As part of Perfect Game's recurring PG in the Pros series David Rawnsley will take a look at some of the top prospects in minor league baseball and their impact on the sport prior to their professional careers. This will be done in a six-part series, one feature for each division in Major League Baseball while identifying one of the top prospects for each team. Links are provided below to past installments of the PG in the Pros series for other reports on prospects, both past and present.
2016-17 PG in the Pros Series: NL East | NL Central | AL West | AL Central | AL East
Arizona Diamondbacks
Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Archie Bradley, Chris Owings, Stryker Trahan
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Braden Shipley, Aaron Blair, Brandon Drury
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Pete O’Brien
Anthony Banda, LHP
Banda is proof positive that all top minor league prospects weren't acclaimed prospects out of high school. Or even prospects, for that matter.
Banda grew up in Sinton, Texas, a small farming community of less than 6,000 residents just north of Corpus Christi in south Texas. He played for the Houston Raiders in a couple of PG tournaments after his sophomore and junior years, working in the 79-81 mph range. He improved enough his senior year that he started getting interest from junior colleges and was even drafted in the 33rd round by the Diamondbacks, in part because his summer coach also scouted for Arizona. Banda eventually accepted a scholarship from national power San Jacinto in Houston.
By Banda's own account, he was "horrible" in the fall and was almost cut from the team. He improved from that point, however, and ended up as a starter in the spring, going 7-2, 2.84 with 85 strikeouts and only 56 hits allowed in 79 innings. The Milwaukee Brewers picked him in the 10th round (335th overall pick) of the 2012 draft and signed him for a $125,000 bonus.
Banda was eventually traded to the Diamondbacks, the team that originally drafted him out of high school, along with Mitch Haniger, in exchange for Gerardo Parra in 2014 as he continues to flourish in the minor leagues.
Colorado Rockies
Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Eddie Butler, David Dahl, Kyle Parker, Trevor Story
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Jonathan Gray, Ryan McMahon
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Forrest Wall
Ryan Castellani, RHP
The Colorado Rockies face unique problems when it comes to developing pitchers and it was easy to follow their thought process in drafting Ryan Castellani with the 48th overall pick in the 2014 draft out of Brophy Prep in Arizona. The two paramount things that Rockies pitchers have to do at Coors Field is minimize baserunners through walks and work to the bottom of the strike zone with life to minimize home runs and extra-base hits.
Those were exactly the two strengths of Castellani's package as a high school pitching prospect. A very good athlete with a projectable 6-foot-4, 195-pound build, Castellani built a long and solid resume for scouts and appeared in approximately a dozen Perfect Game events along with a pair of Area Code Games.
Castellani worked consistently in the 89-91 mph range with his fastball throughout high school, occasionally touching a 92. He had very nice running and sinking life on his fastball and showed the ability to work low with it and get it to both sides of the plate. His best pitch was a 78 mph slider that featured a big and sharp break to offset its relative lack of power as compared to his fastball. Castellani also threw a very credible changeup at times that clearly marked him as a future starter. When Castellani was on his game, he made quick work of high-level hitters and kept his pitch counts low while working in a steady comfort zone.
The one thing that Castellani did not do prior to being drafted was flash a plus fastball despite the fact that everything pointed to him being a projectable righthander whose stuff should steadily improve. He was pretty much the same guy over a dozen PG and national appearances over a two-year period.
That led to him being ranked 102nd overall in the 2014 class in the PG class rankings and his second round status being a surprise to much of the scouting community. The Rockies signed Castellani out of an Arizona State scholarship for a $1.1 million bonus, and, looking at what he has accomplished over the last two-and-a-half minor league seasons, got exactly what they hoped they were drafting.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Corey Seager, Joc Pederson, Zach Lee
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Chris Anderson, Scott Schebler
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Cody Bellinger
Alex Verdugo, OF
Two things stood out about Alex Verdugo as a high school prospect.
The first was that he was a true two-way prospect who had scouts on both sides of the aisle as to whether he as a better prospect as an outfielder or as a lefthanded pitcher. Verdugo had a strong 6-foot-1, 200-pound build that was fairly mature, so there wasn't much projection in the physical tools. He was a 6.8 runner with an absolute hose from the outfield and a strong lefthanded swing that promised plenty of power and production. On the mound, Verdugo had a smooth, athletic delivery and a fastball that worked in the 90-93 mph range to go with very good feel for a curveball that he could adjust the speed and shape on, plus an interesting changeup.
If there was a way to poll the scouts, it might have been 50/50 as to his best position. Speaking for myself, I probably changed my mind each time I saw Verdugo play.
The second thing is that there have been few high school players who have topped what Verdugo achieved at Sahuaro High School in Tucson in terms of performance.
Verdugo was a four-year starter both on the mound and in the outfield. His best year was as a junior, when he went 10-0, 1.29 on the mound with 130 strikeouts in 65 innings and hit .484-7-40 with 25 walks and 24 stolen bases in 33 games as a player. For his career, Verdugo hit .486-16-145 with 86 extra-base hits in 119 high school games and was 26-9 with 401 strikeouts in 246 innings as a pitcher.
Conventional wisdom says to send out a two-way prospect as a hitter, as he can always switch to pitching if he doesn't hit, whereas doing the opposite switch is extremely difficult because it involves relearning how to hit. Whether the Dodgers had him evaluated higher as a hitter before selecting him in the second round of the 2014 draft may never be known, but sending him out to hit certainly seems to have worked out well.
Verdugo passed on a scholarship to Arizona State to sign for a $914,000 bonus.
San Diego Padres
Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Austin Hedges, Matt Wisler, Max Fried, Joe Ross
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Hunter Renfroe, Taylor Lindsey
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Colin Rea
Josh Naylor, 1B
Canadian Josh Naylor's listed size has always been 6-foot-1, 225-pounds in the PG database and he's listed at the same weight and an inch less in his professional records. That has not always been the case, though. Naylor has never been as big as Prince Fielder, a player he's been compared to frequently, at a similar age, but when this scout first saw him as a high school sophomore he weighed significantly more.
That occasion was at old Fort Lauderdale Stadium, the former spring training home of the Baltimore Orioles in the spring of 2013. The Ontario Blue Jays, Naylor's travel program, was taking their annual multi-week tour through the south and were matched up against a group of top prospects from the Dominican Republic who had traveled north for much the same reasons.
Fort Lauderdale is a very large ballpark for those who have never been there. There are bleachers outside the right field fences that run almost all the way to center field. The then 15-year old Josh Naylor was hitting balls in batting practice over the right-center field bleachers in batting practice. Not over the right field fence, over the 15-20 rows of bleachers in right-center field. Dan Bleiwas, the Blue Jays coach, made a comment to me afterwards to the effect of "I told you so!"
Naylor firmed up his body over the next two years and retained his lefthanded power. He had outstanding arm strength as well as power and threw in the upper-80s from the mound and the low-90s from the outfield, but it was always going to be a stretch to imagine him at a corner outfield position with his 7.5 speed and build.
Naylor would go through stretches in those two years when he became too pull oriented and would fly open early with his front side looking to lift the ball, something he didn't need to do with his combination of strength and raw bat speed. His defining moment as a prospect came as a senior in Jupiter at the 2014 WWBA World Championship playing for the Blue Jays, about two months after competing in the PG All-American Classic in San Diego. Naylor came into the event with a right knee injury and it was uncertain if he was going to be full speed for the weekend. What this scout saw was Naylor shorten and simplify his swing to compensate for his injury and subsequently absolutely go off at the plate, crushing a couple of home runs and consistently squaring up the ball. It was a great lesson for all young power hitters and one that evidently resonated with Naylor, who enjoyed a big spring prior to the draft.
The Marlins are almost always in money savings mode and surprised many by picking Naylor with the 12th overall pick in the 2015 draft and signing him away from a Texas Tech scholarship for a $2.25 million bonus, saving almost $900,000 of slot money. Of course, many of the same scouts had the same reaction when Milwaukee grabbed Fielder with the seventh overall pick in 2002.
San Francisco Giants
Before They Were Pros, 2013-14 – Andrew Susac
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15 – Christian Arroyo, Steven Okert, Clayton Blackburn
PG in the Pros, 2015-16 – Tyler Beede
Chris Shaw, 1B
Shaw was a big and strong athlete from his early teenage years and was listed at 6-foot-3, 215-pounds as a 16-year old when he attended his first Perfect Game event, the 2010 Northeast Underclass Showcase. Not only did he stand out for his power, he also threw in the mid-80s off the mound, although his 7.86 time in the 60-yard dash didn't promise much athletically. Here's his report from the event:
Shaw has a strong physical body. He hits from an even stance, has good raw power at the plate, has lift in his swing, ball really jumps on his pitch, two long bombs in BP, needs to refine game approach but the strength in his swing makes him very interesting. Promising on the mound as well, good arm speed, loose two-piece arm action, downhill, across body, good cutting action at 85. Solid two-way prospect.
Shaw was a full participant in the 2011 summer circuit and this scout compared him frequently with Matt Olson, a similarly sized and skilled first baseman from Georgia who would later go on to be the 47th overall pick in 2012 by the A's. In fact, I preferred Shaw's swing and power potential over Olson's at that point, although I was concerned that Shaw still couldn't run a lick and was still posting 7.8 times in the 60.
While Olson was turning pro out of high school, Shaw stayed at home in Massachusetts, although he was a 26th round pick by the Mets, and went to Boston College for three years. I remember being disappointed when he hit .329-6-45 as a sophomore that he wasn't showing the projected over-the-fence power, but Shaw then went out and hit .275-8-34 in the Cape that summer and made his mark in the scouting community. He hit .319-11-43 in 40 games as a junior despite breaking his hamate bone, usually an injury that will sap a hitter's power for an extended period even when he returns to playing. Draft projections had Shaw slotted in the late first round and that's exactly where he went, signing with the Giants with the 31st overall pick for a bonus of $1.4 million.
Interestingly, Shaw dabbled in the outfield at Boston College and there was even some talk about his playing outfield as a professional. To anyone who had seen him run in high school, that was the definition of optimism. He has only played first base professionally.