Watch List Infielders
More prospects to keep an eye on ...
The first Watch List (outfielders) can be found here, and now let's roll out the infielders:
Guys in red were at or younger than their "MLB Track" level (on track to reach AAA by age-23). Guys in black were older than "MLB Track" level (which does not rule them out, but makes their stats less interesting).
| Name | Age | Lvl | Age Arc | G | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | HR% | BB% | XBH + BB% | ISO | K% | PSA+ | Conv+ | Comp |
| Slugger > 4% | Goal > 8.5% | Goal > 19% | Goal > .200 | Goal < 20% | Strong Prospect > 100 | ||||||||||||
| Rayder Ascanio# | 18 | Rk,FRk | -1 | 56 | 192 | 0.238 | 0.346 | 0.294 | 0.639 | 0.00% | 13.54% | 18.23% | 0.056 | 25.52% | 79 | 35 | 14 |
| How do you get on the Watch List? Get the call to play in the U.S. as a teen, then put up a .360 OBP once you get there. And, of course, there's the opportunity for endless M*A*S*H references. SLG? Switch-hitting middle infielders don't need no stinking SLG ... | |||||||||||||||||
| Jordan Cowan* | 19 | A- | 0 | 63 | 245 | 0.231 | 0.295 | 0.282 | 0.578 | 0.41% | 7.76% | 11.02% | 0.051 | 14.69% | 70 | 51 | 21 |
| Local kid picked in the 37th round putting up very much non-eye-popping stats ... organizational filler, right? But the club has already pushed him from Arizona rookie ball to the Appalachian League to Everett at 19, and given him four outings as a pitcher. Interesting. And the Spectometer calls our eye to the micro-low K-rate, such that better fortune on balls-in-play (.272 BABIP) would have made his stats somewhat more intriguing. Also, for whatever reason, he was terrible at home but hit .316/.380/.388 on the road. | |||||||||||||||||
| Joe DeCarlo | 20 | A,A-,Rk | 0 | 84 | 330 | 0.247 | 0.353 | 0.380 | 0.733 | 1.52% | 11.21% | 19.09% | 0.133 | 26.97% | 73 | 58 | 31 |
| OK, yes, it does seem like he's been around forever, having been taken in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft -- before Chris Taylor, Dominic Leone, Patrick Kivlehan and a bunch of others still on the way up. And, yes, it does seem like he's been stuck in neutral with injuries and mediocre numbers keeping him from moving past Low-A. But there's promise in the doubles and walks, if he can ever get the K-rate under control. And he's still just 21 and from a northern climate, so maybe ... Here's video of one of those doubles. | |||||||||||||||||
| Rafael Fernandez# | 20 | Rk | 1 | 38 | 166 | 0.289 | 0.406 | 0.320 | 0.727 | 0.00% | 13.86% | 16.27% | 0.031 | 10.84% | 120 | 54 | 74 |
| Usually the promising Latin American guys come to the U.S. by 18 or so, but Fernandez played his entire age-17, -18 and -19 seasons in Venezuela before finally coming north at 20. So that weighs against him. But the massive BB-rate and tiny K-rate weigh in his favor. The .406 OBP includes a .330 BABIP, but here is a guy who seems to happily play the slap-it-around game -- the available evidence indicates he hardly ever hits fly balls. That means the micro-ISO is likely to stay, but it's hard to fault a guy for only being interested in first base if he reaches it safely 40% of the time. | |||||||||||||||||
| Martin Peguero | 20 | A | 0 | 80 | 288 | 0.263 | 0.287 | 0.341 | 0.628 | 0.69% | 2.78% | 8.68% | 0.078 | 14.58% | 42 | 59 | 1 |
| Yes, he's been around even longer than DeCarlo. His unusual revoked-bonus signing in 2011 was part of the unraveling of the Bob Engle era of international scouting for the M's, and that mystery still has not been fully explained (though the indications are that scouts were artificially pumping up the value of prospects and then getting a cut of the bonus as a kickback -- not that that necessarily happened with Peguero). Anyway, they still thought enough of him to place him at Clinton at 20, and clearly he was not completely lost since he put up a very low K-rate. But he also played mostly at third, and that won't work with walks and XBH both being too scarce to mention. He did get a double in this highlight, though. | |||||||||||||||||
| Gianfranco Wawoe# | 19 | Rk | 0 | 56 | 218 | 0.275 | 0.315 | 0.360 | 0.675 | 0.92% | 5.05% | 10.55% | 0.085 | 13.76% | 61 | 64 | 24 |
| The Curacao native (like Japanese HR champ and former Mariner Wladimir Balentien) put up very strong numbers in Venezuela in 2013 (29 XBH, 33 BB and 21 SB in 68 G), so I was very interested to see what he'd do in the U.S. The doubles didn't make it north, nor did all of the walks. But it wasn't bad for a teenager getting his first taste of U.S. play. Plus, he's a switch-hitting middle infielder with some speed. | |||||||||||||||||
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