Good
Morning.
My
2017 Binghamton outfield –
Good
Morning.
My
2017 Binghamton outfield –
OF
– Kevin Kaczmarski - ‘Kaz’ had a killer season in 2015 for
Kingsport (256-AB, .355, .9270OPS), but has cooled off since then. He had 4 HRs
for K-Port that season and I expected a lot more power as his minor league
continued; however, he did hit a combined .280/.360/.413/.773 in 414-AB last
season for Columbia and St. Lucie. He is one of the guys that I will fast track
and open him up this spring in the frigid New York State.
OF
– Champ Stuart – I really don’t understand the
whole fascination with Stuart. Sure, he’s the fastest player in the
organization, but he hit .176 in 2015 for St. Lucie and .201 last season for
Binghamton. He was only a 6th round draft pick in 2013 and he had 6
errors last year playing center. I just don’t see why he earned a slot in the
Arizona Fall League, but, of course, they invited Tim Tebow too. Last chance
Champ. Last chance.
OF
– Wuilmer Beccera – This is probably the season
that the Mets are going to have to put a glove on the hand of Beccera every
night to see if we really have a genuine National League prospect here. The
22-year old fell just short of the amount of at-bats to qualify for the 2nd
highest batting average (behind C Tomas Nido) in
the league. His professional defensive stats look good: 101-G, 167-PO, 4-A,
5-E, .972. The problem is he has played an additional 203 games without a glove
on his hand. I consider Beccera my 3rd top prospect in the pipeline
and he’ll be in the outfield in every game he plays.
UT/OF
– Patrick Biondi – Biondi is a no power 2013 9th
round pick out of Michigan who had a nice year in 2015 for Savannah (.277), but
hasn’t impressed anywhere else. He plays all three outfield positions which
makes him a great utility outfielder for my team.
UT/OF
– John Mora – More just misses as a starter in
Binghamton. The kid from the Dominican with the American name had a marginal
year for St. Lucie last season (.246). Like Biondi, he plays all three outfield
positions.
Putting them in what I think is the order of their ceilings:
ReplyDeleteWuilmer Becerra started out a house on fire last year, then played hurt. Hoping for health and big things from him in 2017
Kevin Kaczmarski - he, unlike Becerra, started quite poorly last year. But hit .301/.383/.405 in 42 games after his ascension to St Lucie. Only 2 homers last year - that has gotta change. A lot. But good contact and seems to have average to above average speed.
Those are my two future big leaguers. The other 3 I don't think so, but prove me wrong.
Pat Biondi - solid hitter, and fine speed, but man, guys with no power in the outfield have some uphill climb. Maybe he becomes a Ty Kelly?
Champ Stuart - strikes out faster than he runs, which is hard to do - and the pitchers in the bigs are a whole lot better at striking people out than the guys he's facing. A real long shot unless the K's dramatically (drastically) improve. Break out some Matty Alou tapes and change your game.
John Mora - A very decent player, but his numbers suggest he'll run out of steam as he continues to climb the ladder.
Very disappointed in the collective lack of power in these guys - I hope Becerra and KK prove me wrong in 2017.
Becca may be the only MLB player here... I don't have faith in any of these other guys...
ReplyDeleteHoping we address C or OF in this draft...
Eddie, I think in Kaczmarski, we may have a clone of Brandon Nimmo. He jumped pretty far in little over a year - we'll see if my theory holds up on KK in 2017. Kevin, if you are reading this, at least 10 homers this year, buddy.
ReplyDeleteOn my critique of low power prospects (and I understand the emphasis on getting these guys to learn to make consistent hard contact), 48 major league outfielders had 13 or more HRs last year, and 36 had slugging % at .417 or higher. That's a lot of slots filled by high extra base hit types. it shows the importance of power in the bigs.
ReplyDeleteThomas I hope your right about Kaczmarski...that would be a very good result based on where we drafted him... Sad comparison if your Nimmo since he was a 1st Round pick... Not his fault that we blew that pick...
ReplyDeleteEddie, if Nimmo were not a Meet, I would not trade for him, but maybe he'll surprise us in 2017.
ReplyDeleteEddie, if Nimmo were not a Meet, I would not trade for him, but maybe he'll surprise us in 2017.
ReplyDeleteBecerra gets a Ton of respect based on his "participation" in a Big Trade---a Brown Bag "bonus-Surprise Gift" included with d'Arnaud and Thor. Meanwhile, he's 22 with COMPETITIVE production in A ands A+..... as a Comp, Nimmo did a .906 ops as a 21 year old at St. Lucie---Wuilmer OPS'd .734 with No Walks, No Power, and a 20% Strikeout rate.
ReplyDeleteBecerra is a Rorschach...everyone sees what they want to see, and everyone likes a Surprise Gift!!! ... btw... obviously, few have actually SEEN him. Maybe he's the Outfield Version of Sid Fynch...or maybe he's a player.