Image credit: Bill Mitchell Photography
| Born: 06/30/1998 (Age: 20) | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 165 |
| Mechanics |
| first base side of the rubber, FWU, controlled, balanced, separates glove ahead of rubber, late at footstrike, present hip-shoulder separation which could lend a hand in increasing velocity, average arm speed, three-quarters release point, solid finish, good direction, repeats; low effort; composed, calm and focused demeanor.
Projectable XL Frame, thin shoulders to which he hangs up his jersey on, more muscle should do him well; about 6-foot-1, 170-pound. |
| Evaluator | Javier A Barragan |
| Report Date | 07/05/2018 |
| Affiliate | Staten Island Yankees (Short Season, Yankees) |
| Dates Seen | 7/3/18 |
| OFP/Risk | 50/High |
| Realistic | 40; spot starter/long relief |
| MLB ETA | 2021 |
| Video | Yes |
| Pitch Type | Present Grade | Future Grade | Sitting Velocity | Peak Velocity | Report |
| FB | 45 | 50 | 90 | 91 | Riser, pitches up in the zone, occasional bat-misser there, fly ball pitch; occasional slight tail.
88-91 |
| SL | 40 | 50 | 81 | 82 | 11-5 shape, solid depth and bite, generates a few swing-and-misses and chases, thrown to both LHH and RHH for put-away; trusted secondary early and throughout.
79-82 |
| CH | 30 | 40 | 84 | 86 | Solid fade; fair bite; a tad more consistency in shape, pitch-to-pitch, will accentuate his other pitches disproportionately across the board; can get too firm losing distinction from fringy fastball; a put-away pitch to LHH and timing-disrupter (a.k.a. ground ball inducer) for RHH; chance for 50.
84-86 |
| CB | 40 | 40 | 78 | 79 | 11-6, large depth, maintains identical motion despite hump out of hand, mainly used to steal strikes and provide a different look, solid feel for.
76-79 |
| CONTROL | 50 | 60 | threw strikes, hit the zone, repeated delivery, was able to place his pitches, both the hard and slow stuff, in and out of the zone. |
| Overall |
| Composed and quiet throughout, Martinez, newly 20, will not excite you at first; however, as the game progresses, his aptitude for pitching and placing will reveal itself, showing a major-league quality sixth starter. He understands what he needs to do to navigate a line-up – fastballs up, change-up in fastball counts, round curveballs for first-pitch strikes, alternate sliders and change-ups to put away righties and lefties – never relying too much on one single-faceted strategy.
Though one can gloss over it now, improved shape consistency, pitch-to-pitch, in the slider, curveball, and changeup – and especially the changeup – will command more respect from hitters, underscoring four viable pitches, and a small bump in his future role. While his arm-related injuries have plagued him since draft day, Martinez is, at best, a fifth-starter, and will likely become a spot-starter/long-reliever on a Championship-caliber Major-League team. |
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| Born: 02/20/1998 (Age: 20) | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Height: 6′ 7″ | Weight: 223 |
| Mechanics |
| Tall, good athlete, heavier than listed 186, projectable growth; average arm speed, three-quarters arm slot with clean arm action, mild effort, 1.39 delivery time. |
| Evaluator | Nathan Graham |
| Report Date | 07/05/2018 |
| Affiliate | Fort Wayne TinCaps (Low A, Padres) |
| Dates Seen | 3X May-July |
| OFP/Risk | 45/High |
| Realistic | 40; Middle Reliever |
| MLB ETA | 2021 |
| Video | Yes |
| Pitch Type | Present Grade | Future Grade | Sitting Velocity | Peak Velocity | Report |
| FB | 50 | 55 | 90-92 | 93 | Has some natural arm-side run, uses height to get leverage, fastball has some heaviness and late life to it; current fringe-average control projects to average. |
| CB | 40 | 45 | 70-73 | 73 | Below-average present, 12-6 movement, only threw a handful in my looks, inconsistent, lacks feel. |
| CH | 40 | 50 | 80-85 | 85 | Below-average present, inconsistent arm speed replication, will overthrow, flattens up in the zone, when right pitch does have some fade to it, still developing, has potential to be his best secondary. |
| Overall |
| Thompson, the former third-round Texas prep star, has the build and look of a future big-league starting pitcher. However, the current lack of feel for the secondaries is limiting his future ceiling. There is still some room for physical growth, so you could see the fastball tick up a notch. Pair that with a change that continues to develop and Thompson would be a solid bullpen arm. |
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| Born: 02/24/1999 (Age: 19) | |
| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| Height: 6′ 3″ | Weight: 191 |
| Mechanics |
| Tall and thin, long legged, projectable frame; Semi-windup with hands going high and an exaggerated leg kick; Plus arm speed, three-quarters slot, stays online, clean, balanced landing, potential for plus command, mild effort in the delivery. |
| Evaluator | Nathan Graham |
| Report Date | 07/16/2018 |
| Affiliate | Fort Wayne TinCaps (Low A, Padres) |
| Dates Seen | 7/4, 7/9 |
| OFP/Risk | 70/High |
| Realistic | 60; No. 3 Starter |
| MLB ETA | 2021 |
| Video | Yes |
| Pitch Type | Present Grade | Future Grade | Sitting Velocity | Peak Velocity | Report |
| FB | 60 | 70 | 92-94 | 95 | Fastball plays up due to extension from delivery, straight and heavy with late life; Locates well to all four quadrants, potential for uptick in velocity as body matures. |
| CB | 60 | 70 | 78-80 | 80 | 1-7 Movement, sharp bite, confident and will throw at any count; Will steal a strike early and bury late in counts; generates swings and misses, true out-pitch. |
| CH | 50 | 60 | 78-82 | 82 | Nice velocity separation, replicates arm action well, showed some tumble, left some up, still developing feel. |
| SL | 40 | 50 | 85-86 | 86 | Only showed a handful of times in looks, raw, struggled with release point, when right offering did show strike to ball sweep. |
| Overall |
| Gore, the No. 3 pick in the 2017 draft, has the look and stuff of a front line starter. The delivery has a lot of moving parts but when broken down is remarkably balanced and clean giving potential for future plus command. The repertoire is advanced for a teenager and it’s easy to see three, if not four, offerings being above average. There is concern that the blister issue that has nagged to start his professional career could linger. If he can stay healthy, Gore has a high-ceiling profile of a top of the rotation starter. |
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| Born: 07/20/1998 (Age: 19) | |
| Bats: Switch | Throws: Right |
| Height: 6′ 0″ | Weight: 200 |
| Primary Position: C | |
| Secondary Position: DH | |
| Physical/Health |
| Medium height, athletic catchers build with sturdy muscle in lower body and lean torso. Mostly filled out despite age; could put on a little extra weight on upper body.
More fluid than twitchy with coordinated athleticism. |
| Evaluator | <!– –> Kevin Carter |
| Report Date | 07/05/2018 |
| Dates Seen | 7/1/2018-7/2/2018 |
| Affiliate | Tulsa Drillers (AA, Dodgers) |
| MLB ETA | Risk Factor | OFP | Realistic Role | Video |
| 2020 | Moderate | 60 | 50; Major-league Regular | No |
| Makeup |
| Quietly goes about business behind home plate. Cool and calm presence for pitchers. Puts in regular work in cage. |
| Tool | Future Grade | Report |
| Hit | 50 | Starts with big leg kick and hands low at letters, fires hips when foot lands and opens up the lower body before upper body comes through. Swing is usually long with some arm bar in front arm. Average bat speed and quality swing path. Excellent coordination and feel for contact.
Right-handed swing is more compact and the lower body doesn’t open up as early. Aggressive approach that leads to poor contact more than strike outs when he chases. Can get fooled on average or better breaking stuff. |
| Power | 40 | Average raw power. Strong hips with swing path that should translate into pull-side home run power, especially from the left side.
Bat speed and approach will likely limit his contact ability and keep his home run totals down. |
| Baserunning/Speed | 35 | Average top speed currently, but below-average acceleration. At least early in career will be better runner than most catchers, but will slow down with wear and tear. |
| Glove | 55 | Receiving normally natural, but occasionally isn’t smooth, especially on pitches above and below zone. Above-average footwork that should continue to improve with reps. Controls the game well and recognizes when the pitcher needs a moment. |
| Arm | 50 | Average arm strength with quality footwork on throws that make up for having less arm than usual for the position. |
| Overall |
| Keibert Ruiz‘s excellent hand-eye coordination and fluid athleticism should lead the way to his overall projection as a major-league regular at catcher. The switch-hitter makes contact consistently on balls in and out of the zone. As his approach improves, he should hit for an average batting average while hitting 8-12 home runs, more coming from the left side. Ruiz should be an above-average defender who controls the run game well enough to let the other tools shine through.
Ruiz is currently over-aggressive at the plate which leads to mostly weak contact on balls that should have put him into a more advantageous count. This combined with his average bat speed could limit his contact to the point where he will be more serviceable as a backup catcher. More than likely, the 19 year old will iron out some of the kinks in his approach and he will be able to tap into the skill-set enough. His upside is tied to his approach and how much of his average raw power he taps into and with large improvements he could produce fringe-allstar value. |
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| Born: 05/07/1997 (Age: 21) | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Height: 6′ 0″ | Weight: 169 |
| Primary Position: CF | |
| Secondary Position: | |
| Physical/Health |
| Small at 6-foot, 169 pounds; long legs, thin through the chest, waist, and thighs; lean muscle |
| Evaluator | <!– –> Jay Markle |
| Report Date | 07/08/2018 |
| Dates Seen | June/July 2018 |
| Affiliate | Lansing Lugnuts (Low A, Blue Jays) |
| MLB ETA | Risk Factor | OFP | Realistic Role | Video |
| 2021 | Very High | 50 | 40; 5th outfielder | Yes |
| Tool | Future Grade | Report |
| Hit | 40 | He has no problem putting wood on the ball and seems at ease in the box, hitting foul balls and with more refined understanding of the strike zone than most players at his level. He can beat out some balls hit to infielders, but a low-power approach drags on his ability to get on base. |
| Power | 30 | Slight frame provides only slightly more raw power; shoots himself in the foot with poor swing timing; attacks pitches at front of zone; often strikes ball with the end of the bat; may post higher power numbers than expected thanks to speed; will not be a home run producer. |
| Baserunning/Speed | 65 | High-effort runner; good-not-great times; uses long strides on the bases and the speed transfers well to the field, I clocked him at 4.25 on a wide turn. |
| Glove | 60 | Very rangy defender in center; range and willingness to dive compensates for mediocre routes and shows #GRIT; the actual glovework is unrefined at the moment; I can see him being plus in the field if he is able to use all his skills to greatest effect but merely average if he cannot. |
| Arm | 45 | The arm strength is nothing remarkable and there is more loft in his throw than I wanted to see; it will work fine in center but may not in a corner. |
| Overall |
| Pruitt doesn’t appear on prospect lists any more for a reason. He will need to overcome serious mechanical issues in his swing to make it onto a major league roster. His defense will float the profile. If everything comes comes together and he optimizes his swing and defensive portfolios, he could make a second division regular who hits at the bottom of a lineup, but that seems very unlikely. |
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