Email Subscription

Prospect Central - August 26, 2007

August 26, 2007 | article by Lou Blasi in Player Commentary (1654)

(Editors note: This is a partial preview of Insiderbaseball.com's Prospect Central, emailed to our memebers each week. Not a member yet? Go to Insiderbaseball.com today and join! And tis the season, so make sure you visit Insiderfootball.com before your fanatsy draft. You will be glad you did!)

Troy Patton – Astros
Starter – Throws Left – 6-1, 185 – 9/3/1985

The Astros debuted one of their top pitching prospects last night against the Pirates. Troy Patton went 5.1 IP allowing the Bucs 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. All three runs came on homers by Jose Bautista who got to Patton twice.

Troy is the entire package. He is a gifted left-handed pitcher with a bulldog mentally and a baseball IQ. The fact that he is left-handed is of course valuable, especially when you appreciate that he is a left-hander with velocity and scary good life. But he is also tough on right-handers as that life on his fastball tends to bore in on RHHs.

This year in AAA Troy held hitters to a .246 OBA with LHHs hitting .220 while RHHH hit .254. But RHHs slugged just .362 off of him while LHH slugged .439. His splits were not as impressive in AA this year (.173/.245 OBA/SLG vs. RHH, .283/.445 vs. RHH) but it looks like he may have found some things at Dell Diamond.

Troy throws in the low-to-mid 90s and backs his fastball with a strong change with good fading action. That also helps him deal with RHHs. Patton’s change has good downward action but he often telegraphs it with a different arm angle than the rest of his offerings.

Troy is sound mechanically and he repeats most deliveries well. His “bulldog” side can lead to stubbornness at times and he will often stick to what he wants to do when he can get a hitter out easier by doing what the batter doesn’t want to do.

Troy has #2 starter potential and he is ready to start in the big leagues. Although last night’s start could very well be a one-off, Troy will be part of the September picture in Houston.

Long Term Fantasy Grade - B

Seas Lvl   W L   ERA    IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9   AVG WHIP
2006 A+    7 7 2.93 101.1 9.1 3.3 0.4 .244 1.27
2006 AA    2 5 4.37 45.1 7.4 2.6 1.2 .273 1.35
2007 AA    6 6 2.99 102.1 6.0 2.9 0.9 .250 1.26
2007 AAA   4 2 4.59 49.0 4.6 2.0 0.9 .242 1.12

Franklin Morales – Rockies
Starter – Throws Left – 6-3, 180 – 1/24/86

Franklin has been a bit of a mixed bag in two MLB starts since being purchased last weekend. He was very good in his MLB debut holding the Dodgers to 1 run in 5.1 IP on 5 hits without a walk. In his second start however he walked 5 in 4 IP and allowed 7 hits and 4 runs … Ahhh … young pitchers …

Consistently throwing strikes has been a major issue for Franklin as you can see in his stat block. Consistency is an issue all around. Franklin can’t even maintain a consistent height, having grown three inches since entering the Rockies system.

His potential is undeniable though. Franklin is the holy grail of pitching development, a power lefty. And he isn’t a power pitcher by lefty standards, he is a true power pitcher. His fastball cruises in the mid-90s, his curve has great teeth, and his change is coming along.

He needs to button down his mechanics but Morales’ body is still changing so much that is may be hard to finalize a delivery. Franklin still has some composure issues to deal with as well. If his change comes in and he develops some control, it is easy to see Franklin sitting at the top of a rotation.

Morales has a very high ceiling and if his control issues are truly mechanical in nature it is an easier fix than trying to install the skill from scratch . Franklin’s 2007 value will be limited by his inconsistency, and if untamed his inconsistency will limit his overall value as well. Nevertheless, if he can learn how to repeat a delivery, Morales can become a high-impact fantasy starter.

Long term Fantasy Grade - A

Seas Lvl   W L   ERA    IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9   AVG WHIP
2006 A+   10 9 3.68 154.0 10.5 5.2 0.5 .225 1.40
2007 AA    3 4 3.48 95.2 7.2 4.2 0.8 .222 1.28
2007 AAA   2 0 3.71 17.0 8.5 6.9 0.5 .294 1.94
2007 MLB   0 1 4.82   9.1 5.7 4.8 1.0 .313 0.02

Chris Marrero – Nationals
Starter – Bats Right – 6-3, 210 – 7/21/1988

Say hello to a member of Baseball

America

’s 2008 Top 100 prospects.

Already the considered the top prep position player available, the 15^th overall pick in the 2006 draft wowed the Nationals brass with a BP fireworks show in a workout at RFK stadium and Jim Bowden had found his … well … kid.

Chris has plus raw power and launches the ball to all fields. He has a quick and to-the-point swing and quiet hands. Considering he has just turned 19, Chris has decent zone command although we would like to see him making a quicker adjustment at High A.

Chris plays a serviceable outfield after converting from third base, which was his high school position. He has a very strong arm and seems to have a good feels for routes.

Marrero has a slugger’s K rate but he will take a walk. Chris’ limiting factor will be his zone command and it is too early to make any lasting judgments. His stock as a prospect will take off once he starts to bring pitcher to him and starts driving the ball all of over the joint as a result.

Chris looks like a future middle-of-the-order stud and by the end of 2008 he will be on everyone’s radar.

Long Term Fantasy Grade - A

Seas Lvl AB XBH HR SB   AVG   BB%     K%   SLG   OPS
2006 R    81   9   0   0 .309 9.0% 23.5% .420 .791
2007 A   222 28 14   0 .293 5.9% 17.6% .545 .880
2007 A+ 214 18   7   0 .257 11.9% 26.2% .416 .762

Comments | Permalink

Recommend to a friend