Ball Go Far, Someday, We Hope
Sao Paulo drafted outfield prospect Judite Hasegawa in 2061 with the fourth overall pick. Hasegawa was 21 at the time, having come from nowhere, apparently. He has one year of 'okay' college stats. Nevertheless, Hasegawa had a future value of 80 at the time he was drafted, and he still fell to fourth in the 2061 draft, which is a little eyebrow raising in hindsight, and was questioned at the time. But, like fellow '61 draft stud Félix Vallés, Judite has seen his stock fall the last couple of seasons.
Hasegawa was the Anbar of his day. He had that 80 potential, but a 20 current overall rating in '61. He was a #1 prospect for the better part of two years. That potential took a hit last season, dropping to 60, and development has been painfully slow. His current overall rating is now a 25. He's 24 and has a rating of 25. This sounds alarm bells.
Here is what his official scouting report currently has to say about him as a center field prospect:
Hasegawa had hitting potentials of 6/9/6, with 4/4/4 actuals, when the Pilots picked him up. Currently, those potentials are 5/9/5, and the actuals remain stuck at 4/4/4. Power potential is Hasegawa's main asset. Actual plus power is yet to manifest.Hasegawa has a strong, lean frame. He possesses middle of the order power potential. He runs very well and knows how to steal a base. He needs to improve his pitch selection and understand the game situations and counts to be anything more than an average contact hitter. Hasegawa should be a regular starter.
In the development complex, Hasegawa has successfully improved his gap power, while he has struggled to improve his outfield defense.
Is he a center fielder? Maybe. Fielding ratings are 5 in center, with 8/5/5 range, error, and arm. His fielding stats at the position have not been bad in Class AA, and the Pilots have been playing him there plenty. The only movement in these defensive ratings he's seen since signing with Sao Paulo, however, has been a drop in CF rating from 6 to 5. His ratings in the two corner outfield spots, however, have gone up despite limited playing time at those positions. He may be a future left fielder.
Makeup for Hasegawa is good, with a high Adaptability and Baseball IQ. This makes it a little surprising that he hasn't been able to put it together on the diamond. His injury proneness is rated as 'Normal'. A back injury last year (suffered just days after he was promoted to AAA) kept him out of action for a big chunk of the season. This may have set him back significantly. If you see the glass as half full, this could be a breakout season for him, assuming good health.
