Saturday, October 26, 2013

Down on the Farm: Review of DrB's 2013 Giants Top 50 Prospects- Dominican Dandies

Hengerber Medina, SS:  DSL  .162/.279/.196, 7 SB.  Disastrous season for a kid who seemed to have a lot of promise in 2012.  What happened?  Stock is way down.

Royel Astacio, 3B/1B:  DSL  .184/.350/.284.  Another disappointing season from a guy who looked promising.  Best you can say is he can draw a walk.  Stock is down.

Carlos Valdez, OF:  DSL .273/.377/.447, 5 HR, 20 BB, 22 K in 132 AB.  Not a bad line there.  Hit .316 post AS break.  Is this good enough for a promotion to Arizona?  Stock is slightly up.

Anthony Gomez, 3B:  DSL  .154/.327/205 in 39 AB.  Must have been some injury issues here.  Doesn't turn 19 yo until November so has time.  Stock is down.

Kleiber Rivas, C:  DSL  .250/.358/.371, 2 HR, 19 BB, 15 K in 116 AB.  Decent season with a terrific K/BB.  LH hitting catchers always have a leg up on the competition. Stock is stable.

Carlos Diaz, LHP:  AZL  2-3, 4.99, 39.2 IP, 21 BB, 51 K, GO/AO= 1.44.  Held his own with a nice K/9 in a hitter's league.  Needs to get the BB's down.  Stock is stable.

Keury Mella, RHP:  AZL 3-2, 2.25, 36 IP, 11 BB, 41 K, GO/AO= 2.39.  Hard throwing RHP.  Very nice stateside debut.  Video from instructional league is amazing.    Stock is way, way up!  Might be the #2 pitching prospect in the organization and possible top 10 overall prospect, maybe even top 5!

Alejandro Flores, RHP:  AZL  1-1, 7.16, 16.1 IP, 9 BB, 11 K.  Disappointing stateside debut. Stock is down.

Diomedes Mateo, LHP:  DNP.  Not sure what happened here.  He's an older prospect who ran into identity issues. stock is way down.

Shawn Gomez, RHP:  DSL  7-0, 2.76, 42.1 IP, 15 BB, 27 K.  Love his size at 6'4", 180 lbs.  Nice 18 yo season.  Low K rate with flyball tendency does not bode well.  Stock is stable.

Angel Villalona, 1B:  High A  .229/.278/.433, 14 HR, 15 BB, 76 K in 284 AB.  AA  .235/.273/.413, 8 HR, 8 BB, 60 K in 196 AB.  AFL  .258/.324/.323, 3 BB, 13 K in 31 AB.  Hit the ball HARD when he makes contact.  Still strikes out a frightful rate.  Big kid with a bat that has a chance to be special.  Still a high risk to be a complete bust.  Stock is way up now that legal troubles are behind him.

9 comments:

  1. My brother-in-law was the pitching coach for the SJ Giants last year. We spoke before he headed to SJ and he said he didn't know what to expect from Villalona. Well, he was quickly converted. First, he said Villalona is a great kid. A little quiet, but able to laugh at himself. A good teammate. Second, he said Villalona is a way above average athlete, and very willing to work. Held back a bit by his weight, but a very good athlete. He regularly took ground balls at 3B, and did not embarrass himself. Angel is not going to be a defensive liability at 1B. Finally, the power is absolutely legit. Villalona may never put it all together. But, if he does, the Giants could have a monster on their hands.

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    1. Well, that is a much more knowledgeable source than me, but based on my observations of him in several games this season, I say Villalona's bat indeed has a chance to be special. He just needs to be able to make contact on a more regular basis.

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    2. Is there any reason why the Giants don't give Angel at least some playing time at third base? Afterall, they seem to have no qualm about putting Pill and JCP in the infield to expand their versatility?

      Anon #1

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    3. i heard the sound that the ball makes as it leaves his bat...there is something there

      and hey, matty is the new skip of the nats

      giants rule

      bacci

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    4. I won't deny Angel V's athleticism. He does move pretty well for a big guy. On the other hand, after seeing him play in the field, it's pretty hard to imagine him playing any other position but 1B at the MLB level. There is really no comparison between him and Pill/JCP.

      Bacci,

      I remember you commenting on how hard Angel V hits the ball after you saw him play.

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  2. I really appreciated that you did a Dominican Dandies list and think this past season list showed how hard it is to judge the DSL. I think that I am ready to remove some guys off the Dominican Dandies list for next year mostly due to age and/or ineffectiveness. I only consider these guys to be prospects based primarily on these 3 criteria: their age (younger than 20), they play 2 seasons or less in the DSL and if their repeat trip to the DSL is more successful than their initial go round. The stats that I highlight for when evaluating hitters are in order of importance, SLG, BA then at least 1 HR hit. I don't put a lot of importance in OPS because the OBP component seems to be too skewed because of wild young pitchers learning to pitch. For pitchers I look at K/9, WHIP, and BB/9. I think that these guys should be striking guys out and no allowing many hits or walks.

    7 Hitters I think need to be on next years list: Carlos Valdez, Jean Angomas, Klieber Rivas, Gustavo Cabrera, Robinson Medrano, Nathaniel Javier, Marco Guzman.
    7 Pitchers I think need to be on next years list: Jose Morel, Luis Castillo, Michael Santos, Raffi Vizcaino, Jonathan Loaisiga, Cesar Yanez and Reymi Rodriguez.

    Nice blog DrB

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    1. I pretty much agree with that except for a few tweaks. Age vs level is probably more important in the DSL than any other level. I look at BA first at the lower levels. If the kid doesn't hit for average at the lowest levels, it's only going to get worse as he works his way up. Power can develop but BA usually gets set pretty early in a career. I also look for signs of progress as the season progresses, such as we saw from Gustavo Cabrera.

      Cabrera will quite clearly be a top 10 overall Giants prospect, so he'll be in the regular Top 50 list instead of a Dominican Dandy. I'm on fence about Javier, Angomas and Medrano. I'll have to look at them more closely before I make my list.

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  3. With the PED hit that Javier took, what are the odds the Giants just cut bait on him?

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    1. I don't know. If they didn't cut bait on Angel V, then I doubt they do it on Javier either. Then again, I guess they did TRY to cut bait on Angel V and he sued them. They took him back to settle the suit.

      If I had to guess, I'd say Javier is back after serving his 50 game suspension.

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