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Prospect Central - August 5, 2007

August 5, 2007 | article by Lou Blasi in Player Commentary (1654)

(Editors Note: This is a partial look at the Prospect Central reports that our members recieve via e-mail. Not a member yet? Want some of this great Fantistics insight to help you with your fantasy football season as well? Visit www.fantistics.com or www.insiderbasbeball.com and join today!)

Matt Antonelli – Padres
Second Baseman – Bats Right – 6-1, 190 – 4/8/1985

Matt was the 17^th overall pick in 2006 and he is a prime example of a player who struggled with the transition to wood bats. A near high-school legend up here in Massachusetts, Matt, in his senior year, nearly won player of the year honors in three sports before heading off to Wake Forest. He wowed us in the Cape Cod league for a couple of summers with his tight swing and advanced plate discipline.

Matt reads pitches very well, recognizes changes in speeds, and stays back exceptionally well. He works deep into counts, understands pitch sequences, and reminded everyone on the Cape of a Kevin Youkilis-type of hitter.

Originally a third baseman, Matt has the athletic ability to play at any position. He was moved to second base (willingly) when it appeared that he was not going to develop corner power. That had been the element of his game that had been missing … up until this year.

In high-A Matt added a power game to his near-level BB and K percentages and his 18 SBs. The Padres jumped at the chance to trial-run him at AA and they have not been disappointed. He has ported his zone command quite nicely against more advanced pitching in his first 60 AA ABs.

With the installation of his power, Matt becomes the top prospect the Padres were hoping for when they spend their #1 on him. Now that he has taken root at second base, his offensive potential is particularly intriguing.

It is hard to nail down his timetable at this point. He has made a huge leap this summer but he has enough experience, athleticism, and baseball savvy to handle it. Pitchers will start poking at the soft spots in his zone and we will see how quickly he adapts. Almost every high school hockey, football and baseball coach in Massachusetts will tell you it would not be wise to bet against this one.

Long Term Fantasy Grade – A-

Seas Lvl AB XBH HR SB   AVG   BB%     K%   SLG   OPS
2006 A- 189   13   0   9 .286 19.6% 16.4% .360 .785
2006 A-   16    2   0   0 .125 11.1% 37.5% .313 .535
2007 A+ 347   32 14 18 .314 13.3% 16.7% .499 .904
2007 AA   62    9   4   3 .419 15.1% 14.5% .694 1.200

Joel Hanrahan - Nationals
Starter – Throws Right - 6-3, 215, 10/6/1981

The Nationals recalled Joel Hanrahan last Saturday to staff a doubleheader after Jason Bergman went on the DL.. Joel was a regarded prospect in the Dodgers system but stalled out at AAA after failing to reign in his walk rate.

Joel throws a low 90s fastball and compliments that with a biting slider and solid change. He handled AA hitters well at 25 years old but he was less effective against AAA hitters. His line could have been better in AA last year. He held opponents to a .250 OBA and suffered from an unfavorable 63.6% strand percentage. This year in AAA he had more favorable 75.8% strand percentage and a favorable .280 BHIP% to help him earn last week’s spot start.

That start was solid QS (3 runs in 6 IP on 4 hits and a walk with 7 K). Not bad, especially when you consider it was his first start and it came against the Mets. Last night he scattered 6 hits and 3 walks to hold the Cards to 1 run over 5 IP to earn his first MLB win. He fanned 3 along the way.

Joel could be an back half-of-the-rotation innings eater in the majors and pitching in RFK will help. Joel’s draw would seem to be that he is not particularly flammable and he can cobble together a good outing once in a while. By picking his starts carefully, you may be able to coax some productive innings out of him. The Nationals will probably keep him in the rotation for a few spins to get a better idea of what he is as they look towards 2008.

Joel’s next start comes Thursday against the Giants.

Long Term Fantasy Grade – C

Seas Lvl W L   ERA    IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9   AVG WHIP
2006 AA   7 2 2.58 66.1 9.1 5.2 0.5 .208 1.31
2006 AAA 4 3 4.48 74.1 5.6 4.7 0.9 .250 1.47
2007 AAA 5 4 3.70 75.1 8.5 4.3 1.2 .234 1.34
2007 MLB 0 0 4.50   6.0 10.5 1.5 1.5 .191 0.83

Phil Dumatrait - Reds
Starter – Throws Left – 6-2, 170 – 7/12/1981

This former Red Sox farmhand came over in the Scott Williamson trade and promptly lost the 2004 season to TJS. Phil throws a low-90s fastball, a loose curve, and a usable change up. He makes his mediocre stuff work with a better than average pitching IQ. He also battles and keeps his poise.

His main problem is his less-than-disciplined mechanics, which directly affects his control as witnessed by his marginal BB rate.

Phil showed some progress in AAA this year and showed a gear more than it was looking like he had. It was spurned by a favorable .274 BHIP% but otherwise his 2007 in AAA didn’t look a whole lot different than his 2006 in AAA in which he posted a .333 BHIP%.

In his MLB debut on Thursday (6 runs in 3.1 IP on 8 hits and 3 BB while fanning 3) Phil was erratic, was working from behind most of the 3.1 IP he lasted and needed to lay in some pretty hittable pitches.

Phil looks like possible a 5^th starter but it may not happen with the Reds who have a handful of guys in their system with similar potential. His ceiling a a prospect is not particularly high at this point, make him prove he is worthy of a roster spot before you grant him one.

The Dodgers are next on Wednesday.

Long Term Fantasy Grade – D+

Seas Lvl W L   ERA    IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9   AVG WHIP
2006 AA   3 4 3.62 49.2 8.2 4.0 0.7 .218 1.23
2006 AAA 5 7 4.72 87.2 6.0 3.7 1.0 .296 1.60
2007 AAA 10 5 3.49 118.2 5.3 3.6 0.7 .246 1.32
2007 MLB 0 1 16.20   3.1 8.1 8.1 0.0 .460 3.30

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