The Sunny Side 2018.6: Prospects Peek - Position Players

[cheekimonk]

The Sunny Side
1 Aug, 2018
Marquette, MI
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Position Players
22yo RH C Chad Lawrence (7/6/8/4/5 Talents, .173/.212/.222, 1 HR, 4 RBI) : (AA) Lawrence ranked as the #38 prospect in MBWBA at the beginning of the season but exceeded his prospect eligibility spending the first 3 months of the season at the ML level. Suns management had planned for Lawrence to tutor this season under Eric Melton (7/5/6/7/9 Talents, .315/.378/.424, 7 HR, 42 RBI) who is in the last year of his contract, but while his defense was superb he struggled against both RHP and LHP with a .173/.212/.222 line at the end of June. Recognizing the plan was a mistake, Lawrence was sent down to (AAA) Racine to experience some success but struggled there as well (.181/.196/.257 for July). This led to his current stop at (AA) Rancho Cordova where he can hopefully taste that aforementioned success and return to the big club in September. His confidence shaken, there's no way to predict where he will start the 2019 season, but he remains a top-tier defensive backstop and can hopefully fulfill his potential at the plate.

(#30) 19yo LH LF Sergio Ramos (7/6/9/4/4 Talents) : (AA) The sole offensive player acquired from Montreal in the Sandcastle trade, Ramos began his Suns career at (A) Plant City, but a .329/.402/.455 line in April earned him a look at (AA) where he's earned his spot with a .809 OPS and 1.2 WAR. His defense in left field has improved and that will likely remain his spot without the speed or range to fill CF or RF.

(#62) 18yo LH SS Valeri Kharlamov (8/8/6/7/5 Talents) : (R) The Suns' #1 pick in this year's draft was handed the starting SS job at (R) Plano and has performed solidly. He'll have a stint in Winter League and another season in Plano to develop his defense and his eye (55/8 K/BB rate).

24yo RH 3B Santiago Greene (5/5/7/8/4 Talents) : (AAA) Another year, another season at (AAA) Racine for Greene. He's all raw power (15 HR in 2017, 16 thus far in 2018) but it's hard to see how that would translate to the ML level even if he wasn't blocked by 25yo Paul McKinney (8/6/6/5/7 Talents, .261/.304/.420, 14 HR, 41 RBI). He seems destined to serve as injury insurance unless he can be turned as a trade piece.

21yo RH SS Francisco Moreno (6/8/5/3/6 Talents) : (AA) Acquired from Carolina in 2017, Moreno has made excellent progress from rookie to (A) and now (AA) ball. A superb defensive infielder, management has tossed around the idea of developing him at 2B with the aforementioned Kharlamov on his heels. Moreno is the superior defensive player, but Kharlamov would make an intriguing asset as a left-handed bat at SS if a trade were necessary. Likely to make his way to (AAA) in 2019.

18yo SH 3B Mario Soriano (9/7/1/4/10 Talents) : (R) Soriano was plucked out of Venezuela this year by Suns scouts and has had a decent year at the plate in (R) Plano. He has the skills to man the outfield, possibly even CF, but with the presence of Moreno and Kharlamov has been tasked with mastering the hot corner. He'll feature in Winter League ball this year and return to Plano to start 2019.

23yo RH CF Dan Knight (5/5/8/4/4 Talents) : (AAA) Though Knight is a superb defensive infielder, he has the tools and is being groomed in the outfield given Marquette's dearth of prospects there and the presence of Moreno and the next guy on this list.

20yo RH 2B David Vega (5/7/4/4/6 Talents) : (AA) Vega is not a better infielder than Knight, but he can't play anywhere in the OF so is developing at 2B. Vega is not projected to be much of a talent, but he has blossomed this season from having absolutely no potential so it will be interesting to see if that upward trajectory continues.

[trmmilwwi]

A lot of guys at A and AA... could be a few tough years yet until the kids arrive but then it will have been worth it.

[aaronweiner]

Well, Marquette wasn't going to be an overnight rebuilding project.

[trmmilwwi]

Well, Marquette wasn't going to be an overnight rebuilding project.

lol, no doubt. Ben has had his work cut out for him... I didn't do him any favors when I bolted for YS!