Royals Top 60 Prospects: #53-47

by nwroyal on Oct 26, 2009 12:46 PM EDT in Royals Minor Leagues Comment 10 comments

We continue on our journey through the Royals top prospects. In case you haven't yet committed the first part of the list to memory, here are #60-54:

60--Dylan Lindsay

59-Blaine Hardy

58-Barry Bowden

57-Rowdy Hardy

56-Matt Mitchell

55-Ryan Wood

54 Eduardo Paulino

I should have the next installment at the end of this week.

53--Nick Van Stratten--RF--Age:24

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009	24	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A-A_adv	KCR	452	394	27	5	4	52	20	8	41	51	.307	.385	.431	.817
2009	24	Burlington	MIDW	A	KCR	291	255	20	5	1	38	15	6	28	32	.318	.393	.447	.840
2009	24	Wilmington	CARL	A_adv	KCR	161	139	7	0	3	14	5	2	13	19	.288	.371	.403	.774
4 Seasons						989	857	53	18	10	120	46	14	93	98	.310	.391	.449	.840

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/23/2009.

Nick grew up around KC and the Royals drafted him the 10th round out of a St. Louis community college (is that redundant?). Nick has moved slowly through the system reaching High-A this year at age 24. He has hit pretty well in the low minors but he is a year older than Billy Butler. Of course, Van Stratten can play the field and, from reports, does a pretty good job in RF. It would be great if he can start next year in AA and keep proving his bat.

52--Deivy Batista--SS--Age:21

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009	21	Idaho Falls	PION	Rook	KCR	276	248	8	6	13	56	9	5	19	68	.262	.309	.500	.809
3 Seasons						694	615	29	11	17	103	26	19	63	133	.270	.339	.436	.774

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/23/2009.

On one hand you've got a guy who plays a premium position with some power. On the other hand, you've got a guy who strikes out a ton, doesn't walk much is old for the league. I've got him ranked pretty low because I think his numbers are going to implode at Burlington next year.

51--Sean McCauley--C--Age:20

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009	20	Burlington	MIDW	A	KCR	185	167	8	1	1	14	2	0	14	29	.222	.284	.299	.584
3 Seasons						471	420	30	1	5	46	5	2	41	76	.257	.328	.369	.697

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/23/2009.

Catchers are notorious for having funky developmental patterns--their job on the field is so unique and demanding that they many times develop slower that other positions. McCauley was drafted in the 12th round in 2007 and hit well in Arizona in 2007. He didn't hit quite as well in Idaho Falls in 2008. And last year his numbers weren't very good before going down with an injury. He will probably go back to Burlington, Iowa and hopefully his bat will come around.

50--Fernando Cruz--C--Age:19

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009	19	Burlington	APPY	Rook	KCR	200	188	11	1	3	21	2	0	7	23	.277	.308	.394	.702
3 Seasons						604	567	25	2	4	50	5	3	18	109	.242	.274	.314	.588

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/23/2009.

Before Bryce Harper, there was another player who wanted to leave HS behind a year early to play pro ball. Fernando Cruz is not nearly as heralded or talented but he took his GED qualified for the 2007 draft a year early and the Royals took him. Some thought he would be a 2nd round talent had he waited for the 2008 draft. He predictably struggled in his first couple of years but last year showed some promise with his bat. The Royals moved him to Catcher from 3rd Base. I haven't heard how his defense is. I'm guessing he will go to short-season Idaho Falls next year.

49--Eric Basurto--RHP--Age:23

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	ERA	G	SV	IP	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2009	23	3 Teams	3 Lgs	A-A_adv-Rook	KCR	0.76	15	2	23.2	1.225	5.3	0.4	5.7	14.5	2.53
2009	23	Wilmington	CARL	A_adv	KCR	0.84	8	2	10.2	1.312	6.8	0.8	5.1	13.5	2.67
2009	23	Idaho Falls	PION	Rook	KCR	0.00	1	0	1.1	0.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	20.2
2009	23	Burlington	MIDW	A	KCR	0.77	6	0	11.2	1.286	4.6	0.0	6.9	14.7	2.11
3 Seasons						2.00	53	2	85.2	1.307	6.8	0.3	4.9	9.7	1.96

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/23/2009.

You don't replace Ross Gload. Eric Basurto just needs to play his game and Royals fans need to understand that you can't compare him to a former great. Basurto was our return for sending Gload to the Marlins (and eating his salary). As you can see from his stats, he K's a bunch of folks and walks a bunch of folks. He's got a fastball and that's about it. He won't make it without developing a secondary pitch.

48--Pedro Nivar--SS--Age:17

Pedro Nivar was a relatively big international signing for us in 2008. He got six figures--which is now chicken feed on the international market. He's a SS and he posted a 233/380/291 line in the Dominican Summer League in 109 plate appearances after being injured. There isn't a lot to take away from this other than the 380 OBP is nice. Its not often you see an OBP 90 points higher than SLG--but there it is. He's toolsy and young and there is a something there to dream on at least. Best case scenario is that he plays next year in the Arizona Rookie League.

47--Cole White--RHP--Age:21

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	ERA	G	SV	IP	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2009	21	2 Teams	2 Lgs	Rook-A	KCR	1.67	20	3	37.2	1.407	7.4	0.5	5.3	8.6	1.64
2009	21	Idaho Falls	PION	Rook	KCR	1.29	12	3	21.0	1.333	6.4	0.4	5.6	9.9	1.77
2009	21	Burlington	MIDW	A	KCR	2.16	8	0	16.2	1.500	8.6	0.5	4.9	7.0	1.44
1 Season						1.67	20	3	37.2	1.407	7.4	0.5	5.3	8.6	1.64

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/23/2009.

Cole White was our 6th Round draft choice in 2009 out of U. of New Mexico. He's a reliever with a sinking fastball in the 92-95 MPH range. He has developed a slider to go with it. Since he's a reliever he might be able to get by on those two pitches. He obviously needs better control but he has swing and miss stuff and could develop into a valuable reliever.

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Comments

380 OBP at age 17?

Trade Nivar now – he obviously can’t be educated to trust the process.

Mr Glass, this is a pro sports team, not a retail store - run it like one!

by loyal2sdad on Oct 26, 2009 2:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

With such a small sample size of PAs

It is hard to draw any meaningful conclusions. That’s only 16 walks. While that may be high, I think it may be safe to assume that his BA and SLG are too low with the small sample. So he is someone to watch.

by AxDxMx on Oct 26, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nick Van Stratten NOW

by royalsreview on Oct 26, 2009 4:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

the sad thing is

wouldn’t every single one of us put him in RF this instant if it would totally erase all traces of Joagie?

Blank

by benfunke on Oct 26, 2009 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

While he might do ok, the upside of jumping all the way to MLB is probably a TPJ-like line.

Ok, maybe not that bad…

by AxDxMx on Oct 26, 2009 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and i for one would take a .225 hitter who can play decent defense for the league minimum to wash away a .250 hitter who is the league’s worst defender (and then some) who makes $18M.

of course this was just a silly “what if” on my part b/c of course Van Stratten can’t make the jump to ML and Jose and his $18M liability aren’t going anywhere.

Blank

by benfunke on Oct 27, 2009 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

did i say 18M?

12M, not sure who i was thinking of with that one

Blank

by benfunke on Oct 27, 2009 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

haven't read yet, will tonight

but seriously, thank you for doing this. I can do royals year-round (that kinda came out wrong) so I am very appreciative of people posting good analytical content. looking forward to upcoming installments!

"He once had an awkward moment, just to see what it felt like - He is the most interesting man in the world"

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Oct 26, 2009 6:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

twss

"Things could always be worse." - Buddy Bell

by buddyball on Oct 27, 2009 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

kinda OT

but Daniel Gutierrez was named co-AFL pitcher of the week.

Link

Danny Gutierrez, Surprise Rafters
One of five Fall League pitchers who enter Week 3 with two victories, the 22-year-old Los Angeles product also sports a 0.00 earned run average in his two appearances (both starts). He has allowed no runs, two hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

A four-year professional, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Gutierrez was drafted in the 33rd round (982nd overall) in 2005 out of Rubidoux (Calif.) High School. He split 2009 between Class A Advanced Wilmington (1-0 with a 1.65 ERA in eight games) and Double-A (0-0, 3.60 ERA in one game). His 6-10 career record includes a 3.80 earned run average in 50 games. He has struck out 198 batters in 206 innings.

Stats

JD’s like, "you want some fucking pitching? Here’s all the pitching you can stand. Now choke on it, bitches!"- RCCook

by laxtonto on Oct 26, 2009 8:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs