels on Aug 22, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
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2010 Arizona Diamondbacks
Here is a review of the 2010 Diamondbacks prospect list, originally published January 1, 2010. THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE OLD LIST AND PRE-SEASON GRADES. THIS IS NOT A NEW LIST. The 2011 list and new grades won't be ready until the season is over and I start writing the book.
1) Jarrod Parker, RHP, Grade B-: Tommy John surgery.
2) Bobby Borchering, 3B, Grade B-: .264/.336/.404 for Low-A South Bend, 47 walks, 109 strikeouts in 455 at-bats. This is a pretty blah season from a guy supposed to have some of the best power in the '09 draft. Pretty strong power platoon split, slugs .449 against lefties but just .389 against right-handers.
3) Brandon Allen, 1B, Grade B-: .262/.403/.542 with 23 homers, 72 walks, 85 strikeouts for Triple-A Reno. I saw him play on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Showed plenty of bat speed and a good feel for the strike zone in that game.
4) A.J. Pollock, OF, Grade B-: Out all year with a fractured elbow.
5) Mike Belfiore, LHP, Grade B-: 3.95 ERA, 88/40 K/BB in 100 innings for South Bend, 105 hits. Not a terrible season, but not a supergood one either.
6) Marc Krauss, OF, Grade B-: .311/.374/.529 with 24 homers, 47 walks, 122 strikeouts for High-A Visalia. I like the power a lot, but.....well, that BB/K is a bit worrisome, and this IS the California League.
7) Ryan Wheeler, 1B, Grade B-: .282/.338/.402 for Visalia, 35 walks, 98 strikeouts in 465 at-bats. Just promoted to Double-A, 2-for-9 so far. He hasn't been terrible but I thought he'd show more pop in the Cal League.
8) Chris Owings, SS, Grade C+: .298/.323/.447 for South Bend, nine walks, 50 strikeouts in 255 at-bats. I hate that ratio. On DL with foot injury since July.
9) Cole Gillespie, OF, Grade C+: .287/.406/.465 in 202 at-bats for Reno, .221/.259/.338 in 32 games for the Diamondbacks, though playing time not regular (77 at-bats). Saw him play Thursday and he looked kind of gassed and out of rhythm at the plate. I've seen him look really good on other occasions. The up-and-down promotions and lack of playing time in the majors may be impacting his feel at the plate.
10) Collin Cowgill, OF, Grade C+: .289/.361/.471 for Double-A Mobile, 14 homers, 51 walks, 24 steals in 456 at-bats. Nice solid campaign, a multi-skill player.
11) Matt Davidson, 3B, Grade C+: .289/.371/.504 at South Bend, 16 homers, 43 walks, 109 strikeouts in 415 at-bats. Just promoted to Visalia, 3-for-12 so far. Midwest League buzz has him looking a lot smoother at the plate than Borchering, which the numbers support overall although the BB/K wasn't too great.
12) Wade Miley, LHP, Grade C+: 3.25 ERA, 50/37 K/BB in 80 innings for Visalia, 2.24 ERA with 45/22 K/BB in 60 innings for Mobile, 129 hits in 141 innings overall, 2.58 GO/AO. He's having a very good year and should be seen as a significant sleeper for 2011.
13) David Nick, 2B, Grade C+: .254/.330/.365 for South Bend. Rather undistinguished with the bat, but he's just 20.
14) Leyson Septimo, LHP, Grade C: 4.13 ERA with 37/23 K/BB in 28 innings for Mobile, 15.00 ERA with 14/26 K/BB in 12 innings for Reno. Horrible command the big problem here.
15) Rusty Ryal, INF, Grade C: .280/.337/.379 as utility player for the Diamondbacks. Plate discipline pretty lousy, but he's been useful.
16) Kevin Mulvey, RHP, Grade C: 4.64 ERA, 98/53 K/BB in 140 innings, 139 hits for Reno. Not bad considering the league.
17) Bryan Augenstein, RHP, Grade C: 6.77 ERA, 84/33 K/BB in 104 innings for Reno, 139 hits. Has an 8.27 ERA in 10 road starts in the PCL. Not ideally-suited for this environment.
18) Barry Enright, RHP, Grade C: 2.88 ERA with 83/15 K/BB in 94 innings for Mobile, then 2.91 ERA with 31/18 K/BB in 53 innings for the Diamondbacks. Very successful season.
19) Wes Roemer, RHP, Grade C: 2.39 ERA, 43/11 K/BB in 53 innings for Mobile, but 7.12 ERA, 55/35 K/BB in 67 innings for Reno, 85 hits, 16 homers.
20) Roque Mercedes, RHP, Grade C: 5.20 ERA, 41/22 K/BB in 45 innings for Mobile, 59 hits. Unimpressive.
This system was looking pretty thin at the beginning of the season, and two of their top four prospects have missed the whole year with injury. The big group of hitters drafted in 2009 has produced mixed results so far. Enright emerged as the class of the polished right-handed strike thrower group. . .although it helps that he got to skip the pinball machine in the PCL, and I wouldn't give up on the other guys just yet. Miley and Cowgill are success sleepers for 2011.
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Barry Enright Projections for the future????
Where do you see this guy in the rotation? Is he just getting lucky or is there something there?
i still REALLY like Parker
and think he’s, at worst, a #3 in the majors (more like a very good #2). kid’s got some nasty stuff. Also, what’s happened to this franchise? wow.
by apoxonbothyourhouses on Aug 22, 2010 12:59 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
years of poor drafts
new ownership in 2005 and Byrnes at GM led to very conservative college based drafts
Borchering
How much has his stock dropped, especially compared to the other young bats in the system? On July 21st, Jim Callis still thought he was a better prospect than Davidson. In August, Borchering has put up some nice numbers, so his opinion is likely unchanged. I know lot of posters here seem to think Davidson is clearly better at this point. Matt Eddy (BA) in the recent hot sheet chat, said he’d prefer Davidson (and worded it in a way that indicated that might be by a significant margin, but that isn’t definite). I haven’t heard any direct comparisons with Mark Krauss, but Krauss has also been hitting well all year.
Has Borchering slipped below these guys? Or is it still tough to say?
Goldscmidt...
How does Paul Goldschmidt project? Has hit 32 homers this year, while batting .306, 92 RBI, and a .965 OBPS.
I suspect
that like Krauss he’ll have to prove that he can do it outside the Cali League and that the strikeouts aren’t going to get completely out of hand as he advances. Between last year’s Pioneer League season and this one Goldschmidt has hit 51 homers in 768 ABs, walked about 10% of the time and strikes out about 25% of the time. I think the power is legit, and he plays for an organization that’s willing to forgive some whiffs if the power is steady. Wheeler and Allen are solid but not spectacular prospects, and I suppose one of Borchering/Davidson may also end up in the 1B mix. That’s pretty much his competition if he actually develops.
Goldschmidt hit for excellent power and took a walk at Texas State.
by blackoutyears on Aug 26, 2010 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions
Anderson
Any word on Chase Anderson…or how he might fit into the list now?
Speaking of Barry Enright...
Is there anyone else in the majors who SOUNDS like a game show producer, based off of his name? I almost expect to see his name after The All-New Inquizition and an utterly pointless re-revival of High Rollers.
"That is like saying my ‘upside’ is Brad Pitts face, with Einstein’s brain, and Ron Jeremy’s unit. It is nice to dream, but that ceiling isn’t going to happen." (King Billy Royal)
my favorite thing to do while watching him pitch
As he gets ready to throw a pitch, I start yelling at my TV screen, “Come on, big money, big money, no whammies, no whammies . . .”
Collmenter
What are your feelings on Joshua Collmenter?
by mattp31 on Aug 23, 2010 12:21 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Pollock/Wheeler
Was A.J. Pollock’s injury more serious than initially thought? He was supposed to return in July, not miss the whole season.
Also, part of the reason Wheeler’s offensive numbers are down is that he has played third base all year (and played surprisingly well at that). But that position takes a much greater toll on the body than does playing first.
by BaseballEvolution on Aug 23, 2010 1:31 AM EDT reply actions
Parker
Appears to be developing a 2-seamer and has regained his velocity, though it will take innings to get his command back. D-Backs are apparently send him to the AFL and I like his chances to move back up the prospect charts in a hurry.
depressing...
its hard times for dback fans. i went to the game fri and there was probably 18,000 fans in the seats. i can imagine what midweak games are like now.
we went through this in 2003/2004, but at least there was hope on the horizon with young studs in the system like quintin, hairston, webb, jackson, young, and the drafting of upton.
now our ownership seems to purposely look for the cheapest polished college players as possible. nothing in the system excites me (unless parker comes back strong).
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