This week, Minors Only takes a look at a resurgent Tony Thomas, a scuffling Jefry Marte, an emerging Manny Pina, and more.
Tony the Tiger
Chicago Cubs second base prospect Tony Thomas opened eyes with an outstanding professional debut in 2007 (11.7% BB, 19.2% K, .407 wOBA, .238 IsoP in 213 PA for SS-Boise) and entered last season with a lot of buzz.
But Thomas, 22, did little to justify it.
Spending the year with High-A Daytona, he saw his strikeouts increase (23.0%), his walks decrease (6.8%) as well as sizable drops in IsoP (.135) and wOBA (.309).
A new year brought new hope for Thomas and he's putting himself back on the radar thanks to a terrific start with Double-A Tennessee.
After 86 plate appearances, his numbers look much more like his eye-opening 2007 debut than his disappointing 2008.
His walks are back up (9.3%), the strikeouts are down (17.4%) and his ISOP (.240) and wOBA (.411) are up significantly from last year.
If he can keep up the pace, perhaps Thomas, who some Cubs officials believe is a better pure hitter than Josh Vitters, begins to live up to the expectations placed on him before last season.
Too Much Too Soon For Marte?
Jefry Marte, one of the top prospects in the New York Mets organization, more than held his own last summer as a 17-year-old in the Gulf Coast League.
In 163 plate appearances, Marte posted a .204 IsoP and a .395 wOBA all the while not striking out all that often (16.5%) and walking at a halfway decent clip (7.4%).
That gave the notoriously aggressive Mets more than enough reason to fast-track Marte and they bumped him up to Low-A Savannah.
A month into the season, it certainly looks like it was a mistake. Marte has had 108 plate appearances and his numbers are not pretty.
He's been allergic to walks (1.9%) and thanks in part to a recent stretch where he's struck out at least twice in four of his last six games, his strikeout rate has ballooned to 25.9%. After showing solid power last summer, the third baseman has shown next to none this year, as evidenced by an anemic .069 IsoP.
Marte is still 17 – he turns 18 in June – and most players his age are finishing up their final season of high school ball, so he's way ahead of the curve by already playing in Low-A.
But the early returns point to all of it being too much too soon for Marte. It increasingly looks like the Mets should have held him back until the New York Penn-League, with the idea of putting him in Savannah to open 2010.
Oh, Manny!
There's an old adage that says too much of any one thing isn't good, but don't tell that to the Texas Rangers, an organization already flush with young catchers like Max Ramirez, Taylor Teagarden, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Through the first month of the season, Manny Pina, 21, is making a bid to make the team's catching situation even more muddied.
He's come out firing for Double-A Frisco – after 65 PA, he has a .214 IsoP and a .516 wOBA, making him one of the Texas League's most impressive hitters during the early part of the season.
Pina, who hails from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, always has received strong reviews for his defense, but has consistently struggled with his bat.
Dating back to 2006, he had failed to post a wOBA higher than .307 or an IsoP better than .094.
If his offensive profile had one positive, it was that he was proving to be a tremendous contact hitter, striking out no more than 13.5% at any stop since 2006, a trend he has carried over into this year (12.3%).
It remains to be seen how well his bat holds up and there's plenty of reason to be skeptical based on a largely unimpressive history. At the very least, Pina has emerged as a guy to track in a system that has no shortage of guys like that.
They Said It
“If this kid stays healthy and puts in the time, he has a chance to be a good one. He still has a ways to go in his development, but the natural ability is there." - an anonymous scout comments on Cleveland Indians pitching prospect Hector Rondon.
“Ross (Seaton) has got unbelievable talent. I mean, he's big, he's strong, he's got a good fastball, he's got a good breaking ball. That's pretty apparent when you see him pitch. One thing that separates Ross from some of the other guys is his maturity. He's a mature high school kid. He understands what we're trying to teach him. He wants to get better. He's got great aptitude. And his work ethic is unbelievable. When you put all those things together, you've got a pretty good prospect." - Ricky Bennett, Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel for the Houston Astros, on Ross Seaton.
Discuss this article in our minor league forum. Contact Ryan Fay at rfay8585@yahoo.com.