One of my favorite things to follow as a sports fan is Minor League Baseball. The mystery of a prospect is very intriguing to me. Projecting prospects is an extremely hard thing to do. For every Derek Jeter there are hundreds of guys who never even get a chance in MLB. When I was first given this opportunity to write for Total Sports Blog, I knew that I wanted to write something about prospects. I have decided, instead of just making a list of top prospects, I am going to hand pick a few guys every so often and write a little bit about each player. Some of these guys will top of the line prospects, and others will be under the radar guys that I particularly like. Today, I will profile Oscar Taveras of the Cardinals, Gary Sanchez of the Yankees, and Tony Zych of the Cubs.
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Oscar Taveras OF, STL
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Age: 20
Bats: L
Throws: L
6’2, 180 lbs
Highest Level: AA
MLB ETA: 2013
Taveras is considered by everyone to be a top 5 prospect in all of baseball. Some have him ranked #1 overall. He is an offensive force, solid defender, and good baserunner. He projects to hit well over .300 and around 30 HRs per season in his prime. He is not an elite defender, but he will not hurt you in the outfield. He plays CF right now, but will probably move to a corner spot in the majors. While it is not guaranteed, I think there is a good chance we see Taveras patrolling the OF for the Cardinals at some point this season. You never know about prospects, but Oscar Taveras is as close to a sure thing that there is in the minors.
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Gary Sanchez C, NYY
Age: 20
Bats: R
Throws: R
6’2, 220 lbs
Highest Level: A+
MLB ETA: 2015
Sanchez is a very raw prospect in the Yankees system. He is one of their top prospects, but has yet to prove anything at a higher level. His power projects to 30+ HRs in the majors, and has hit for a very good average in the low minor leagues. His defense is a huge question mark though. He does not seem to have a good feel for the catcher position. The only other position that I would think he could play is 1B. If he does reach his hitting potential, and is able to continue being a catcher, Sanchez will be one of the best players in baseball. The risk factor is very high him though.
Tony Zych P, CHC
Age:22
Bats: R
Throws: R
6’3, 190 lbs
Highest Level: AA
MLB ETA: 2013
Zych is not near as heralded as a prospect as the first two, but he is a guy that I have my eye on. He is a true Relief Pitcher, and those guys usually do not get a lot of love on prospect lists. That being said, they can definitely be useful major leaguers. Some say Zych profiles as more of a middle reliever, but I think he has closer potential. His fastball reaches 99 at times, sitting consistently at 94-97, and he has a very hard slider that sits in the mid 80s. His delivery is a little funky, which is nice if he can consistently repeat it, which he seems to have no problem doing. I think there is a good chance we see Zych in Chicago at some point this season, and if he gets a shot at the closers job, I do not think he will let it go.
Like I said at the beginning I am going to do these every so often. If you have a prospect that you would like me to profile, tweet me @schmelzer77 and I will put them in one of my future editions of Promising Prospects.
