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...plagiarizing a college paper...That one mistake probably cost him tens of thousands of dollars at least. Ouch.
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Bob Dutton's Twitter feed, which has stepped up its game since he retired (?!) directs us to Jim Callis, directing us to the scout's take on Eric Filia:
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Q: Is Eric Filia a serious prospect? He has mashed at every level but is "old" at 25.
A:
Filia currently leads the Arizona Fall League in hitting (.395) and on-base percentage (.481) after ranking third in the high Class A California League in batting (.326) and first in OBP (.407) during the regular season. He topped the Northwest League in both categories (.362, .450) and won the short-season circuit's MVP award in his 2016 pro debut after signing for $1,000 as a 20th-rounder from UCLA.
The Bruins' leading postseason hitter during their 2013 College World Series championship run, Filia missed all of the 2014 season after labrum surgery on his throwing shoulder and all of the '15 season after plagiarizing part of a paper for a philosophy class. That's why he was nearly 24 when he turned pro.
Filia is a prospect in the sense that his hitting ability should earn him a shot at the Majors. He has good feel for the barrel and easily makes line-drive contact from the left side of the plate. But Filia's ceiling is limited because he doesn't offer much in the way of power or speed, making it difficult to project him as a regular on an outfield corner.
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Dr. D had exactly no idea that Eric Filia had missed two (2) complete seasons, one with a labrum and one with a scholastic DQ. In this specific case you have a player who is NOT "old," not in any sense. We use age for hitters as a synonym for the underlying question of "pitch recognition," number of pitches processed. Filia is, in effect, about to BEGIN his age-23 season (since he turns 26 in July).
So:
- Starred as a UCLA player
- OBP'ed .455 as a short season A player (whattaya want, 1100)
- Hit .326 with a .407 OBP in high A, with gap power
- Starred in the AFL
From a performance standpoint, the only question left is --- > where you stand on Mark Grace types. Personally, Dr. D doesn't stand very convincedly. But slow players at 1B/RF with high OBP and modest power right now include
Joe Mauer (.305/.384/.417)
Chase Headley (.273/.352/.402)
Nick Markakis (.275/.354/.384) admittedly living off past exploits
Shin-Soo Choo (.261/.357/.423) see above
Seth Smith (.258/.340/.433)
A whole bunch of Carlos Santana, Matt Carpenter, John Jaso, David Peralta, Kole Calhoun types if you can get your SLG to .450
Not sure exactly what we bleacher bums were hoping for from Chris Snelling, exactly
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Whether you as a Denizen have a taste for such players is your own prerogative. Whether an MLB team will play you, given a .360 OBP, is not in question.
BABVA,
Dr D
Comments
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Thanks Doc.
I like the kid. Looks like he was born hitting line drives on 3-1 counts.
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...what I was expecting from Snelling was a career....shame about his injuries. Seriously though, Snelling just seemed like a ballplayer to me. From any era you choose, he would have fit.
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I feel the same today. Good encapsulation of the problem, Doc.
He's a really odd player in that he's built thick, with strong legs and a good swing. You'd think he'd hit for power but never has, ever. Not in college and not in the pros. Filia can go weeks without striking out, but he might go those same weeks without hitting more than maybe a double. Don't count on triples either - he's not a speedster and absolutely cannot play CF in the bigs.
So what is he? Tony Gwynn Lite w/ no steals? Don Mattingly Lite w/ no power? One-Legged-Ichiro?
He hits, and he's not a stick - nobody's knocking the bat out of his hands. He's a dirt dog and a baller, but it's really hard to run him out there on a corner when he's gonna give you single-digit HRs and few doubles, and isn't a defensive whiz either. But you'd think you can find a place for a guy who runs a 1.8:1 batting eye and a .335 / .420 average and OBP right now.
If we were a NL club there would be room for him. But he'll turn 26 next July and the clock is ticking. Is he better than Heredia, or Gamel, or Haniger? For my money it's no on the last one, but I'm a sucker for born hitters who can be even average defenders. Let him beat up AA with its better breaking pitches and if he's still a .330 / .420 man you've got to find a spot for him, right? It worked out for Seager with that quick jump to the bigs after little upper-minors experience. The Mariners are betting on the older minor league hitters making adjustments and so far it's been one of the few things that has worked out for them.
Filia might be the next. And I desperately want to see him get a bunch of time with Edgar, who had 140 points of power for his minor league career even when buoyed by a bunch of extra time in the upper minors while he was in a holding pattern.
There are worse career paths than Edgar Martinez Lite, especially if Filia can still play the field. Here's hoping he can blow the doors off in AA and get a real look (and I'm not just saying that because I'm scared to bet on Ben Gamel's luck repeating itself, I promise).
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+1
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seem to be reasonable sounding points on a guy like this. Edgar Martinez lite is good too, but thoughts of 'Gar always conjure images of effortless opposite field home runs. Seager obviously had a *little* bit more pop in the minors (low-minors ISO of ~.150 for Seager compared to Filia's ~.120) but Seager himself was billed as a HITter rather than a PWR guy all the way until he pretty well stunned everyone by turning into Eric Chavez II immediately upon arriving in the bigs.
Every team needs a #2 hitter who can spray the ball around and get on base. The positional puzzle is a bit tricky with a guy like Filia, but bats will find their way into the lineup.
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Here is G’s post-draft report from June of ‘16. You will find the Filia file down in Round 20. http://seattlesportsinsider.com/blogs/2016-draft-first-impressions
BTW all, what happened to David Greer in ‘17? He had a promising Everett season in ‘16, then off the radar in ‘17. Injury?
Joe Rizzo was an early round pick and was decent at A ball as a 19 year old last season.
But I digress.
Here is the initial AFL post that I did a month ago: http://seattlesportsinsider.com/blogs/arizona-bound
You can read about Filia there.
BTW, Art Warren was intriguing a month ago, he remains so today. Zero runs allowed in 8.1 innings, 3 hits, 6 K’s, 3BB’s. That’ll do, pig.
Bishop is at .297-.366-.351. DeCarlo is 1 for 13.