Top Prospects Year In Review: 11-20
October 14, 2010 at 8:00 am by Capitol Avenue Club under Atlanta Braves
Continuing the series.
Number 20: David Hale – RHP (22) 6’2″ 200 LB. 2009 Rank: Unranked.
A third round pick in 2009, David Hale began the year as a member of Rome’s rotation where he struggled mightily. He was moved to the bullpen mid-season and completely took off, finishing the year with a 4.13 ERA, a 1.505 WHIP, and a 69-to-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio despite the terrible start in the rotation. He surrendered only one home run all year in 93 and 2/3 innings. It’s difficult to explain the contrast in performance between Hale’s stint in the rotation and bullpen. It is universally true that it’s easier to be an effective relief pitcher than an effective starting pitcher, but it’s rare to see a player be completely worthless as a starter and utterly dominant as a reliever. Perhaps this means Hale is better suited for relief, or maybe something else is at play.
Number 19: Tyler Stovall – LHP (20) 6’1″ 180 LB. 2009 Rank: Unranked.
I have always liked Tyler Stovall. He was taken in the second round of the 2008 draft (64th overall) out of Hokes Bluff High School in Alabama and signed to an over-slot bonus ($750,000). So far the results have not matched the stuff. Stovall was used exclusively as a reliever in 2010 and control continued to be an issue. He walked as many batters as he struck out (27) in 31 and 1/3 innings. He has the stuff to be a back-end bullpen arm or #2 starter, but without substantial improvements in his control and approach (he often gets curveball-heavy), he won’t make it out of the lower minors.
Number 18: Jose Ortegano – LHP (22) 6’1″ 145 LB. 2009 Rank: 30.
Rehabbing from injury, Ortegano had a very forgettable year, posting a 7.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, and 1.1 HR/9 in 103 innings at AAA Gwinnett. He spent a bit of time rehabbing in the Carolina League as well with similarly middling rate stats. As a guy that doesn’t figure to be an impact arm, he’ll need to perform to continue to attract attention, but I’m willing to give him a pass here because of the injury and because of the fact that he was pitching in AAA at age 22. He is on the 40-man roster and it should be noted that the Braves obviously like him enough to protect him from the rule V draft.
Number 17: Benino Pruneda – RHP (21) 5’9″ 175 LB. 2009 Rank: 12.
In 2010 Pruneda pulled the same trick he did in 2009. He continues to advance through the system–making it to AA this past season at age 21–and strike out a ton of batters (93 in 64 and 2/3 innings in the Carolina League and Southern League), but his walk rate (5.1 BB/9) keeps him from being an elite relief prospect. His fastball is so good that if he were to get the walks under control he could be pitching the eighth inning in MLB next year, but without improvement in that regard he’ll never make it. I know I’m going to be pulling hard for the 5’9″ guy with a triple-digit fastball.
Number 16: Cody Johnson – OF (21) 6’4″ 195 LB. 2009 Rank: 25.
Things just keep getting worse for Cody. 2010 was basically a lost season because he was limited by injuries and struck out 151 times in 344 AB’s (43.9% K/AB) when he played. His isolated power and walk rate also took hits. As a fan of a team that has struggled to put a) competent outfielders on the field and b) a legitimate power-hitting threat in the line-up, I really want Cody Johnson–a left-fielder with true 80 raw power–to succeed, but at this point it doesn’t seem like he’ll be able to parlay his impressive power into any useful MLB skills.
Number 15: Matt Young – CF (27) 5’8″ 175 LB. 2009 Rank: Unranked.
For the second straight year Matt Young walked more than he struck out, hitting .300/.380/.407 over 555 PA’s for Class AAA Gwinnett. He also stole 39 bases in 46 attempts. With speed, patience, and the ability to play all three OF positions, Young is an ideal 4th outfielder whose more or less ready. He hasn’t gotten a shot in Atlanta mainly because the Braves need right-handed power, and Young does neither of those things, but if not in Atlanta he should get a shot somewhere pretty soon.
Number 14: Dimaster Delgado – LHP (21) 6’2″ 180 LB. 2009 Rank: 32.
Dimaster Delgado (aka the other Delgado) got in a horrible car accident in the off-season and wasn’t able to pitch in 2010 as a result. We’re all pulling for him to make a successful return to pro baseball in 2011.
Number 13: Mike Minor – LHP (22) 6’3″ 200 LB. 2009 Rank: Unranked.
Mike Minor had an extraordinarily successful first full season, blowing through the upper minors and making it to MLB by early August. He struck out 146 batters in 120 and 1/3 MiLB innings with 46 walks and 9 home runs. He was visibly tired for much of his stint in the majors, which is completely understandable, but still managed to post a 43-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The 13th rank was obviously too low because a) he exhibited an uptick in velocity for the bulk of the season before hitting a wall down the stretch with the big club and b) he probably deserved to be ranked higher even if he hadn’t. He’s eligible for the 2011 list having pitched only 40 and 1/3 innings in MLB, but he’ll lose his prospect eligibility very shortly into the 2011 season because he’s slated to break camp with the big club as a member of the Atlanta rotation.
Number 12: Edgar Osuna – LHP (22) 6’1″ 165 LB. 2009 Rank: 14.
The Royals wasted their 4th pick in the 2010 rule V draft on Osuna and he failed to make their big-league roster. So, they offered him back to the Braves for $25,000 (half the price they paid to get him), but much to my chagrin Atlanta said: “Nah, that’s OK, you can keep him.” Turns out Atlanta was right and I was wrong, because he was unspectacular in the Royals’ system. No sense in fretting over it, anyhow; he’s gone.
Number 11: Brett DeVall – LHP (20) 6’3″ 215 LB. 2009 Rank: 10.
I don’t know what’s going on anymore. DeVall injured his elbow last year and received some kind of alternative treatment–rather than the traditional UCL replacement surgery–and it worked through 19 starts. DeVall doubled his previous career-high in innings, going 106 and 2/3 with a 4.39 ERA, a 1.519 WHIP, and a 71-to-28 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Control was good and he only allowed five homers, but he struggled to generate adequate velocity for much of the year. Also, his ERA is misleading, given he allowed 22 “unearned” runs. The worst news is he didn’t quite make it the entire year, and he was shut down in mid-August with more injury issues, prompting a visit to James Andrews’ office. That’s all I know, I have no idea whether or not we’ll see him next year.
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I sure hope you’re going to have Gary Lee Hyde in the top 10. He might be on the club next season or certainly might be a good trade piece this offseason.
Most prospects are failures. That’s just reality. But doesn’t it seem like alot of our hitting prospects are just not working? I say that after the end of Heyward’s rookie season and right before Freddie Freeman’s, so I may just be ridiculous. But the cupboards are looking much thinner regarding offense, right?
@ 2/altrod
You’re right that the Braves farm system is getting fairly razor thin on position players. The only standouts (not named Freeman) that I can recall are Bethancourt, Salcedo, and Lipka. All three are still 2 years plus away on the development time-line.
However, IMO, the Braves system has done a decent job of producing position players. Half our starting lineup in ’10 descended from the Braves system, but the Front Office’s focus has historically been on developing a strong starting rotation. With Teheran, Hoover, Beachy, Minor, and Delgado all solid SP prospects I don’t mind the lack of position players as much. I’d trade a Delgado or a Minor for Colby Rasmus any day.
I would really like to see Matt Young get a shot at the 4th outfield spot this year. Also I would like to see if Mycal Jones can play the outfield.
Geoff/1,
This is last year’s list and you can see the entire thing by clicking the ‘top prospects’ tab at the top of any page on this site. Hyde was not in it, but he’ll be on the list this year.
I’ve always loved players like Matt Young who don’t have much power but are good at getting on base and stealing bases for some reason, I was mainly upset about the Ankiel/Farnsworth trade because of losing Blanco
I’m not faulting you in anyway as I say this. However, what is the point of re-posting the top prospects list? I had not been following you from the beginning so I don’t know how you work during the off-season, so I’m rather ignorant in regards to how you’ll be running this.
Actually I guess Blanco wasn’t that great at stealing, dude could walk though
Jon/7,
It’s a year in review piece. You’ll notice in these pieces (if you’re reading them) that I’m concentrating exclusively on what happened last year, rather than discussing the prospects holistically.
Understandable. Like I said, I showed complete ignorance to whatever you were doing. And instead of continuing to be ignorant, I figured I’d shoot that question and see what it is you’re trying to accomplish.
These ranks are just your ranks that you make on your own? Do you pull ranks from others or compare notes to see if you’re on the money?
I have been reading, though I am just starting to get a more in depth experience of baseball, much deeper than I’ve been in the past. I mean, hell, if you asked me who a Braves’ prospect would have been 3-4 years ago, I’d have shrugged and later questioned my fandom. (if that’s even a word)
Can anyone recall the last prospect for prospect deal involving a top tier prospect? It would seem that our farm system is ripe for this kind of deal, where pitching can be traded for hitting. But, that just never seems to happen, not in any organization that I can think of. Any thoughts as to why?
It’s because pitchers are so fungible teams are unwilling to swap good hitting prospects for pitching prospects.
The last top-tier prospect-for-prospect deal I remember is Brett Wallace for Anthony Gose. Before that Brett Wallace for Michael Taylor. Wow, that’s mind-blowing.
Frank Wren on Jordan Schaefer: “It was really a lost year for Jordan. I think I’ve said that for three yrs in arow now” — Wow, talk about not really having any plans for Joran in the short term. But a lot of that was brought on Jordan himself, trying to play injured and reinjuring… not to mention HGH
AJC also reported that Derrek Lee played with a torn thumb ligament. Worse than Heyward’s injured thumb. If he had that thumb injured before the Braves traded for him, someone needs to be fired.
How does the organization see Cole Rohrbough these days? He’s still ‘only’ 23 but hasn’t pitched well above Rome. In 2007, I thought he’d be in Atlanta by now.
My guess is they’re basically in a holding pattern with Rohrbough. Until he shows some things, they’ll just expect nothing and be pleasantly surprised if he makes progress.
Thanks. Great stuff. I hope Matt Young gets a shot at fourth outfielder. He has been great in AAA the past two year and deserves at least a look at. Cody Johnson is still very young and has plenty of time to make adjustments to his game. Pruneda is a really interesting and under the radar arm.