2011 SLEEPER ALERT! LIST REVIEW, Part One
Every year in the Baseball Prospect Book, I point out players who I think are particularly good sleepers who could break through unexpectedly. Sometimes then pan out (Dan Hudson for example), sometimes they don't, but I try very hard to get ahead of the curve on players like that, especially pitchers.
Let's review the Sleeper Alert! list from the2011 book (which you can still order by the way!). Here are the first 15 alphabetically and we will review all 59 players as the week moves forward. I'm including a brief mention for each player of the reasons they were on the list, if it was stats, scouting, intuition, or some combination thereof.
Austin Adams, RHP, Cleveland Indians: 4.16 ERA with an 82/46 K/BB in 80 innings for Double-A Akron, 85 hits allowed. Throws hard, doing OK but command is still an issue. 25 years old. Sleeper rating was based on combination of stats and scouting.
Scottie Allen, RHP, New York Yankees: 7.13 ERA with a 54/27 K/BB in 71 innings combined between High-A Tampa and Low-A Charleston. A horrible season, but at age 20 he has time to rebound. Was rated as sleeper on basis of scouting reports but looks awful right now.
Buddy Baumann, LHP, Kansas City Royals: 4.08 ERA with a 54/26 K/BB in 57 innings for Double-A Arkansas, 55 hits. Fair season, solid strikeout rate, otherwise undistinguished. 23 years old. Rating was based primarily on stats.
Michael Blanke, C, Chicago White Sox: .259/.311/.382 in 47 games for Low-A Kannapolis, .213/.301/.278 in 32 games for High-A Winston-Salem. Has thrown out 36% of runners, but offense disappointing. Age 22. Rating was based on both stats and scouting reports.
Vincent Catricala, 1B-3B, Seattle Mariners: .351/.421/.574 in 71 games for High-A High Desert, .338/.375/.646 in 16 games for Double-A Jackson, .349 with 18 homers overall, strong reviews from scouts for his bat. Age 22. Rating was based mainly on stats but the scouting reports are catching up with them now.
Evan Chambers, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates: Hitting .218/.342/.360 with 7 homers, 45 walks in 83 games for High-A Bradenton. Draws lots of walks, has power potential, has been hot lately (.288/.402/.513 in last 24 games). 22 years old, remains interesting but still asleep. Rating based on combination of stats and scouting reports.
Paul Clemens, RHP, Atlanta Braves: 3.90 ERA, 80/38 K/BB in 95 innings for Double-A Mississippi, 92 hits. Not dominating but not terrible. Rating based mostly on scouting reports. Age 23.
Jonathan Correa, RHP, Cincinnati Reds: Hasn't pitched this year. Was placed on disqualified list in June for undisclosed reasons.
Jose De Paula, LHP, San Diego Padres: 6.00 ERA with 50/28 K/BB in 72 innings for High-A Lake Elsinore, 90 hits, 1.40 GO/AO. Strong scouting reports from last year got him the sleeper notice, but they have not panned out this year. Age 21.
Corey Dickerson, OF, Colorado Rockies: Hitting .288/.374/.613 with 19 homers for Low-A Asheville. Very fine campaign. Age 22. Rating was based on both scouting and stats.
Jake Dunning, RHP, San Francisco Giants: 5.21 ERA with 53/20 K/BB in 57 innings for High-A San Jose, 69 hits, 1.76 GO/AO. Age 22. Rating was based on stats, scouting, and intuition. Has been very effective since switching to bullpen in June (3.38 ERA, 26/6 K/BB in 24 IP).
Gabe Encinas, RHP, New York Yankees: Just 19 innings in rookie ball, 7.91 ERA with 21/6 K/BB, 26 hits allowed. Just 19 years old. Rating based entirely on scouting reports since he didn't pitch last year.
Anthony Fernandez, LHP, Seattle Mariners: 3.32 ERA with 51/22 K/BB in 65 innings for Low-A Clinton, 7.39 ERA with 26/13 K/BB in 28 innings for High-A High Desert, combined 2.26 GO/AO ratio. 21 years old. Rating was based on both stats and scouting, still an interesting arm.
Michael Fiers, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers: 2.54 ERA with 80/20 K/BB in 74 innings, 54 hits combined between Double-A Huntsville and Triple-A Nashville. Pitching very well. 26 years old. Rating based mostly on stats and intuition, I have liked him since he was in college.
Kendry Flores, RHP, San Francisco Giants: 5.13 ERA with 26/10 K/BB in 26 innings for Spokane in Northwest League, 27 hits. Sample small, performance has been better than ERA indicates. 19 years old. Rating was based on both stats and scouting reports.
Mediocre results so far, although Catricala and Dickerson were good calls.
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