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.
# 31 –
3B Eudor Garcia - age: 20, 5-11, 215, Drafted in 4th
round of 2014 draft
El
Paso Community College –
2014
– K-Port: 202-AB, .262/.327/.347/647, 2-HR, 28-RBI
Garcia is
one of those draft picks that you have to rely on the experts that follow these
kids all year long. We’re used to the household names. Eudor Garcia-Pacheco
isn’t one of them.
The first
thing I noticed on draft day was the fact that Baseball America had him ranked
at the #160 slot, and then, well respected John Manual tweeted
“love the Eudor Garcia to Mets. One of the best hitters in the draft. Where he
plays defensively, we’ll see. But the dude rakes.’
His stat
line in 2013 was: .410/.469/.633, 207-PA, 9-HR, 49-RBI
2014:
.460/.512/.873, 14-HR, 63-RBI, 213-PA
We know that
the Mets went into the 2014 draft looking for hitters and, even though Garcia
only played Community College, they might have found one. .262 is a very
respectable batting average for the first year of ‘the grind’, especially a
20-year old.
Projection –
It will interesting to see what decisions the Mets make about third base and
Savannah in 2015. It’s really crowded with prospect Jhoan
Urena, Alvin Maracaro, Jean Rodriguez, Garcia, and Gregory
Valencia.
But… second
base only has William Fulmer to play there.
This could
be a good time to begin a transition to a middle infielder.
9 comments:
I don't know that much about this kid, but remember reading many reports that said he can flat out HIT.
Hopefully he can handle the footwork for 2b - I do recall reading that he may be bound the 3b due to a lack of quickness, etc.
Time will tell - but, man, that bat looks promising
That's what I want most going forward...hitters that can hit. May he be one of them, Lew.
This organization has lost a lot more games in its history than it's won. Key reason: below average hitting.
Having a guy who can rake is the right tool for fall baseball too.
I remember one scout saying that there was a distinctive sound when the ball came off his bat.
He will have to move a little quicker than the guppies around him, but this is a real dark horse candidate for Queens someday.
Garcia has a Panda Sandoval Body--- and Urena is similar---these don;t seem to be Mid Infielders.
If I remember most of these lower leagues have DH...so the bats can keep moving and alternating to defensive positions on diferent days.
I had done a piece about him earlier in the year which included an interview with his college coach who called him the best pure hitter he'd ever seen -- referred to him posting "Nintendo" numbers and was afraid that pitchers would start walking him rather than face him.
Reese -
The Mets have a nice bunch of guppy infielders... Guillorme, Garcia, Rosario, Reyes, Ramos, Urena... one of which should someday become a talented starter on this team
You'd hope that one day at least one of these guppies will become their next David Wright. Cause even David Wright isn't David Wright anymore.
I remember reading that he may need to move to 1b so I don't think he could handle 2b. That said the fitness camp the Mets have does seem to work wonders for quickness so it's not impossible
Jacob -
I remember being in camp around 5-6 years ago and one of the Mets camp coaches was standing around shooting the crap with me.
I asked him about somebody and what position he thought he would wind up at. I don't remember who I was talking about but it was a young one at around the GCL level.
The coach told me that thy really don't spend much time on trying to figure out the best position for him until around two years down the road. He said high school kids at this level have so much to learn about the game, especially hitting, that the Mets just plant them where they played last and begin the process of breaking them down and teaching them 'the game'.
I also remember the standard speed all the players get when they get to K-Port..."welcome... you will now begin to learn the game of... baseball".
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