Prospect Central - August 26, 2007
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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 15th 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
- Currently 2.75/5
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Rating: 2.8/5 (2163 votes cast)
