Future Rookies: A Well-Traveled Man

By R.J. White

What have the Future Rookies been up to this week? The Lehigh Valley Express-Times reports that Michael Taylor injured his oblique last Saturday swinging the bat. He should be back soon. His organization-mate Dominic Brown is the middle of a ten-game hit streak, raising his average to .318 with Double-A Reading. After homering in three consecutive games, Brett Wallace hit two more HRs on August 19, but he’s cooled off the last few days. Kila Ka’aihue has missed a few games with a hand injury suffered on a hit-by-pitch. Michael Bowden’s only work this week came with the Boston Red Sox — he gave up seven of the Yankees’ 20 runs scored in their 20-11 win against Boston and was promptly returned to the minors. Jeremy Hellickson is looking like a future stud; he struck out ten batters in five innings in his start this week. Jhoulys Chacin walked five batters in two innings during his second Triple-A start, making the Rockies’ demotion of the pitcher look wise. Aaron Poreda is also having massive control issues, walking six batters for the second time in three starts.

Featured Add – Hitter

Todd Frazier, IF/OF, Cin, Age 23, Triple-A

	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008 A	112	25	7	20	4	15	28	.321	.402	.598	1.000
2008 A+	366	62	12	54	8	41	84	.281	.357	.451	.808
2009 AA	451	59	14	68	7	42	67	.290	.350	.481	.831
2009 AAA	10	3	1	3	1	3	2	.300	.462	.800	1.262

Drafted in the first round in 2007, Todd Frazier has played many positions at many levels, but no matter where he calls home or which glove he brings onto the field, the Cincinnati prospect has continued to hit well. After posting a 19-HR, 12-SB season in two stops last year, Frazier has done a great job of cutting down on his strikeouts in 2009. His advancement recently earned him a promotion to Triple-A, where he’s already got a homer and two doubles to his credit in 10 at-bats. What will be key for his fantasy worth is his future long-term position. The Reds have moved him to left field this year, where 20-HR hitters with good averages are easier to find than similar statistical players in the infield. If he doesn’t make it back to the infield, that takes a lot of the shine off his fantasy prospects.

Hitter Performance Review (as of 8/24/09)

		AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Justin Smoak	AAA	179	23	3	21	0	33	42	.240	.361	.352	.713
Last 10	AAA	32	3	0	3	0	9	9	.250
Brett Wallace	AAA	345	45	13	38	1	25	69	.293	.350	.455	.805
Last 10	AAA	43	10	5	9	1	3	8	.372
Buster Posey	AAA	105	19	4	16	0	16	18	.295	.382	.505	.887
Last 10	AAA	34	5	2	5	0	6	7	.353
Desmond Jennings	AAA	77	12	2	10	8	12	11	.299	.389	.455	.843
Last 10	AAA	33	4	2	6	4	6	5	.303
Michael Taylor	AAA	110	15	5	19	3	13	19	.282	.359	.491	.850
Last 10	AAA	40	5	2	8	1	2	3	.350
Kila Ka’aihue	AAA	397	76	17	54	0	90	80	.264	.400	.466	.866
Last 10	AAA	33	8	3	8	0	7	3	.303
Mat Gamel	AAA	220	35	10	45	1	35	71	.286	.384	.505	.889
Last 10	AAA	36	7	2	8	1	4	8	.361
Mike Carp	AAA	383	64	15	57	0	56	89	.269	.374	.457	.831
Last 10	AAA	43	5	3	8	0	2	11	.326

		AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Jason Heyward	AA	151	30	7	27	4	26	17	.338	.436	.609	1.046
Last 10	AA	37	4	1	3	3	8	4	.162
Pedro Alvarez	AA	193	35	10	33	1	29	53	.326	.411	.560	.970
Last 10	AA	33	6	2	6	0	8	8	.273
Dominic Brown	AA	88	13	3	14	6	7	18	.318	.368	.557	.925
Last 10	AA	42	4	0	7	3	2	10	.333
Chris Carter	AA	485	106	23	98	13	81	118	.334	.433	.567	1.000
Last 10	AA	37	4	1	7	1	7	11	.351
Carlos Santana	AA	383	80	20	86	1	81	76	.285	.410	.522	.932
Last 10	AA	32	5	0	2	0	9	7	.219

Former features Matt LaPorta, Alcides Escobar, Brandon Allen, Nolan Reimold, Andrew McCutchen, Gaby Sanchez, and Kyle Blanks have moved on to the majors. Josh Whitesell has been demoted, but hasn’t made an appearance in a minor-league game since his demotion. Jesus Montero is out for the year.

Featured Add – Pitcher

Wade Davis, SP, TB, Age 23, Triple-A

	IP	ERA	WHIP	HR	BB	K
2008 AA	107.2	3.85	1.36	7	42	81
2008 AAA	53.0	2.72	1.19	5	24	55
2009 AAA	151.2	3.26	1.28	13	59	132
Aug 23	6.0	1.50	1.17	1	0	3

A top-five prospect in the deep Tampa Bay organization, Davis is a strikeout pitcher (8.8 K/9 ratio in minor-league career) that should pitch in the majors for a long time. At the beginning of the season, Davis looked completely blocked behind an excellent major-league rotation, but now I fully expect the Rays to add Davis to their rotation in September. He brings with him the added benefit of pitching a lot of innings each year; he had over 160 IP in 2008 and should reach the 180+ IP mark this year. What that means is he’ll be a threat to throw 200 innings per year starting in his rookie season. In this era of pitch counts and inning limits, a pitcher that can push those boundaries can be extremely valuable. Be ready to draft Davis to your 2010 teams, as he has serious Rookie-of-the-Year potential if he cracks the rotation.

Pitcher Performance Review (as of 8/24/09)

		IP	ERA	WHIP	HR	BB	K
Michael Bowden	AAA	115.1	3.20	1.19	11	43	82
Aug 16	AAA	6.2	2.70	1.05	0	2	4
Jeremy Hellickson	AAA	35.1	3.31	1.02	3	12	39
Aug 20	AAA	5.0	1.80	1.00	0	2	10
Jake Arrieta	AAA	82.2	3.92	1.33	8	26	74
Aug 24	AAA	7.0	0.00	0.57	0	2	6
Hector Rondon	AAA	53.2	2.68	1.25	3	10	50
Aug 23	AAA	7.0	1.29	1.29	0	1	3
Jhoulys Chacin	AAA	7.1	6.14	1.50	1	8	4
Aug 23	AAA	2.0	22.50	4.00	1	5	1
Carlos Carrasco	AAA	150.0	4.80	1.26	17	44	145
Aug 21	AAA	6.2	4.05	0.90	1	1	6
Scott Elbert	AAA	28.2	4.40	1.50	2	12	30
Aug 23	AAA	4.0	2.25	1.50	1	1	6
Aaron Poreda	AAA	33.1	6.75	1.80	3	26	28
Aug 24	AAA	4.1	8.31	2.31	1	6	2

		IP	ERA	WHIP	HR	BB	K
Madison Bumgarner	AA	92.0	2.05	1.09	5	28	66
Aug 20	AA	5.0	1.80	1.40	0	3	5
Kyle Drabek	AA	90.1	3.39	1.23	8	29	69
Aug 20	AA	7.0	0.00	0.57	0	1	4
Tim Alderson	AA	93.1	3.57	1.25	6	21	60
Aug 19	AA	6.0	4.50	1.33	0	2	6
Jeanmar Gomez	AA	108.2	3.06	1.16	8	34	97
Aug 14	AA	4.0	0.00	1.00	0	3	3
Martin Perez	AA	6.2	12.15	2.55	2	3	7
Aug 19	AA	4.0	6.75	2.00	1	2	4
Jarrod Parker	AA	78.1	3.68	1.48	2	34	74
DL	AA	–	–	–	–	–	–

Former features Mat Latos, Junichi Tazawa, Brian Matusz, Kris Medlen, Derek Holland, Chris Tillman, and Tommy Hanson have moved on to the majors. Jarrod Parker is out for about a month with a strained pitching elbow.

Next we’ll hear from Bryan Schubert in a segment called Digging Deeper. This portion of the column addresses potential future fantasy stars that have quite a bit of time before reaching the majors.

Digging Deeper

Casey Kelly, SS/SP, Bos, Age 19, Single-A

	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Rk	28	4	2	6	1	3	10	.214	.290	.464	.755
2009 A	95	15	1	5	0	10	22	.232	.302	.337	.639

Schubert: Most of us know his story: Kelly was drafted as a pitcher, but wants to be a hitter. The first-round pick from ‘08 has bounced around his fair share in the minors and not just between clubs. He came onto the scene strong in 2008 by hitting .344 in 32 at-bats in Short Season-A, but Rookie ball was not as inviting, as he posted a .173 average while striking out 34 times, with only one home run and nine RBIs in 98 at-bats. This year, Kelly became a two-time Carolina League Pitcher of the Week, but has since traded trips to the mound in for appearances at the plate. His offensive production has had far much less of an impact than his presence on the mound. In 17 starts between Greenville (Single-A) and Salem (Single-A Advanced), Kelly threw 95 innings en route to a 7-5 record, with a 2.08 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 74 strikeouts and only 16 walks. In 113 at-bats between the Rookie League and Gulf Coast League he is only hitting .230 with 29 strikeouts. Florida’s 2008 Mr. Baseball put up some great numbers at the plate in high school, but thus far it seems that pitching is his niche in professional baseball.

R.J. White is a fantasy blogger at the sports site FanHouse. Check out his work both here and there, and feel free to talk to him in the forums, where he posts under the name daullaz.