1/12/13

John Sickels - San Diego Padres Top 20 Prospects for 2013



1) Austin Hedges, C, Grade B+: Outstanding reviews for his defense in Low-A, and he showed a lot more power than expected. Catchers have unusual development curves sometimes so it will be interesting to see how this works out at higher levels, but he's emerged as one of the top backstop prospects in the game.

2) Jedd Gyorko, 3B-2B, Grade B+: Ready for the majors now, so a fantasy owner in many cases should rank him ahead of Hedges. His bat is legit, maybe not a 30-homer guy but double-digits certainly with a good batting average and OBP. Blocked at third base. Although scouting reports about his glove at second are unenthusiastic, his defensive statistics at second are actually very strong, albeit in a small sample. Make of that what you will.

3) Rymer Liriano, OF, Grade B+: Borderline B. Extremely impressive to see in person, the tools really stand out and sometimes he shows the skills to make them work. Given his age, I will continue to cut him some slack, but he does carry risk.

4) Casey Kelly, RHP, Grade B: Borderline B+. I have really struggled with this one. He was very impressive this year but the elbow thing worries me enough to make me hesitate about putting a + on there, plus I still see him as more of a 3/good 4 than a true anchor or ace.

5) Robbie Erlin, LHP, Grade B: Borderline B+. Like Kelly, he pitched great but had an elbow problem that makes me hesitate a bit. I expect both of these guys will be valuable mid-rotation starters and are ready for full trials now.

for the rest of the list... http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/1/9/3856360/san-diego-padres-top-20-prospects-for-2013

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