Prospect of the Day: Ben Revere, OF, Minnesota Twins

Ben Revere, OF, Minnesota Twins
    The Twins promoted outfielder Ben Revere on Wednesday to replace the injured Jason Repko on the roster. How does he fit into the scheme of things, and what does his future look like?

    Revere was drafted in the first round in 2007, from high school in Lexington, Kentucky. Many teams saw him as a second-round talent, but the Twins were impressed with his makeup and hitting aptitude and loved him more than most. He's undersized at 5-9, 175, and he lacks power as you might expect. But he makes contact, doesn't strike out much, and demonstrates excellent speed. These skills have enabled him to hit .326 in his minor league career, including .305 last year in Double-A and .293 so far this year in Triple-A.
     There is more to the story than that, though. Although he seldom strikes out, he doesn't draw a lot of walks, either, making his OBP very dependent on his batting average. He's shown no power since moving past Low-A, hitting .311/.372/.369 in High-A in '09, .305/.371/.363 in Double-A in '10, and .293/.330/.315 so far in Triple-A. His Isolated Power was a miniscule .058 in both '09 and '10 and is even worse at .022 this year, granted the 2011 sample is small. He has to survive entirely on his running speed and contact ability.
     Revere is dangerous on the bases once he gets there, stealing seven bases in nine attempts already this year and 153 overall in his career with a 73% success rate. This gives him some intriguing fantasy value if he hits enough otherwise to play regularly. He doesn't have much of an arm, but his blazing speed makes him an asset in center field.
      With his current balance of skills, Revere looks like someone who could be a useful fourth or fifth outfielder, although he's still just 23 and has time to improve beyond that. If he really pans out, he could be similar to Michael Bourn or Juan Pierre.