Minor League Report: Checking in With 2008’s Top Prospects
Posted by Alan Hull on May 4th, 2008
With the Major League season now a little more than a month deep, I thought it would be a good time to check in with some of the league’s notable prospects and see how they’ve fared in the early goings.
Jay Bruce, 21, CF-L, AAA Louisville (CIN): Jay Bruce, the consensus top prospect of 2008 has been passed up by consensus number two prospect Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays in their respective quests for the majors as Longoria is the Ray’s starting third baseman (hitting .239/.345/.437 with five homeruns) and has already received a multi-million dollar contract extension.
Okay, it’s not fair to compare the two a month into the season and Bruce is still a year younger than Longoria. Bruce has more than held his own in AAA so far, hitting .284/.308/.505 in 109 at-bats with 5 HR. He’s still far from a finished product as his 27/6 K to BB ratio in AAA will not cut it against big league pitching. I suspect Bruce will get his first shot at the bigs by June. Will he be ready? That’s hard to say, but his performance so far would suggest that he’s not.
Cameron Maybin, 21, CF-R, AA Carolina (FLA): Cameron Maybin, the centerpiece in the Miguel Cabrera trade to Detroit, is another prospect whose major-league readiness I questioned prior to the beginning of 2008 and it seems the Marlins felt the same way, starting the toolsy outfielder to AA. He has shown that his approach still need work as he hit poorly in spring training and so far in 2008, he has hit .235/.390/.378 in 98 at-bats, striking out 38 times and walking 24 times. The walks are good, but the strikeouts are really bad. He was demonstrated the athleticism that many have seen in him, hitting three homeruns and stealing six bases.
At this point, unless Maybin can significantly improve his ability to make contact, he will not make it to the majors anytime soon. Having said that, Maybin is a truly elite talent and I do suspect he will breakout sooner rather than later. At this rate, a late-season call-up seems likely, but he’ll need to really catch fire or work his way through AAA first.
Homer Bailey, 22, RHP, AAA Louisville: Homer Bailey, teammate of fellow Memphis Bat Jay Bruce, had a rough major league debut in 2007 and displayed a lack of command of his otherwise electric stuff that has led to a dip in his stock coming into 2008. Starting the season in AAA, Bailey has been pitching very well and so far, has compiled a 4-2 record with a 2.29 ERA in 39.1 innings pitched, striking out 32 and walking 9, displaying much better command. Memphis Bats manager Rick Sweet has been impressed so far:
“His stuff has just been electric coming out of his hands. All of his stuff is coming out of his hands better. Fastball, slider, curveball change-up; all of his pitches are better. … He’s in much more control of what he’s trying to do.”
It’s unclear when Bailey will be promoted to the big league club, but if he keeps pitching like he has, he’ll be joining fellow Reds prospects Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto sooner than later.
Fore more info, scouting reports and footage, check out Baseball Mastermind’s 2008 Top-25 Prospects.
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