Tony Giarratano, 3rd round pick in '03 out of Tulane

Detroit Tigers
   Tony Giarratano is a guy I have been plugging as a sleeper prospect for some time. He hit .376 in 53 games after being promoted to the Florida State League last summer, and I thought he would do well this year in Double-A. Unfortunately, that hasn't panned out. Through 29 games for Erie, Giarratano is hitting .239/.336/.367. There is good and bad here. He is taking walks, with 17 free passes in 127 plate appearances, a decent ratio. But he is striking out a lot more than he did in A-ball, with 32 whiffs already. And his production is down across the board; he came into the season with a career .333/.392/.450 mark. My thinking is that Giarratano will heat up as the season progresses, perhaps finishing with numbers around .280/.340/.410 or so. We will revisit this prediction at the end of the year. Remind me if I forget.