9-News: 43.015 – Roster Review: Third Base

[RonCo]

Off Topic

As members of the Yellow Springs Nine head to Fools Gulch for Spring Training, it’s time for us baseball writers to have fun taking a look at the players in the organization and pretend like we know who it going to make a difference. In the past we’d wait until later in the year and do a prospect review, but this time we figured why not go full Monty and do it all at once, right?

Today we’re going to talk about the third base position, focusing first on the guys we expect to see in Yellow Springs, and then a few others down deeper in the organization who could crack the lineup over the next several years.

Yellow Springs

Player	Age	B	OVR	HITTING	DEFENSE
Blaine Tyler	23	R	60/70	6/7/8/6/5	6/8/9/6
Dong-po Thum	25	R	80/80	9/9/5/6/9	9/9/12/7

Since we listed Tyler behind Thum at second, it seems only fitting to put Thum under Tyler at third. Bottom line, Thum will play one of the two and Tyler will play the other. Assume today that Tyler is at third. The kid from Rockford, Illinois (a city that will always have a soft spot in my heart for events that occurred there as a kid), was pressed into service a bit early last year, and managed to kind of survive. His OPS+ of 94 warms few hearts, but he had post season heroics, and at 23 should be ready to perform.


If past history and minor league stats have anything to say about it, he should hit with some power (21 homers last year in combined AAA/BBA play) and get on base well enough while playing a tick better than solid defense. If that happens, the team is in pretty good shape.

Scouts are optimistic, but we all know how scouts are.

BEST CASE PROJECTION: Tyler gets comfortable, drop 2.5-3 WAR.
CONCERNS: Last year’s .232/.314/.447 line in 275 BBA plate appearances wasn’t what the doctor ordered.


Prospects

Level	Player	Age	B	OVR	HITTING	DEFENSE
A	Derek Cumming	19	S	20/45	6/7/3/6/8	4/4/10/5
AA	Richard Stephenson	22	R	35/40	6/6/5/6/5	4/5/8/4

Some ugly goings on in the depth chart at third. Alejandro Rodriguez was traded. Randy Williams aged out and Nathan Moon developed out.

Knowing the cupboard was getting a bit bare, the Nine went out and drafted switch hitting Derek Cumming in the first round’s supplemental picks. At 5’10”, 165, Cumming is a slight physical specimen, but as you might imagine, can run a bit—a dynamic that combined with a true switch-hitter’s bat made the team’s baseball folks become smitten. If his glovework gets better, outside rating systems might like his as much as the Nine does. We will see.

Meanwhile, Richard Stephenson, 2039’s 5th round selection, followed a blazing year in A-ball with a solid one in AA. He’s got the same defensive concerns that Cumming has, but if his bat comes along at the same pace for another season, we could see him competing for BBA playing time.

Level	Dark Horses	Age	B	OVR	HITTING	DEFENSE
A	Bobby Henson	20	L	20/30	5/6/4/5/6	2/4/9/2

Taken in the 9th round of what was considered a weak 2041 draft, Bobby Henson’s left-handed bat turned in a solid little performance in short A ball this year (17 homers, .310/.418/.572). That’s an offensive minded league, so those numbers need to be tempered a bit, but scouts say his development has been rapid, and have apparently put him on a short list of players to watch.

That’s good enough for us to make him a dark horse.


OVERALL FARM SYSTEM STATUS: Cumming is definitely an interesting prospect, and Stephenson could fill in. We’d say there’s some serious risk to the organization here, though. If Tyler pans out, that risk fades. Otherwise a move might need to be made because, even if he develops, Cumming is at least three seasons out.