Tom Brennan - Majoring on the Minors: Top 30 Prospects - #16 Jayce Boyd

MAJORING ON THE MINORS: TOP 30 PROSPECTS – #16 JAYCE BOYD - VOL.15 – Tom Brennan

I’m doing my Top 30 Prospects articles a bit differently – in 2 lists:

·       A top 10 list of lower minors guys who likely won’t show up until 2017 or later.  See list at end of this article. 

·       Followed by my top 20 list of guys who are closing in on the big leagues.  Guys who could help in the near future or be trade bait. 

Here is the list so far:

20.   Daniel Muno

19.   Michael Fulmer

18.   Miller Diaz

17.   Dario Alvarez

Today, selection #16:

JAYCE BOYD

Always been a big Jayce Boyd fan since the 6’3” 190 righty 1B was selected in the 6^th round in 2012. 

The knock on him at the time was lack of 1B power. 

And no speed – well, 5 of 13 career steals is all you need to know there. 

In his first full season in Savannah, tearing it up was putting it mildly.  He hit .361 there in 65 games, with a .441 on base %, .494 slug, and a K every 9 times up.  Promoted to St Lucie, he starts out like a ball of fire in his first 10 games, with 18 hits in his first 43 at bats.  Stunning. Olerud-like.

But he is a Met product, so we can’t have that level of sustained excellence without an injury, of course.  So he gets hurt and exclusively DHs thereafter because he can’t throw. 

In the 2013 offseason, he gets major thoracic surgery, which required removal of a rib – ouch – and altered his throwing style (and ability?) in 2014, in which he did play 1B in 73 of his 114 games, all in AA.

Hitting-wise, he falters out of the gate in 2014, most likely still recovering from the surgery. 

The good news in his .293 season is that from July 1 on, he hit a sizzling .354, with 16 extra base hits in 175 official at bats.  And a .450 on base % and .525 slug in that period.

So I’d say he’s back, hopefully 100%, with the bat.

I am going out on a big limb here in 2015 for Jayce.  I think as a healthy 24 year old, he starts at 1B in Vegas and goes .340/.440/.500. 

I frankly hope that is conservative.  Then what to do with him, if Duda is still excelling, becomes a nice problem to have.

I only put him at #16 because of the 2013 injury.  But the last few months of 2014 showed that may be a non-factor.  He could delight to the upside in 2015 and prove a #16 ranking is way too low. 

What do you think, folks?

MY TOP 10 LOWER MINORS LIST:

# 1 - Marcos Molina

#2 – Michael Conforto

#3 – Amed Rosario

#4 – Dominic Smith

#5 - Jhoan Urena

#6 – Vicente Lupo

#7 – Wuilmer Becerra

#8 – Luis Guillorme

#9 - Casey Meisner

#10 - Milton Ramos