Jalen Miller, 2B. DOB: 12/19/1996. B-R, T-R. 5'11", 175 lbs. Drafted in 2015 Round 3 HS.
2015 R: .218/.292/.259, 5 2B, 3B, 0 HR, 11 SB, 8.6 BB%, 21.3 K%, 197 PA.
2016 A: .223/.271/.322, 20 2B, 5 3B, 5 HR, 11 SB, 5.2 BB%, 21.4 K%, 500 PA.
What you think if Jalen Miller as a prospect probably depends on whether you are someone who focuses on deficiencies and what a player can't or doesn't do, or whether you are someone who focuses on what they can do or have done well. Glass half empty or half full? Take one look at those BA's and OBP's and you might just stop there and say he's not a prospect. If you dig a bit deeper, though, you might find some things to like and maybe even dream on: 1. Augusta was an aggressive assignment for a 19 yo less than a full year out of HS, especially considering his struggles in Rookie ball. 2. Augusta is an extreme pitcher-friendly environment especially in suppressing power. 3. Miller did complete the full season with Augusta, more than can be said for several other prospects at the same stage in their career, including Christian Arroyo. 4. The 30 XBH's is actually impressive and shows he was able to at times hit the ball with authority. The 20 2B was #2 on the team and the 5 3B was tied for #1.
Miller is a solidly built, athlete with some room for added strength. He has an average arm and average speed which probably precludes him from playing SS or CF at the MLB level, but his "fast-twitch" athleticism plays well at the Keystone Bag and should allow him to become a plus defender at the position. I have read positive reports of eyewitnesses to his Instructional League work this fall. He could probably benefit from another season in Augusta where he would still be a full year younger than the average player in the league. The Giants do not have any obvious options for 2B in SJ and they also need to find a full season spot for Kevin Rivera, so I would not be shocked if the Giants challenge Miller with an assignment to San Jose, especially if they like what they see in Instructionals and Spring Training. I am personally bullish on Jalen Miller and think there is a breakout in his future, possibly as early as 2017!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What I think is that he's 19 and a year out of HS. Way to early to have any solid opinion about his future though I like his tools and he's reputed to have good defensive chops. AT this point, AA is about where I start to look hard at prospects and form (mostly internal) opinions about where I think their future lies since the bulk of the 'never will bes' will have been sorted out in the three 'A-level' leagues.
ReplyDeleteIf you go no lower than AA, you are missing out on about 5/7's of the prospects. You can have top tier prospects at any age, any level. While nobody is perfect at predicting these things, you can beat the odds by a considerable margin if you know what to look for.
DeleteThe average speed kind of surprises me.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I imagined him to be a speed demon, plus I remember a while back some talk of him being able to move to cf someday.
I most recently remember him being described as only having above average speed.
Wendell Fairley had tempered my expectations of hs draftees, so 25 is a good spot for a touted athlete yet to post a 600 ops.
Toolsy HS prospects are a high risk lot. For every Andrew McCutchen or Mike Trout, there are 10 Wendell Fairleys. Still, McCutchen and Trout are why teams still draft them.
DeleteQuestion:
ReplyDeleteWhere would folks have ranked Lucious Fox in the top 50, were he still with the team? That would have been a really great read from you on his prospects going forward, considering the mixed year he had, very similar to the way I personally feel about Jalen: I'll wait to see what he does when he's age-appropriate in low-A Augusta or A+.
I really like both players but trading high on Fox and betting on the reward of Moore over the risk of a 5-year development on Fox was a great gamble that I was high on since day 1. I think Jalen was showing to be the better game-day player than Fox, where the tools were actually showing up in the stat lines.
I would still put Fox in the top 10. 1. He was playing in his age 18 season with no prior pro experience. 2. The Giants had him playing SS over Miller. 3. He has significantly more speed than Miller and could cover CF if he had to move off SS.
DeleteThat sounds about right, either right before or right after Sandro Fabian. However, from last year's showing, I get the feeling that Jalen has the better hit tool. We'll see if Fox can bring it along (I plan to follow his progression with the Rays) along the line, and to boot his propensity for errors wasn't a death kits, but it certainly adds big time to his development risk.
Delete