Monday, January 18, 2016

DrB's 2016 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #26 Hunter Cole

Hunter Cole, OF.  B-R, T-R.  DOB:  10/3/1992.  6'1", 195 lbs.

Low A:  .275/.370/.425, 10.9 BB%, 26.1 K%, 46 PA.
A+:  .313/.373/.493, 6 HR, 4 SB, 7.8 BB%, 17.1 K%, 245 PA.
AA:  .292/.338/.464, 3 HR, 1 SB, 6.7 BB%, 22.1 K%, 208 PA.

I'm guessing some of you are going to jump on me for ranking Hunter Cole this low, and I acknowledge I may be, in fact, ranking him too low here.   I actually like Hunter Cole a lot.  There are two ways of looking at this ranking:  1. Oh boy!  I don't think Cole is that great of a prospect.  2.  Man, the Giants have a DEEP system!  I prefer to look at it the second way.  Hopefully you will agree after you see some of the names ranked behind him.  Things that may have made me rank him lower than, say, the Tools Triumvirate is he does not play an up-the-middle position, or he lacks some of their tools.  The obvious comp is Austin Slater, but Slater has expanded his defensive repertoire to include 2B which in my mind gives him a leg up.

Cole has shown an interesting bat, but may not ultimately have quite enough power speed or contact to make is as a corner OF, which is where he seems stuck for the time being.  I see him as most likely a 4'th OF/bat off the bench type player with an ETA of 2017 or 2018.

2 comments:

  1. Hunter cole has spent some time in the infield too.
    In my eyes they are indistinguishable from each other, and look like guys who will hit enough to stay interesting as AAA depth.

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    1. 10 games in Augusta and 15 on San Jose. It looks like Cole and Slater are moving in opposite directions in terms of position versatility.

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