| Arizona Diamondbacks Top 5 | ||||||||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | Comments | Age | Lvl | |||||
| 1 | Jarrod Parker | RHP | K% doesn't wow you? Notice that Ks rose steadily from 19.4% in April to 30.6% in August | 19.9 | A | |||||
| 2 | Gerardo Parra | CF | Big breakout candidate; may not total a ton of home runs, but will double, triple, and make contact | 21.4 | AA | |||||
| 3 | Daniel Schlereth | LHP | Soared up draft boards last spring and wound up as 26th overall pick; power lefty reliever | 22.4 | A | |||||
| 4 | Wade Miley | LHP | A safe bet to find success in pro ball, Miley commands his pitches well but lacks upside | 21.9 | SS | |||||
| 5 | Cesar Valdez | RHP | Low-upside arm who gets a lot of grounders (54% in AA), has a decent K rate and low walks | 23.6 | AA | |||||
| Honorables: Kevin Eichhorn (RHP), Bryan Shaw (RHP), and Trevor Harden (RHP). | ||||||||||
| * Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production | ||||||||||
| ** Ages are as of November 1st, 2008 | ||||||||||
| *** Level is the highest level the player has reached | ||||||||||
| <<< Discuss these rankings | ||||||||||
Jarrod Parker - Parker has top-of-the-rotation potential. His plus fastball and slider to go along with good control -- also features a curve and changeup -- could put him on the fast track to the Show. Clearly one of the top pitching prospects in the game, Parker was selected ninth overall in 2007. He spent all of 2008 in Low-A South Bend (23.3% K, 6.6% BB, 44% GB). Those numbers may not look too impressive at first glance, but a deeper look reveals sound strikeout improvement as the season progressed -- he struck out 30.6% of the 108 batters he faced in August while walking just 4.6%. Parker has ace upside and could reach the big leagues within the next two seasons.
Gerardo Parra - Combining contact ability with good speed, Parra has the potential to turn into an above-average big leaguer. We'd call him a breakout candidate but he may have already broken out...in the Venezuelan Winter League. Parra hit .329/.404/.504 (28 XBH) in 285 plate appearances last winter. He batted .286/.358/.416 during the regular season (A+/AA; combined 8.9% BB, 12.4% K; .144 Double-A IsoP in 302 PA). Parra was the 11th-youngest hitter in Double-A last season. He finished the regular season with a .364 wOBA in August (109 PA, .326 BABIP). Keep a close watch on Parra's 2009 progress, as he could be official break out.
Daniel Schlereth - A power lefty relief arm with a fastball/curve/change mix, Schlereth could move quickly, but needs to avoid health issues he has battled in the past. The 26th overall pick of the 2008 Draft, Schlereth struck out 14 (42.4% K) of the 33 Low-A batters he faced last season while walking four (12.1%). He also managed a ground-ball rate of 67%.
Wade Miley - Miley commands his fastball well and gets good break on his slider. A pitch-to-contact type, he lacks upside but could be quality 4th-5th starter in the future.
Cesar Valdez - Owner of a quality curveball and changeup Valdez has produced solid strikeout and groundball rates (22.1% K, 54% GB last year in AA - 272 TBF). His fastball velocity, however, is nothing special, which could lead to Valdez ending up in as a swingman. Solid control of the strike zone allows him to not beat himself (5.9% BB last year).