Reese Kaplan -- All That Glitters is Not Necessarily Gold

 

As we enter Week 2 of Spring Training baseball, the position players not already there in Port St. Lucie will make their way south to join the pitching and catching brethren already sweating in the Florida sun.  In all positions in baseball there’s a seemingly never ending reservoir of hope for success and dominance, probably nothing is as exciting and frustrating as the result of the productivity or lack thereof by the guys who swing the bats, run the bases and play their version of defense against batted balls. 

Growing up we all homed in on some prospect or recent acquisition, convinced down to our very core that this person was the answer to what ailed the team by the various under performers who manned the position in the recent past.  How many times have we seen that haloed prospect flail helplessly at the breaking ball, get caught in an obvious rundown instead of breaking full speed for the next base, or not know which way to break most effectively to field a batted ball?  Then there are the myriad of strategic and throwing miscues that make us collectively scratch our heads and wonder how we could possibly have been so wrong.

There are a great many players who flourished in the minors who never quite amounted to what we had expected when they entered the major league ranks.  A quick example that comes to mind was the Pacific Coast League darling, Eric Campbell.  In Las Vegas he was a machine, hitting even better than he had in the lower minors.  During his ascent from 2007 until 2014, he turned in batting averages at various levels that included .306, .297, .314, .355, .363 and .301.  It would be reasonable to assume (even allowing for him being slightly older than his minor league teammates) that he should be productive in the big leagues at a similar level.  Unfortunately during his three year sample as part of the Mets he finished with a .221 average with 7 HRs and 44 RBIs to go along with 9 SBs. 

Others who had great potential were unfortunately unable to recover from injuries that derailed their professional careers.  We all remember a number one draft pick with a great name, Reese Havens, who was never able to ascend up the ladder.  He hit .312, .288 and .289 over three consecutive seasons, but the myriad of health problems kept him from achieving what they’d hoped when they drafted him. 

Of course, it doesn’t take long to go through a long laundry list of players who were hyped to be the next big thing who never could seem to put it all together.  Remember F-Mart, Fernando Martinez?  He finished his big league career with a .202 batting average.

So the Saturday morning question to all of you is who do you remember with great expectations that never panned out as you had hoped?  The corresponding question is who is in the pipeline now that falls into that optimistic category when you consider what he’s capable of doing?