Prospect Stock Watch: Brinson, Marte, Nimmo, Starling

Today at the Prospect Stock Watch we take a look at three outfield prospects — including one who has already been impacted (indirectly) by the trade deadline, as well as an impressive infielder in Seattle.

Lewis Brinson, OF, Rangers: The big Cole Hamels traded netted the Phillies some impressive prospects including outfielder Nick Williams. He was a step ahead of Brinson, who was in A-ball, on the depth chart but I would have personally preferred the latter in a deal such as this. Brinson is a plus center-fielder with speed at 20+ home run potential. But, like Williams, he’s had contact issues in the past but they’ve improved in 2015. Two warnings: His gaudy numbers have come in a very strong hitting environment and his current BABIP is more than .400. With the move of Williams, it’s been reported that Brinson will move up to Double-A. With Leonys Martin’s contract up at the end of the year, it might behoove the club to hold onto him for one more year (through arbitration) and then hope Brinson, 21, is ready for The Show in 2017. [Value Up]

Ketel Marte, SS, Mariners: Marte caught my attention while playing in Low-A ball in 2013 and I ranked him as the 15th best prospect in the system at that time. Since then, he’s become a highly-touted prospect around baseball and is probably one of the Top 3-5 prospects in the system now. Playing at Triple-A in 2015 at just 21 years of age, Marte’s bat looks MLB ready even if his defence at shortstop needs a little more polish. He might end up making a nifty second baseman, capable of hitting in the two-hole in a big league lineup. Unfortunately, Robinson Cano is entrenched at the keystone for the Mariners so Marte will either have to improve his defence (and displace Brad Miller and Chris Taylor (both of whom have been disappointing in 2015) or look for a trade. [Value Up]

Brandon Nimmo, OF, Mets: Despite being passed on the Mets’ outfield depth chart by 2014 first round pick Michael Conforto in terms of impact ceiling, Nimmo (the club’s first pick from 2011) recently passed his prospect-mate in terms of development by leaving him at Double-A while moving up to Triple-A. His promotion came at a bit of a curious time, though, considering his OPS is 100 points lower than his breakout 2014 season at Double-A (.820 vs .714).The real big concern with Nimmo, 2, is that he doesn’t really do anything really well: He doesn’t run much, he doesn’t hit for power and he hasn’t hit for average consistently. The biggest pluses to his game are that his raw potential remains and he gets on base at a decent clip. [Value steady]

Bubba Starling, OF, Royals: Like Nimmo, Starling is a 2011 first rounder that hasn’t developed quite as hoped. Things have started to click a little more for the Royals outfield prospect in 2015 and he’s produced solid numbers now that he’s reached Double-A in his fourth pro season. He’s still not consistently tapping into his raw power but he’s making much more contact and has seen his strikeout rate start to drop. The Royals really don’t have much outfield depth in the minors and Alex Rios isn’t going to patrol right field in K.C. for much longer. A year ago at this time I was tempted to right him off but he’s improved enough to project as an average big league regular — with hope that he’ll continue to work to realize his full potential. [Value Up]