Prospect Instinct: Touch’em All – Midwest League Hitters Edition

Prospect Instinct: Touch’em All
Baseball Instinct is going to go from league to league over the next few weeks and highlight the players who are lighting up the field so far. I’m not going to be doing a Top 10 or a Top 21 for each league. I’m breaking down the statistics and performances for 2010 so far. We’ll be pulling out names that most have never heard of right along with the top names that everyone knows. If you want to get into the know on the ground floor, this is the only way to do it. I’ll be shelling out pitchers and hitters from every league and giving you my opinion on some of the top names and some who probably should be top names.

2010 Midwest League Edition
We’re going to start out in the lower levels of the minors and the MWL has the most data to be relevant at this level. So after going over the pitchers last week here are the hitters to look at over the second half to see who’s real and really not.

We usually start with Tier One and I’ll get to that in a minute because the first guy deserves a tier of his own right now and we’re going to give that to him.

A League if His Own

Mike Trout OF LAA – Drafted in 2009s First Round, Trout started the season as one of the Angels top hitting prospects straight out of High School. Even with lofty expectations no one predicted this was coming. He is now the stand alone top prospect in the system and no one is even close. He could also move his way into the Top 10 prospects in all of baseball by the end of the season.

Trout’s K%,BB%, IsoP, and LD% are all elite level.

The fact that he has 31 XBH and 37 SBs through the first half of the season is simply otherworldly. He’s batting .362 and all of his peripherals back that up.

Check back soon for a breakdown of Mike Trout and the newest update to our Top 100 Prospects List.

Tier One

Jerry Sands OF/1B LAD - Big kid. 6-4 and 225. Sure, he’s 23, but he dismantled the Midwest League to the tune of .333/18/46 in 243 ABs and chipped in 14 SBs. He K’s a fair amount but also works walks and his power was off the MWL Charts. He’s since made the huge jump to Double A Southern League where he has 5 HR’s in 39 ABs. Sands is currently leading the minor leagues in HR with 23 total.

{+}Wil Myers C KC - Big athletic catcher, overcame very slow start but heated up with the weather. Power/Speed combo at C. 10/10 in 242 MWL ABs. He has great control of the strikezone right now. 16.5 BB%. Already made the jump to High A.

Nick Franklin SS SEA – Young SS showing very surprising power at age 19. 14 HRs through 279 ABs. Will need to work on strikezone judgement or higher level pitchers will expose him. Check out the Seattle Mariners Chin Music for some more details on Franklin.

D’Marcus Ingram OF STL – Excellent half season at Quad City showing good power and k/bb ratio. Moves up the FSL for a challenge in the second half. Not very big so he’ll really need to become an on-base machine in FSL.

Jon Galvez 2B SD – Projectable MI, showing good power/speed combo and glove. K’s too often and doesn’t work the zone. Will need more time to work on zone judgement, but he’s still just 20.

Chun-Hsiu Chen C CLE – Unknown before the season, but hit .312 with a .887 OPS in the MWL. Move to High A will tell us if we have a sleeper. I’m not sure he sticks at C but I haven’t seen enough to make that decision final.

Angel Morales OF MIN – It seems like Morales has been around forever. Power has always been his calling card and at age 21 he’s shown in the past that he has 30+ HR potential if he can get his K’s under control. That hasn’t happened. With his elite power/speed combo he has a shot at being a 30/30 RF. It is a long shot right now, but he still has the tools for it. Now in the FSL. .289/4/18 line in MWL before promotion.

Tyler Bortnick 2B TB – A little old for the MWL but his numbers are worth noting since he’s a MI. .304/6/22 with 23 2B. He can hit, plays a solid 2B. We’ll see how he handles the FSL. Might have a Utility INF ceiling.

Tier Two

Scooter Gennett 2B MIL – Small scrappy MI with a knack for squaring up the ball. Surprising power for his size. 33 XBH in 282 AB with 8 SBs.

Jeudy Valdez 2B SD – Another small MI tipping the scales at 155. But 9 HR with 37 XBH in 320 ABs is really impressive. 20 SB makes his upside very impressive. Will need to become more patient at the plate and learn to work more walks to utilize speed and let the power be a compliment in his game instead of the key to it. Might be the better of the MI for the Padres in the MWL.

Aaron Hicks OF MIN – 5 tool stud, first round draft pick. Still working on turning tools into skills, but his 50 walks in 277 AB is very impressive. On the flip side, his 79 K’s are atrocious. Still a ways off. But once he clicks, he’s going to roar up the charts. Still just 21.

Matt Davidson 3B ARI – Striking out way too much at 23.3% and not taking enough walks, but the power is there as we expected and he’s hitting well. .289/10/49. Just 19, still has plenty of time to learn the art of working his pitches. The power could be elite in time.

Didi Gregorius SS CIN – Best SS in the Reds system, should add more power as he fills out, so its a legit tool. Exciting player for Reds fans.

Angelo Songco OF LAD – Another Dodgers OF with power. .310/9/40 line. K/BB isn’t bad and as a lefty swing is conducive to HR power more than gap to gap line drives so IsoP will need to stand true at higher levels for him to reach ceiling.

Bo Greenwell OF CLE – 6’0 185 with speed and average power. Great on-base skills. Impressive .310 average with 32 walks in 248 MWL AB. Has moved to Carolina League and hitting .344 with 5 walks in 32 AB. Doesn’t have his father’s signature power but looks like a complete player with baseball in his bloodlines.

Justin Bour 1B CHC – Based on age and power game completed by his shear size of 6-4 and 250lbs I might not have taken notice. But he has a good control of the strikezone. 33 walks to 49 Ks so far. Lefty 1B. He’s a power prospect to keep an eye on. Guys with power and size who can work the zone can become very dangerous hitters. With that said he’s already 22 and pushing the MWL age limit for me as a hitter.

Hak-Ju Lee SS CHC – A Cubs SS prospect that many swoon over, but a lack of any significant power means that he’ll need to hit and work the zone to get on base and utilize his best tool. His speed. Already with 20+ SBs this season one can only imagine his ability if his OBP was higher than .335. He’s young and has room to grow and most think he’ll stick in the MI. I agree, but I’m not sure he’ll have the bat to become what we call fantasy baseball relevant while being a very capable real baseball player up the middle.

Tier Three

Niko Vazquez 3B STL – He’s showing excellent power and already made the jump to High A Palm Beach. But for someone who takes as many walks as he does, Vasquez, doesn’t turn his strikezone control into hitting ability. I’m perplexed by the power, elite walk rate and then he tacks on 71 strikeouts. It’s like Adam Dunn Light and Vasquez doesn’t have the body to be a Three Outcome Hitter. Something is going to have to give.

Jamie Johnson OF DET – Hitting at a .313 clip and walks more than he K’s. But power is limited and he doesn’t have the speed of a line drive on-base type. His swing is legit and he’ll continue to hit, but a lack of elite power or speed will relegate him to a 4th OF spot.

Khris Davis OF MIL – This is a nice power/speed combo getting at it with a .191 IsoP and 10 SB to go along with 12 HR and 18 2B. Currently hitting .300 and walking at a nice rate. Will need to mature as a hitter and bring the K rate down to utilize his power/speed tools. He’s old for the MWL so the tools he’s showing may be a mirage that will disappear in High A. Worth watching though.

Jean Segura 2B LAA – This is a kid I’m liking more and more. He’s not a secret in Angels circles but not a hyped prospect by any means. He’s a pure hitter and though not the biggest frame, he carries most of his weight in a powerful lower half and is a plus plus runner. He has 29 SB in 282 AB this year and has developing power that could be league average in time.

Anderson Hidalgo 3B MIN – On a current hit streak Hidalgo is up to .320 on the year and has 21 2B. Solid frame that says the Doubles will eventually carry over walls. Below average speed and needs to mature as a hitter and learn to take more walks.

Henry Rodriguez 2B CIN – Not really a big name in the Reds system, but Rodriguez is a switch hitter with some surprising power for a kid his size. Only 5-10 and 160lbs his .161 IsoP is backed up by his 23 2B and 7 HR so far. He’s also pretty speedy chipping in 14 SBs so far. at 20 years old and room to add weight he could turn into a nice power hitting MI with some speed. Interesting prospect.

Ryan Goins SS TOR – Hitting over .300 in his second go around of the MWL and showing nice power for a SS. Would need to improve his BB rate to really become a true prospect and is a little old for the MWL with his current skill set.

A.J. Jimenez C TOR – Hitting over .300 w/ 4 HR, 15 2B and 15 SB in 182 AB so far. He’s a 20 year old catcher and came into the year no better than 5th on the systems minor league depth chart at C. He’s opening eyes and might have moved himself up past Carlos Perez and right behind P.J. Arencibia. He has the perfect frame to stick behind the plate.

Tier Four (The Names Under Producing)

Edinson Rincon 3B SD – Rincon is one of the Padres breakouts from last season and he’s here more because of that status than his current season stats. He’s still flashing power with 6 HR and 22 2B but he’s not repeating his .300+ average from last year even though he’s striking out less. He isn’t as selective at the plate and his walks are down which is the main reason for the step back. The second half will be telling.

Everett Williams OF SD – One of the most talented and toolsy players in the Padres system, 2009 draftee Everett Williams will be a long term project it seems. I loved his tools going into the draft, loved the pick by the Padres and still think this is a special skill set long term. With that said, he’s hitting .245 though 229 AB. Ouch. He’s K’d 86 times in 229 AB. Very Ouch. But he’s flashing power with 18 2B, 2 3B and 2 HR. Only 4 SB doesn’t showcase his speed. Down a notch on the prospect ladder. But I still like him long term with an ETA of no earlier than 2013.

Rashun Dixon OF OAK – Don’t forget that Dixon was a top prospect in the Oakland system for a reason after being drafted in 2008. He’s got a big frame and can produce above average power. He still hasn’t refined the tools into skills though. He’s still a free swinger and pitchers already take advantage of that. But into his 3rd season and only 20 years old, sometimes toolsy players like Dixon, just find something that clicks and they start making more contact. He takes enough walks right now where he should be able to work into better counts and get better pitches to use his power.

That’s it for the Midwest League for now. Check back in a few days for Sally League. The South Atlantic League has some very interesting prospects working 2010. We’ll start with the Pitchers and then once again follow that up with the Hitters. We’re going to be going through every league as we Touch’em All. Check back soon.

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