39.23 A Post-Bobby Lynch Jackrabbits Future #4 Pedro Huerta

[crobillard]

As this list gets further and further down, I get increasingly excited about the future of the Jackrabbits, how the pieces will get put together, how a player will develop. There may not be many people on this list that I am more excited about than Pedro Huerta. The kid was just selected in this past draft and he's rocketing through his development similar to Sebastian Fradesso, that I've talked about before. Fradesso has a year on him though. It's pretty incredible what Huerta has been able to do in such a short amount of time.

He played three years of high school, including one year where he hit .446 in 175 at bats. Through all three years he hit .390/.460/.745, yeah that's a .745 slugging percentage, in 510 at bats with 22 doubles, six triples, and 49 homeruns. He's a lefty with a bump versus RHP, but still has enough bite to hit LHP as well. He was drafted by Edmonton in the 2039 draft with the 23rd overall pick. There were several good outfield options at that point and after the pick I remember being unsure whether I made the right decision. Very glad I chose Huerta now.

So, to this point, I've had such a glowing review of Huerta and, to be fair, it's not like he'll be in the majors next season. Those chances are probably very slim, but he has progressed very quickly. He was drafted at 3/4/4/3/5. This year he started in Rookie league, but hit so well that I bumped him up to Short A pretty quickly. He hit .295/.338/652 in 132 at bats in Rookie league with six doubles, a triple and 13 homeruns and then was promoted to Short A and hit .302/.361/.745 with 13 doubles, a triple and 17 homeruns. His only major weakness seems to be his defense. He's rated 5/6/11 in the outfield. He has a big arm, but those other ratings are pretty underwhelming. He's rated a 5 at RF and I don't plan on moving him around because I don't think it'll matter much. If we're putting him in the field, than we understand the liability it will come with. Maybe he'll be better at left, but I feel like the only reason he's a 5 in RF is because of his arm.

As I am writing this Huerta has jumped to 6/11/5/4/6 actual ratings and 8/11/7/4/9 potentials and he's even better versus RHP. If he fills out, he could be 8/12/8/4/9 against righties, which would just be nuts. Something else that's notable about Huerta is that he has a Durable injury rating. He of course has a long way to go before he hits any of these marks, but I don't think it's inconceivable that he could see time in AAA next season. I will likely start him out in AA and see how he does against some pitchers with better ratings and then think about promoting him midseason if he continues to perform well. He only just turned 19, so he has plenty of time. I'm not quite sure where he fits in just yet. With all of the outfielders that I have, someone is going to get pushed out. It wont be Huerta though. The guy looks like he's going to be a huge headache for opposing pitchers.

[RonCo]

Huerta is also a LHB who projects to be able to hit LHP just enough to play full time. Which is a value. His defense will probably always be a little rugged, but such are the burdens we bear.

[crobillard]

Huerta is also a LHB who projects to be able to hit LHP just enough to play full time. Which is a value. His defense will probably always be a little rugged, but such are the burdens we bear.

Yeah, he should be productive against lefites having something like 7/9/7/3/8 ratings which are not as good as his ratings against righties, but I wouldn't take him out of the lineup against lefties at all. Cool player.

[RonCo]

Yes, lefties who can hit lefties enough to play full time give you a roster spot to play with.