#1 – Eric Hosmer
6’4 – 215 lbs.
After a spectacular senior season where he hit .470 with eleven home runs and fourteen stolen bases with Plantation American Heritage High (FL), Hosmer was selected by the Royals with the 3rd pick in the 2008 draft. In Baseball America’s draft recap they named Hosmer as the closest high school player to the major league level and also indicated he possessed the greatest power potential of all high school draftees.
Hosmer, who has Scott Boras as an agent, signed a letter of intent with Arizona State but as conjectured by many this was just a move to add leverage during his negotiations with whichever team ended up choosing him. The negotiations with Boras went right up to the last minute, and by several confirmed reports, went close to an hour past the signing deadline. This fact, along with the Pedro Alvarez contract disaster with the Pirates, led to a late start with the Idaho Falls Chukars for the young lefty.
As one of the youngest players on the Chukars roster, Hosmer saw action in just three games getting eleven at bats in the process. He finished with a .364 average, got two RBI’s, three walks and struck out twice.
Not only does Hosmer provide power at the plate, he was also the closer for his high school team touching 98 MPH on the radar gun and has above average defensive abilities. David Rawnsley of http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/ (great site by the way) has stated that Hosmer is one of the best high school bats he has seen in the past twenty years. Rawnsley also reports that Hosmer’s swing is already very fundamentally sound and with his adjustable hands he has the ability drive balls to the opposite field while also making solid contact consistently.
I expect to see Hosmer continue on the same path that Mike Moustakas has taken and play the entire 2009 season with the Burlington Bees in the Low A Midwest League before ascending quickly through the system.
#2 – Kila Ka’aihue
6’3 -210 lbs.
After being selected in the 15th round of the 2002 draft, Ka’aihue was sent to the Gulf Coast league to begin his career with the rookie level Royals. At this early stage, he started to show that patience is the strongest aspect of his batting style walking twenty six times in forty three games. He showed a little power knocking out three home runs and also drove in twenty one RBI’s while maintaining a .259 AVG.
Ka'aihue spent both the 2003 and 2004 season with the Low A Burlington club in the Midwest League where he started to develop even more power (11 and 15 home runs respectively) and continued to show a penchant to control the plate possessing a strong OBP above .350 in both years. His batting average however, continued to struggle as he didn’t get above .250 in either year striking out eighty seven and ninety eight times.
With a promotion to the hitter happy California League in the 2005 season, Ka’aihue had the best season of his young professional career up to that point earning a mid-season all star selection in the process. While a High Desert Maverick, he posted the following line .304 AVG / .428 OBP / .925 OBP. His strikeout numbers continued to grow as he got K’ed ninety seven times but he walked ninety seven times as well in one hundred and thirty two games. With these solid numbers, Ka’aihue continued to move up the organizational chart playing the whole 2006 season in the Texas League with the Double A Wichita farm team. That year, his numbers came back to earth as his power numbers were wiped away as he hit only six home runs in three hundred and twenty seven at bats. He finished the year with a .202 average and a .305 OBP.
The then 23 year old split the next season between the High A and Double A levels posting decent numbers as he had the following figures with Wilmington (.251 AVG / .360 OBP / .780 OPS) and Wichita (.246 AVG / .359 OBP / .806 OPS). In one hundred and forty two games between the two levels he also had twenty one home runs and eighty two RBI’s.
As everyone that follows Royals prospects knows, the 2008 season is why Ka’aihue has inspired so many Royals fans to be believers. In ninety one games with the Double A Northwest Arkansas Naturals he put it altogether knocking out twenty six home runs with seventy nine RBI’s while also maintaining a .314 AVG and a .463 OBP. This stellar performance led to a promotion with the Triple A club in Omaha where he continued his hot hitting by putting eleven balls out of the park in just thirty three games. Again, he combined his power with a solid average (.316) and OBP (.439). Ka’aihue earned a September call up to the big club where he only saw action in twelve games and parked his first MLB career home run en route to a .286 average.
Ka'aihue did not have an eye raising Dominican Winter League experience as he posted a .239 AVG with three home runs and ten RBI’s in twenty two games. Unlike many, I am not as high on Ka’aihue. I would like to see the soon to be 25 year old spend at least half the season in Omaha proving that he can provide back to back stellar seasons, combining average with power, before being called up again.
#3 – Jason Taylor
6’0 – 200 lbs.
The best way to describe Jason Taylor’s career thus far is “frustrating.” The Virginia Beach product was drafted out of Kellam High School in the 2006 draft in the 2nd round and signed for $752,500. This was a surprise to many as Taylor was not even listed in the top 200 draft eligible players by Baseball America. Taylor, a shortstop in high school, started his professional career with the Surprise Royals and was moved over to 3rd base where he played in forty six games and put up mediocre numbers at the plate in the Arizona Summer League. While in Surprise he finished with the following line - .258 AVG / .374 OBP / .699 OPS. Along with these numbers he had seven stolen bases in nine attempts, nine extra base hits and twenty two RBI’s. Though his average was quite frankly average it was clear that Taylor had a sharp batting eye as he walked almost fifteen percent of his at bats keeping his OBP at a high level.
The frustration in Taylor’s career begins in the 2007 season where he was suspended by the Royals for the whole year due to disciplinary reasons. There have been many reasons bantered about as to why he was suspended (possible drug use or lack of work ethic) but the Royals never gave a specific answer.
During the 2008 season, Taylor spent the entire year with the Burlington Bees in the Low A Midwest League. He began to show great promise there and proved he was worthy of his second round pick. After starting the year at third base, Taylor was part of the Moustakas domino effect shifting him over to first base and fellow 1st base prospect, Clint Robinson, over to the DH spot. This might have been a good thing as Taylor did not post adequate numbers at 3rd with a .904 fielding percentage committing thirteen errors in sixty one games. After being shifted over to 1st he posted a stronger fielding percentage (.986) and only committed seven errors with four hundred and fifty two put outs. In one hundred and twenty seven games, Taylor again had a low average (.242) but made up for it by getting a lot of walks (81) leading him to finish with a .372 OBP. During his time with the Bees, Taylor was like Pedro Cerrano from “Major League” in that he showed good power against fastballs, hitting seventeen home runs in the process, but at times looked lost against breaking pitches, striking out 22% of his at bats. Maybe he’ll consult Jobu during the offseason. Another positive that Taylor continued from the 2006 season was his penchant to steal bases, even with a relatively big frame, as he swiped forty bases.
The “frustration” continued this off-season as in late January, Bud Selig’s office announced that Taylor received a fifty game suspension after testing positive for drug abuse in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. This puts a damper on what was a positive step during the 2008 season for Taylor and puts into question how he fits into the Royals plans after already missing an entire season due to other disciplinary reasons. Should the 19 year old fail another drug test he will receive a 100 game suspension.
When Taylor returns from his suspension I expect to see him in Wilmington with several of his 2008 Bees teammates. I have read many reports that due to his athleticism, the OF might be a better fit for him. At this point, I’d just like to see Taylor on the field, honing his power, and moving up the ladder with no future off the field issues.
#4 - Clint Robinson
6’5 – 225 lbs.
After being selected in the 25th round of the 2007 draft many were surprised to see the Troy University product finish the season as one of the top college class performers out of the draft. After the husky first baseman finished his senior year with a .364 average, seventeen home runs and seventy one RBI’s he was sent to the Pioneer League to play with the Idaho Falls Chukars where he won MVP honors posting the following line - .336 AVG / .388 OBP / .593 SLG with fifteen home runs in sixty-seven games.
The 2008 season offered a greater sample size and the opportunity for Robinson to show that he could continue his progress on a higher level, this time it was with the Low A Burlington Bees. After starting the season at first he was shuffled to primarily play in the DH role as Moustakas moved over to 3rd and Jason Taylor assumed the majority of the 1st base time. The move did not affect Robinson’s prowess at the plate as he had seventeen home runs to go along with a .264 AVG and .333 OBP. As a power hitter it was nice to see that his strikeout rate did not change significantly and his walk rate stayed consistent as well.
During his career scouts have described Robinson as a “gamer” possessing great power along with a good approach at the plate however speed and agility at 1st is a concern. With the Taylor suspension it will be interesting to see if the soon to be 24 year old moves back to 1b with the High A Wilmington club in the interim or if they continue to give him at bats in the DH spot. Even with his big frame he has carried a .983 FPCT in two seasons.
#5 - David Wood
6’2 – 210 lbs.
To say that Wood had a nomadic college career might be an understatement. The Longwood, NY product started his career near home with the Stony Brook Sea Wolves where he only had ninety one at bats in thirty two games. He then transferred to Temple College, a JUCO baseball powerhouse in Texas, before finishing out his junior and senior seasons in the Southland Conference with Texas State. During his senior year with the Bobcats, Wood finished with a .380 AVG along with fourteen home runs and seventy seven RBI’s.
In the 2007 draft, Wood was not selected but signed as an undrafted free agent with the Royals and was quickly sent to begin his professional career in Surprise. He continued his hot hitting there earning an AZL all star selection as he ended the season with a .324 average with thirty nine RBI’s, sixty eight hits and seventeen doubles. Those last two statistics were the best for any AZL player. For his efforts, the lefty was named the Arizona Player of the Year for the Surprise Royals. You could say that Wood was playing below his competition level for his age as the AZL is normally a place where you can find international players and high school draftees in their late teens.
Due to that fact, the Royals wanted to see him play against competition more appropriate to his age as he began the 2008 season with the Wilmington Blue Rocks by-passing the Low A level. As a Blue Rock he struggled through thirty seven games hitting only .156 with an OBP of .179 in one hundred twenty eight at bats. He was clearly overmatched as he struck out thirty four times and walked only four times. The Royals demoted Wood to the short season rookie level with the Burlington Royals for the rest of the season where he regained his confidence hitting .340 in the month of August playing at 1st and LF. While with Burlington he finished with a .289 average in forty games and brought his strikeout rate from 26% with the Blue Rocks down to 9.4%.
I think the Royals will send the 24 year old Wood back to Wilmington to start the 2009 season to see if one of two things happen: A. he can carry over his rookie level success or B. see if his talent stalls at this level.
Honorable Mention
One other 1st base prospect to keep an eye on is 19 year old Henry Moreno who played with the Dominican Royals in 2008. While there he had the following numbers .314 AVG / .411 OBP / .914 OPS along with forty one RBI’s in fifty three games.
0 comments:
Post a Comment