The Mets' affinity for young, toolsy international position players prompted the Mets to select this Puerto Rico Baseball Academy grad in the 2nd round this past season. Rodriguez played for the Mets' GCL affiliate and struggled mightily, hitting just .193 with 1 HR 20 RBI and a 10 BB/27 K ratio. Rodriguez has an athletic frame that projects to add more bulk as he matures. His bat speed is good right now, but is projected to be excellent and a source of future power production. Rodriguez is a good outfielder right now with vast CF range and a plus-plus arm, but as he gains size, he will likely be shifted to RF. Like many young international hitters, Rodriguez is a very aggressive hitter with a rudimentary knowledge of the strike zone. The Mets will assuredly take their time in shaping his tools in to productive skills
2009 Projection: Don't be surprised to see Rodriguez spend time at extended spring training before joining one of the Mets' short-season clubs (likely Brooklyn). The looming specter of J-Rod's plate discipline is the proverbial fly in his developmental ointment. Another thing to watch is his body size, as Rodriguez is just 18 years old and not finished growing. With increased weight comes higher Home Run totals, and with more Home Runs comes increased attention from fans and collectors. As it stands right now, Rodriguez's Bowman Sterling autographs are low-cost, high-reward investments going into the 2009 season.
This young southpaw emerged as one of the Angels' brighter young pitching prospects after a fine season at Low-A Cedar Rapids. Despite being the youngest pitcher in the Midwest League, Reckling compiled a 10-7 record with a 3.37 ERA and 128 K in 159 IP. At this stage in his development, Trevor is not an overpowering pitcher. His fastball sits at 87-92 MPH with good movement, but his frame has still yet to fully develop and there is some conjecture that he can add a couple of ticks to his fastball. The true out pitch for him, however, lies in a big bending curveball that some scouts have likened to Barry Zito's infamous yakker. Reckling controls this pitch very effectively and his change up has come a long way to also be a potential plus pitch. Because his offspeed stuff is so good, Reckling gets in trouble at times when he tends to lean on them too often. If he can gain some velocity on his fastball, he should be able to feel confident in establishing it more, making his curve and change much more effective pitches.
2009 Projection: Reckling should move to High-A Rancho Cucamonga to start the '09 season. The key for him will be to improve his fastball, while at the same time maintaining his success on keeping the ball down in the zone. Last season, Trevor was quite effective at this, inducing a GO/FO ratio of 1.73. The Californian League can wreak havoc on young pitchers who struggle with their locations. While he keeps the ball down, Reckling does struggle from time to time with pitching to contact. The added velocity on his fastball would help tremendously. If he does bump it up a couple of notches, Reckling has the potential to be a solid #2 starter at the major league level. If he doesn't, his ceiling shifts dramatically to a back of the rotation starter.
It was a tale of two seasons for the former AFLAC All-American. The Braves began Gilmore at full season Low-A Rome and he stunk up the joint hitting just .186 through 26 games. After pulling the plug on that promotion, Gilmore was sent to short season Danville where he enjoyed much more success hitting .337 with 4 HR and 31 RBI. Gilmore has the potential to be a very special power hitter with a smooth swing that generates good leverage and HR pop to all fields. He is very balanced at the plate, which allows for him to react well to fastballs and offspeed pitches alike. Defensively, Gilmore has the tools to be a top-rate 3B with soft hands, quick reactions, and a strong, accurate arm. In addition to his physical skills, Jon is a grinder who eats and breathes baseball. Gilmore proved himself to be mentally tough by taking the demotion in stride and having a successful second half to his season. Gilmore needs to progress in working himself deeper into counts and drawing more walks. As his power comes forward, pitchers will be more reluctant to give him pitches to hit in the zone. Gilmore's selectivity will be a crucial element in determining his ability to hit for a high average down the road.
2009 Projection: Gilmore will give Rome another shot, likely with better results. Look to see if he can improve his walk rate as well as his power. Gilmore has an athletic and strong physique that could build muscular bulk. If and when he does this, his HR power will progress and more people's eyes will be opened to his abilities, making his 2007 autographed cards more valuable commodities.
Bogusevic was drafted as a pitcher in the 1st round of the 2005 draft A two way star at Tulane, the Astros decided to scrap Brian's mound future and start him exclusively as an OF. Bogusevic adapted very well hitting .371 with 3 HR 20 RBI and 8 SB in 42 games. Unlike many raw hitters, Bogusevic has an adept grasp of the strike zone. Last season he posted an impressive 16 BB/24 K ratio. Bogusevic has a muscular and athletic 6-3 215 lb. frame that shows promise to put up good power numbers and a high average. Bogusevic has Read the full story
VN:F [1.9.13_1145]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Link To This Page
1. Click inside the codebox 2. Right-Click then Copy 3. Paste the HTML code into your webpage
Parra performed pretty well over two levels in '08. Splitting time between High-A Visalia and AA Mobile, Parra hit .286 with 6 HR 52 RBI and 28 SB. Parra has a nice line drive swing that hits for a high average but doesn't provide much in the way of power. Parra has very good plate discipline and is a tough guy to strike out, though he needs to work on seeing more pitches if he wants to be a top of the order hitter. Defensively, Parra is a tweener whose range is not quite good enough for RF Read the full story
VN:F [1.9.13_1145]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Link To This Page
1. Click inside the codebox 2. Right-Click then Copy 3. Paste the HTML code into your webpage
H/W: 6-2 165 lb. B/T: R/R DOB: 4/4/90
