Mack - 2015 Prospect List - #19 - 3B – Jhoan Urena

My rankings is solely subjective and based on nothing more than what is in my head at time I’m writing this. I’ve followed the Mets minor league players for many years and I feel I can recognize talent at various levels of their development. What I have failed at is how to determine when this talent seems to diminish. It’s amazing how many first round picks never make it in this game.

I’m old school, so you won’t seem much SABR-discussion here, I do research and, when I find a good quote or two, I’ll add them to my analysis, but, like I said in the beginning of this post, most of this us subjective.

Let’s get started

#19 – 3B Jhoan Urena – 20-years old – IGA signee 2011 –

            6-1, 200 – S/R – Santiago, Dominican Republic

            2012 – DSL -  262-AB, .279/.330/.405/734, 4-HR, 34-RBI

            2013 – GCL – 157-AB, .299/.351/.376/727, 0-HR, 20-RBI

            2014 – Bklyn – 283-AB, .300/.356/.431/787, 5-HR, 47-RBI

Urena was an unheralded international signee in 2011 ($425K) and I’m not sure anyone expected much here. Most Mets pundits at the time thought the bonus was a little high, but it seemed like all the Mets ever did was sign middle infielders in the International signing period and you have to someday start thinking about replacing David Wright.

Still, there really wasn’t enough power here and his defense was average at best. When you consider that only 30 people are ever going to be third base starters in a given season, no one wrote this guy’s name down.

With that in mind, he has impressed. After an impressive beginning in the DSL system, Urena has actually hit a combined .300+ for GSL/Brooklyn these past two seasons. He also has improved his slugging percentage (.376 to .431).

17 errors in 2014 for Brooklyn and an identical 17 in 2013 for the GCL Mets, and in 2012 for DSL.

Outlook –

Like many of the other prospects on this list, he’s still young enough to project. I think his bat will improve, especially when it comes to power, which seemed to be lacking due to lack of confidence.

The problem I have with Urena is the same most scouts have and that’s where to play him. He’s very heavy bodied and lacks fluidity in the field. And that’s at 19-years old.

Still, I see Urena as a top 25 prospect that will probably be traded off someday to an American League team. 

If his power continues to improve. 2015 should bring a jump to Savannah which is someplace he will not enjoy, but we’ll see.