9-News: 36.096 – Prospects Head to Florida

[RonCo]

As the season winds its way toward the cold months, and with most eyes turned toward the post season, a flock of late-teen/early 20-year-olds are focused on ballfields in Florida. These are the guys who should be bringing Nine pennants as the calendar turns into the 40s, and while a lot of us don’t want to look that far out, you can be sure that the front office is paying attention.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at our Gainesville Nine, shall we?

Starting with …

THE ROTATION:

Gainesville will see an interesting group of starters here—all with possible impact, none with high-profile buzz.

Perhaps the most intriguing is 22-year-old Han-lee Kim (10/7/3 Talents), a right hander who throws 98 and has three solid pitches, none of which find the plate a lot. Still he went 9-8 in AA this year, with an 5.13 ERA. He was signed as a minor league free agent after being released by Huntsville a year ago. The club would dearly like him to find even a modicum of control.

22-year-old Eduardo Reyes (7/6/7 Talents) (10-5, 2.51 at A-ball) is a pitcher who has just won everywhere he’s been. At 6’8”, 200, he reminds scouts physically of the team’s current ace, but with a 96 MPH fastball, he’s a little shy on the speedball register to make that comparison directly. Still, it wouldn’t take much of an improvement to see Reyes take a spot at the back of the YS9 rotation someday.

Cipriano Rivera (8/5/5 Talents) raised eyebrows at how well the 19-year-old came back from injury last winter. He posted a 6-2, 2.29 record in SA-Guantanamo, and held onto all 98 Miles an Hour of his heater. He threw only 86 innings this year, though, and the team sent him to Florida merely to see that number bump.

The rotation’s second South Korean is In-sung Yi (10/5/6 Talents), and may well be the better prospect—though, Yi, too, is coming off an injury-prone season. He was 5-6, 4.22 in 96 innings at A-Fort Worth. Nine scouts want to see him focus on using his 98 MPH fastball more effectively, as his K-Rate hasn’t been where it needs to be for two seasons.

Finally comes 21-year-old Luis Colon (8/6/6 Talents), who may well be the guy most likely to make and impact at the big leagues. He was only 3-7, 3.69 in A-ball, but pitched to a .256 BABIP, and showed excellent control. There’s still a wait-and-see buss around him, but it’s a good wait-and-see.

BULLPEN

This is were things get particualry interesting. The Nine is a team that spends a lot of energy developing bullpen arms, and this year is no exception—the excitement this year focusing on two international signings in Tiernan O’Macken (5-7, 3.01) and Knud Calkhoven (10/6/9 Talents) (3-5, 3.00), both of whom started in Rookie ball, but are considered to be more properly perceived as relievers. They’ll be put in the pen in Gainesville, and told to just air it out. Should be exciting. Then there’s 18-year-old 2035 first rounder Jose Gonzalez (8/6/7 Talents) (1-1, 6.13 at SA-Guantanamo) and 22-year-old Leon Scherer (8/6/7 Talents) (7-0, .065 at AAA). Scherer will probably be a player at the major league level next year, but got only 40 innings of work. The kid has a heater stuck at 100, so he’ll be fun to watch.

Of course, Pedro Mendoza (10/5/5 Talents) (22 yo, 2-2, 5.11 in Santa Cruz AA) has a heater that goes to 101, so if Sherer doesn’t entertain, there are options. Some are suggesting that Mendoza could find innings in the bigs in 2037, too. Wilson Flores (7/6/6 Talents) (3-2, 4.29 in Guantanamo), Ricardo Gutierrez (8/6/6 Talents) (21 yo, 6-6, 3.02 in AA Santa Cruz) and Tony Silva (8/4/5 Talents) (19 yo, 0-0, 1.59 R- Alamogordo) will round out the pitching staff.

ASSESSMENT: It’s a core group of interesting pitchers, likely sent to the league mostly for workload issues, and of course the fingers-crossed hope of a nice little bump or two.

CATCHERS:

The team announced that most of the catching duties would be performed by 20-year-old Don Nelson, who wowed folks in Alamogordo-A ball with his glove, but also carried a near-zero bat (.210). Pablo Alaniz (5/9/6/4/6 Talents) (.193) wasn’t any better a level up in Guantanamo, but still has a decent glove.

ASSESSMENT: this is the hope-and-prayer wing of the team’s organization.

INFIELDERS:

Things get a little more interesting around the basepaths, as several of the team’s top prospects show up here, specifically including 18-year-old sensation Dong-po Thum (10/10/6/6/10 Talents), whose numbers haven’t impressed nearly as much as his future should. Jury is out, but the team is hoping Thum can pick up shortstop—a step that would raise his value immensely, and because they have prospect 18-year-old Victor Vargas (8/8/7/5/8 Talents) who looks to be hitter enough to make his defensive shortcomings fade. These two will likely be a SS/3B carrousel with shortstop Tai hou Zhu, who had a sold season in Fort Worth.

The right side of the infield will be manned by the 1B platoon of Jose Garcia (8/9/8/5/7 Talents) and Miguel Perales, as well as 2B Miguel Fernandez (7/8/5/5/9 Talents) and Robinson Gonzalez (6/7/5/6/7 Talents). Garcia is likely to play at Yellow Springs next year, and Perales a few years from now. Fernandez and Gonzalez have proven to be interesting offensive players, but the Nine would dearly love one or the other to show they can handle to defensive side of the game.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT: Thum is the obvious force of the future here, but literally every one of these players has a better than nothing chance of making the big leagues in the semi-near future. Lots of reasons to go to the ballpark.

THE OUTFIELD

Any conversation here has to start with center fielder Jose Lopez, who came as the centerpiece in a big deal that sent Eric Faber to Edmonton and who has done nothing to warrant that kind of interest so far. Scouts still suggest he’s going to be useful at the end of his development, but many are suggesting it’s time for the 21-year-old to put up some numbers. He’ll team with Anibal Moran (5/5/1/6/6 Talents) in Gainesville. Moran (22) is already an accomplished enough fielder that some thought he might be in Yellows Springs for the pennant chase. If he hits anything at all, he could be a sleeper.

The corners will be patrolled by Jose Machado (6/6/8/7/7 Talents), Andy McKinney (7/8/7/6/7 Talents), and IFA signee Jose Camacho (8/9/8/6/7 Talents)—all three considered likely to be with the Nine in the near future. Machado is ahead of the other two, but scouts have recently increased expectation for McKinney, and have remained as high on Camacho as they were the day he signed.

ASSESSMENT:

While a lot of eyes will be on Lopez, this is a group of outfielders that feel a lot like the infielders—a set of guys with huge hopes and high ceilings, but who are currently flying low on the horizon. It’s going to be fun watching them.