2059.6 Flight School-Charlotte Prospect Report-Shortstop

[Krathan]

In this edition of Flight School, we take a look at the top prospects in the Charlotte Flyers organization at the position of shortstop.

Honestly, this is a real position of need in the organization, especially after they traded away their overall top prospect, Lucas McNeill, Jr at this year’s trade deadline. There is probably not a future big league shortstop on this list, at least not one that the team would be excited about running out there every day.

The top prospect on the list is Lucio Hernandez. He was taken in the 9th round of the 2055 draft and has played at every minor league level in the system. In 2058, he played the vast majority of his games in AA for New Bern. He slashed .246/.322/.4000 with 18 doubles, 4 triples, and 12 home runs in 121 games. He posted 1.8 WAR and had a wRC+ of 94. Hernandez played 81 games at short for the Bears, with a ZR of 4.2, RF of 4.9, and Eff of 1.013. He also played solid defense at second base for New Bern (35 games) and shortstop for AAA Richmond (11 games). The team has experimented with Hernandez in center field but he has not played well there. While he has played solid defense in the minor leagues, there is a big difference between AA and the BBA. He will need to develop those skills to be an adequate defender in the big leagues.

The next prospect is Zong-shan Ruan. He was signed as an IAFA in 2052. He has played in 697 games between all minor league levels in the organization since then. This year, he played 82 games at AA New Bern and 31 games at AAA Richmond. He hit well in AA, slashing .300/.352/.392 with 14 doubles and a 104 wRC+. Ruan struggled more at the AAA level but still hit .263. Defensively, Ruan split time between SS and 3B. He had a 4.99 ZR in 60 games at SS for New Bern. In 617 minor league games at shortstop, he has a ZR of 21.97.

The final prospect on this list is Wally Willis. He was drafted in the 13th round in 2055 and has been at the rookie level in Elkins ever since. He will turn 21 on Jan 1, 2059 and is likely to get one more season in Elkins. Scouts don’t see much to like in Wally’s offensive game, with his best tool being an average eye. That being said, Willis has put up respectable numbers at the plate the last couple of seasons. He didn’t play much in 2057 but hit well in very limited action. This year, he was the starting shortstop for the Buzzards and slashed .274/.343/.439 with a wRC+ of 119. He also played solid defense, with a ZR of 6.21 and Eff of 1.060, playing at short in 64 games. He needs some development bumps to ever make it to the top, but his play has improved the last couple of seasons and his defense is farther along than most of the players on this list.