Loading ...Jay Bruce shows up on Baseball America’s Hot Sheet again. This time, at #4.
The 20-year-old Bruce is proving with each promotion that there’s little he can’t do. After slumping upon arrival in the International League (for all of about a week), Bruce has proceeded to hit .358/.411/.716 with six home runs and 15 RBIs in the 18 games since July 21. He’s fared very well against lefthanded pitchers thus far, too, hitting .333/.440/.667 in 21 at-bats. And don’t look now, but Bruce is the minor league leader with 68 extra-base hits.
In Baseball America’s Prospect Pulse, they rank the top players at each position and then rank the positions by depth. Votto was rated the top first baseman. Homer Bailey the top right-handed starting pitcher, with Johnny Cueto sixth. Jay Bruce is the top corner outfielder, It requires a subscription but here are some bits:
Votto is the most polished and big league-ready of any first baseman in the minors.
…Bruce is now regarded as a can’t-miss big league star—scouts compare him with Larry Walker…
Bailey remains the top pitching prospect in the minors until his next shot in Cincinnati…
Last week, Baseball America had minor league managers rank the best tools at each level. The usual Reds prospects showed up. In Triple AAA:
Best batting prospect and best strike-zone judgement: Joey Votto
In Hi-A:
Best batting and best power: Jay Bruce
Best reliever: Josh Roenicke
Best defensive thirdbaseman: Michael Griffin
Over at Baseball Prospectus, Kevin Goldstein looks at the 2007 first round picks and how they’ve performed so far.
The way Mesoraco zoomed up on draft boards in the last weeks leading up to the draft, even an underslot bonus seemed good. Rarely tested against top competition in high school, it’s not a big shock that Mesoraco is struggling early as a pro, batting just .244/.319/.317 in his first 23 Gulf Coast League games, but throwing out nearly 40 percent of opposing basestealers.
It is definitely a bonus to have minor leaguers worth following.
i heard bruce will come up if freel goes on the DL
you heard wrong. Freel went on the DL today. We sent Coutlangus down and called up Majewski and Guardado.
i hate the reds. seriously.
Bruce hits lefthanders. Yet another reason he should have been one of the players called up.
When is this organization going to start think with their brains rather than another part of their anatomy?
Like I said before, wake me up when Votto, Bruce, Hamilton, and Bailey all start in the same game. Until then, this franchise has no future.
I want us to buy low on Carlos Quentin!! I think he’s going to be very good, and his value is LOW right now.
And we need a RH hitter w/ pop in our OF of the future.
Quentin’s minor league career numbers (granted, in some good hitters parks, I think):
.313/.430/.528 (1270 AB)
He turns 25 later this month.
Bruce/Hamilton/Quentin as the OF of the future, plus Griffey for as long as he can be out there…
Safe to trade Dunn then.
I would be very very pleased w/ a forward-looking move like that… hopefully “for cheap” as they say.
-Dan-
Quentin is one I’ve watched for a while (through numbers, hadn’t actually seen him in the minors) and I like him quite a bit.
He’s an average defensive outfielder. Walks a fair amount (OBP is also powered by a ton of HBP) and has good power.
I don’t think his price is low right now though, unless by low you mean he’s gone from “untouchable” to “I’d trade him only in the right deal.”
The D’Backs have a sharp GM.
Quentin would be a good get for this team, though.
The sharp GM just signed Eric Byrnes to a 3-yr/$30 million deal.
I don’t know much about Quentin, but with Upton and Young already up and producing in their outfield, they seem to have an extra outfielder.
Exactly, I think they’ve basically committed to Young/Byrnes/Upton now — and the Upton hype (Griffey-like, at age 19??) is intense.
Quentin, so far, is injury-prone, and he’s batting like .205 this year.
But his minor league numbers are great. Good “pedigree” too — 3 years at Stanford. (Not sure if that matters…)
Have the Reds and Arizona ever pulled off a deal?
By the way, two systematic things I’ve seen in Krivsky (that I don’t like at all) are that he seems to:
1) overvalue “veteran-ness”, and
2) undervalue OBP (Castro, Gonzalez, Moeller, even Ross and Phillips who overall have turned out well but their OBP’s aren’t great)
Snagging Quentin would go a long way toward overcoming both of those concerns of mine.
To give credit where credit is due, Krivsky has shown a nice knack for “buying low” at just the right time on some guys. It’s a hugely important skill for the GM of a team that is not from NY, Boston, Chicago, or LA.
Agree on both 9 & 10, Dan. Good points.
I’m a big Quentin fan. Wish we could get him, though I’m not sure there’s a need.
As much as I love Adam Dunn, I’m coming around to the point where Bruce looks like a much cheaper replacement, maybe as soon as next year. Sixty-eight extra-base hits in 4 months is just absurd.