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thecrow124
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Last week I did a thread on the State College Spikes, this week I will cover the Low A West Virginia Power. My initial thought was that I could get through the entire minor league system in a week, then be able to post updates weekly for each team. Then stuff got in the way of that happening, so most likely I'll just get these out now, mid-season, and then update at the end of the season. These get to be a little time consuming.
Anyway, I'll start off with the batters then move to the pitchers. There are some very interresting hitters at this level, but most of the pitchign that should have been an interresting prospect seems to have taken a step, or in one case, a huge leap, back in their development.
HITTERS:
Alen Hansen - .316/.383/.549. He is a switch hitter that leads the entire organization with 55 XBH, including 12 triples and 15 HR's. He is currently playing SS, and some feel he can stick, but with 36 errors, it may come to the point where he will need to switch to 2B. He also has 30 SB, although he has been caught 16 times.
Gregory Polanco - .327/.390/.514. He is a lefty/lefty that has been very consistent from month to month, posting almost identical triple slash lines in each month this season. He is a solid defender in CF, with good speed attested to by his 40 SB's while being caught only 14 times. He has 13 HR's and a very good 40/62 BB/K ratio.
Jose Osuna - .279/.329/.459 He is a righty/righty first baseman, so any value from him will likely come in the form of his bat. He has had 3 distinct differences to his season, He started off hitting for a high average, but no power, then his average began to drop, but he started showing some power in the form of doubles. In the last month, he has hit for a good average and shown a lot of power.
Josh Bell - His numbers mean very little since he has been hurt for most of the year. He does have a lot of potential though.
Willy Garcia - .249/.302/.395 He is a righty/righty He makes the list because he is young, and has power, so he has value. In looking at his numbers, he still has work to do on his plate discipline, he has K'd 102 times in just under 400AB's. While only walking 29 times.
There are others that deserve mention, but don't have the AB's yet to put on this list, or they have more than one thing that needs to be addressed.
PITCHERS:
This is far and away the achiles heel of this team. Definitely a lot of disappointment with this group.
Nick Kingham - 94.2 IP/5.13 ERA/89 K's. He has only given up 96 hits and 30 walks, so his periferals don't look that bad. He has the pitches to be a solid #3, but this year he has struggled quite a bit. Seems like every start he has run into trouble at some point. However, he still has the pitches to be effective, but really need to show something over the rest of the season.
Robby Rowland - 71.2 IP/3.39 ERA/ 39K's. He doesn't have dominant numbers, but has been effective. He is an extreme groundball pitcher, which is good, but unless he continues his success this year as he moves up, he probably isn't to strong of a prospect.
ZVR - 53.1 IP/ 5.39/ 39 K's. He is still a disappointment in my opinion. He has been in the system for 3 seasons now and he still hasn't figured out how to make his pitches work at any level. He still gives up a lot of HR's, and this year his strike out numbers are dropping off as well.
Ryan Hafner - 59.1 IP/ 7.74 ERA/ 29 K's. He has not only taken a step back, he tripped and fell in it, while doing so. He has more hits than IP, and more walks than IP. He basically just isn't getting anyone out.
Matt Benedict - 76.1 IP/ 3.42 ERA/ 44 K's. I was pretty surprised when I looked at his numbers, he is one of the few that seems to have decent numbers. Not overpowering in any category, but seems solid in the very average sort of way.
Overall I am pretty disappointed with the pitchers, but without seeing them in action, it is hard to say if the bad defense behind them is having any sort of effect. Third, short and 1B seem to be average to below defensively, so that may have something to do with it, but there is no excuse for Ryan Hafner to not be able to throw strikes, or for Kingham to still only be able to hold velocity for 3 innings.
Offensively this team has a lot of promise, but outside of Polanco, the ones with the most promise, need a lot of help defenisvely.
Anyway, I'll start off with the batters then move to the pitchers. There are some very interresting hitters at this level, but most of the pitchign that should have been an interresting prospect seems to have taken a step, or in one case, a huge leap, back in their development.
HITTERS:
Alen Hansen - .316/.383/.549. He is a switch hitter that leads the entire organization with 55 XBH, including 12 triples and 15 HR's. He is currently playing SS, and some feel he can stick, but with 36 errors, it may come to the point where he will need to switch to 2B. He also has 30 SB, although he has been caught 16 times.
Gregory Polanco - .327/.390/.514. He is a lefty/lefty that has been very consistent from month to month, posting almost identical triple slash lines in each month this season. He is a solid defender in CF, with good speed attested to by his 40 SB's while being caught only 14 times. He has 13 HR's and a very good 40/62 BB/K ratio.
Jose Osuna - .279/.329/.459 He is a righty/righty first baseman, so any value from him will likely come in the form of his bat. He has had 3 distinct differences to his season, He started off hitting for a high average, but no power, then his average began to drop, but he started showing some power in the form of doubles. In the last month, he has hit for a good average and shown a lot of power.
Josh Bell - His numbers mean very little since he has been hurt for most of the year. He does have a lot of potential though.
Willy Garcia - .249/.302/.395 He is a righty/righty He makes the list because he is young, and has power, so he has value. In looking at his numbers, he still has work to do on his plate discipline, he has K'd 102 times in just under 400AB's. While only walking 29 times.
There are others that deserve mention, but don't have the AB's yet to put on this list, or they have more than one thing that needs to be addressed.
PITCHERS:
This is far and away the achiles heel of this team. Definitely a lot of disappointment with this group.
Nick Kingham - 94.2 IP/5.13 ERA/89 K's. He has only given up 96 hits and 30 walks, so his periferals don't look that bad. He has the pitches to be a solid #3, but this year he has struggled quite a bit. Seems like every start he has run into trouble at some point. However, he still has the pitches to be effective, but really need to show something over the rest of the season.
Robby Rowland - 71.2 IP/3.39 ERA/ 39K's. He doesn't have dominant numbers, but has been effective. He is an extreme groundball pitcher, which is good, but unless he continues his success this year as he moves up, he probably isn't to strong of a prospect.
ZVR - 53.1 IP/ 5.39/ 39 K's. He is still a disappointment in my opinion. He has been in the system for 3 seasons now and he still hasn't figured out how to make his pitches work at any level. He still gives up a lot of HR's, and this year his strike out numbers are dropping off as well.
Ryan Hafner - 59.1 IP/ 7.74 ERA/ 29 K's. He has not only taken a step back, he tripped and fell in it, while doing so. He has more hits than IP, and more walks than IP. He basically just isn't getting anyone out.
Matt Benedict - 76.1 IP/ 3.42 ERA/ 44 K's. I was pretty surprised when I looked at his numbers, he is one of the few that seems to have decent numbers. Not overpowering in any category, but seems solid in the very average sort of way.
Overall I am pretty disappointed with the pitchers, but without seeing them in action, it is hard to say if the bad defense behind them is having any sort of effect. Third, short and 1B seem to be average to below defensively, so that may have something to do with it, but there is no excuse for Ryan Hafner to not be able to throw strikes, or for Kingham to still only be able to hold velocity for 3 innings.
Offensively this team has a lot of promise, but outside of Polanco, the ones with the most promise, need a lot of help defenisvely.
