Archive for josh thole

The 2011 baseball season is almost upon us, so we here at RotoGraphs put our collective heads together to come up with some aggregate positional rankings.  I’ll be taking the lead all year with the catchers, but as a group, here’s what we came up with for now:

Despite last year’s power decline, we know the potential is there so Mauer gets the nod for the top spot.  Welcome to the big time, Buster!

Happy to have any one of these guys on my roster.  Santana is on the rise, but this could be the last chance for Wieters in the fantasy trust department.

Stable group of guys who can just tow the line for your backstop position.  Martin could be a nice sleeper in hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium.

No major investment needs to be made here.  Some will rise, some will fall.  Arencibia’s power potential puts him at the top of the sleeper list.

Maybe a pair of diamonds in the rough in Lucroy and Snyder, but I wouldn’t want to invest more than a buck on the rest of the lot.

You’ve got to be pretty desperate to be living with these guys on your roster.

We’ll all be chiming in throughout the week with more detailed thoughts on some of the backstops and the overall rankings will be updated on a monthly basis, so stay tuned for more!

Here are three players with low ownership rates who could pay immediate dividends in fantasy leagues:

Peter Bourjos – Anaheim Angels (owned in 1% of Yahoo! leagues)

It has been a rough go of it for Bourjos in his first go-round in the majors. Currently hitting a dismal .136, Bourjos has a .196 wOBA and just a 14 wRC+. The good news is that the top prospect got called up to play and is likely to hold on to his job long enough for his .158 BABIP to turn around. And when it does, Bourjos is likely an excellent source of SB. He had 32 SB last year in Double-A and notched 27 this year in Triple-A, where he also had a .364 BABIP, before getting the call to the majors.

Jed Lowrie – Boston Red Sox (owned in 1% of Yahoo! leagues)

The injury to Dustin Pedroia has opened the door for regular playing time for Lowrie, who missed most of the 2010 season due to mononucleosis. While he has some pop, most of Lowrie’s fantasy value comes from a high AVG and he is currently batting .286 in 42 ABs. He played 26 games at SS last year and just passed the 10-game mark at 2B this year, so it is possible he has multi-position eligibility in your league.

Josh Thole – New York Mets (owned in 1% of Yahoo! leagues)

The knock on Thole coming into the season was that he was not a good defensive backstop. Now he is the personal catcher for knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey, the hardest pitcher on the staff to catch. Some wondered if Thole, who chokes up on the bat more than any Mets player since Felix Millan, had enough power to hit in the majors but he already has two doubles and a HR this season. Playing time is a concern for Thole, but with Rod Barajas on the DL, more ABs have developed for the 23-year-old. Thole’s forte is AVG and he is hitting .323 in 62 ABs this season. Thole may only play two or three games per week, but that is an outstanding AVG, especially for those in leagues which start two catchers.

Every Thursday throughout the season, Minor Impacts takes a look at some of the hottest minor league players that could have impacts at the Major League Level in the near future. Some of the players we’ve educated you on before their promotions include: Vince Mazzaro, Andrew McCutchen, Gordon Beckham, Alex Avila, Brian Matusz, Marc Rzepczynski, Jake Fox, Nolan Reimold, Daniel Bard, Bud Norris, and Mat Latos.

With the MLB rosters expanding from the standard 25 men to as many as 40 players, we’re switching things up this week and taking a look at some of the more interesting prospects making their MLB debuts.

Buster Posey: There was some talk that San Francisco would delay Posey’s promotion to the Majors in an effort to save some money, but the organization did the right thing and brought him up for a taste of the Majors. Posey has proven that his bat and glove are MLB ready. In a perfect world (keeping in mind their GM loves veterans), Posey would spend 2010 seeing 60-70% of the playing time behind the dish with San Francisco. A veteran catcher – Bengie Molina if he’s up to the decreased role – would then see the remainder of the playing time while serving as a mentor to the rookie backstop. There isn’t much that Posey cannot do with the bat; he hits for power (.200 ISO), for average (.310 at AAA) and takes his fair share of walks (11.9% in AAA). Overall, the 22-year-old prospect hit .325/.416/.531 in 422 at-bats at high-A and triple-A.

Tyler Flowers: Flowers cannot match Posey’s overall game but this White Sox prospect could make veteran A.J. Pierzynski expendable after the 2010 season – if not before. Flowers might struggle to hit for a high average because he has trouble making contact sometimes (30.5 K%), but he posted a .246 ISO in 248 double-A at-bats before moving up to triple-A. Flowers, an average backstop, also takes a ton of walks, having posted a 19.2% walk rate in 2008 and a rate of 18.7% in double-A in ’09. Flowers has been a lefty killer in his minor-league career and hit .358 against them this year with an OPS of 1.119.

Wade Davis: With the trade of Scott Kazmir, the Rays acquired a few interesting young names, while also opening up a rotation spot for either Andy Sonnanstine or Davis. The right-handed rookie has been a top prospect in the system for a few years now but his numbers were just good in triple-A… as opposed to great. Now 24, Davis allowed 139 hits in 158.2 innings of work at triple-A in 2009, while posting a walk rate of 3.43 BB/9 and a strikeout rate of 7.86 K/9. He is the early favorite to replace Kazmir in the 2010 starting rotation, although Sonnanstine has the experience edge.

Michael Brantley: Obtained as part of the C.C. Sabathia deal last year, this outfielder is not a slam-dunk star but he has more than enough talent to be a valuable contributor to the Indians and your fantasy squad. Brantley understands his game very well for a 22 year old. The left-handed hitter had a bit of a down year in triple-A this season but he still walked more than he struck out (1.23 BB/K) and he posted an 11.4 BB%. He stole a career high 43 bases in 48 attempts but hit just .267 (.288 BABIP). At worst, he should be a very valuable fourth outfielder and pinch runner.

Josh Thole: Another catcher, Thole was converted from first base to catcher and has really improved his value to the point where he is one of the brighter up-and-coming backstop prospects. A left-handed hitter, Thole has hit .300+ in each of the past two seasons, including .328/.395/.422 in 384 at-bats in double-A this year. He’ll need to keep that average up because he has almost no power to speak of, as witnessed by his .094 ISO.

Neil Walker: Walker’s star has diminished significantly from the days when he was the top prospect in the Pirates system. He’s struggled in triple-A for two straight seasons and is currently sandwiched in between Andy LaRoche and Pedro Alvarez. Walker could end up as a AAAA slugger, or a bench player, which is a far cry from the days that the Pittsburgh native was the club’s No. 1 draft pick out of high school. This year he hit just .266/.312/.484 with 14 homers in 353 at-bats. The .218 ISO is nice, but the 6.6% walk rate is not.

Every Thursday throughout the season, Minor Impacts takes a look at some of the hottest minor league players that could have impacts at the Major League Level in the near future.

Brian Matusz: The 2009 MLB amateur draft is just around the corner, so let’s take a look at one of the top picks from 2008 that has been absolutely dealing in high-A ball. Left-handed starter Brian Matusz is probably ready for the challenge of double-A, but Baltimore has been cautious with its top prospects in the last couple of years (including Matt Wieters and Jake Arrieta). Matusz currently has allowed 42 hits in 46.2 innings of work but his strikeout rate is really impressive at 11.57 K/9. His walk rate is OK at 3.63 BB/9. In his last three games, the southpaw has allowed six walks (including four in one game) but he’s kept hitters to just 14 hits in 19.2 innings, with 28 Ks.

Aaron Poreda: Like Matusz, Aaron Poreda is another former first-round draft pick. He’s taken a little longer to get the hang of pro ball, but he’s having a very nice season in double-A for the White Sox. In fact, it’s a little surprising that he hasn’t received a promotion to triple-A, after spending half of 2008 at the same minor league level – but it’s probably the base-on-balls. After walking 22 batters in 87.2 double-A innings in ’08, Poreda has issued 19 free passes in 33.1 innings this season. On the plus side, though, he has allowed just 23 hits and zero home runs. A two-pitch hurler, Poreda’s slider is just an OK pitch and it’s his fastball that will earn him a big-league job, as it has touched 100 mph. It’s probably about time Chicago bit the bullet and placed the big left-hander in the bullpen and began to groom him as Bobby Jenks‘ successor.

Hector Rondon: This right-hander burst upon the scene in 2008 and has continued to grow into one of the Indians’ top prospects. Hector Rondon currently has a 1.95 ERA (2.61 FIP) in double-A and has allowed 29 hits in 32.1 innings of work. His walk rate is at just 1.95 BB/9, down from an already respectable 2.61 from 2008. Rondon’s strikeout rate has dropped a bit from last year’s 9.00 K/9 but it’s still solid at 7.79 K/9. Impressively, he’s also allowed just one home run despite allowing more fly-ball outs than ground-ball outs, which is the one thing he really needs to work on to take his game to the next level.

Josh Thole: Let’s go off the board now and talk about a couple players you probably have not heard much about. As a 13th round draft pick out of an Illinois high school in 2005, Josh Thole has understandably flown under the radar for a while. His blip began to show up on the radar in 2008 when he hit .300 in high-A ball. The catcher cannot hide any longer, though. Thole is currently hitting .349/.418/.476 in 32 double-A games at the age of 22. He’s also a left-handed hitting catcher, which is extremely valuable and somewhat rare. He’s still raw behind the plate though, having played mostly first base prior to 2008. Thole is showing signs of improving, as he has yet to make an error behind the dish and he’s improved his throwing, going from a caught-stealing rate of 22% in ’08 to 42% so far in ’09.

Cyle Hankerd: This talented outfielder is getting back on track. Cyle Hankerd had a dominating pro debut in 2006 after being selected out of USC in the third round of the draft. He hit more than .370 with 12 home runs in half a season and ended the year in high-A ball. The shine came off Hankerd over the next two seasons though, as he struggled to hit for power and his batting average kept dipping lower and lower. Repeating double-A in 2009, he’s starting to show signs of taking off again. The 24-year-old prospect is hitting .362/.434/.543 with an ISO of .181 in 36 games. Hankerd had wrist problems in 2007, which resulted in surgery. It often takes players about two years to recover from that type of injury, so the Arizona prospect’s surge could be related to finally being healthy. Although he has just three homers, Hankerd also has 12 doubles in 116 at-bats, which is just five fewer than he had in 436 at-bats last season. As long as he continues to show some sock in his bat, Hankerd has the chance to be at least a league-average left fielder.

Give the Guy a Chance: Cleveland’s Jordan Brown just cannot catch a break. The first baseman has been stuck in an organization that has had Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko blocking both the first base and designated hitter positions in the Majors. Then the club brought in left-fielder Matt LaPorta, a top offensive prospect from Milwaukee, whose best position is probably 1B or DH. Brown has a career minor league line of .303/.373/.464 in parts of five seasons since being selected out of the University of Arizona in the fourth round of the 2005 amateur draft. The biggest knock on Brown is his lack of power, but he has a similar skill set that that of former Indians first baseman Sean Casey, who put together a very solid 12-year MLB career. The left-handed batter is currently in triple-A Columbus hitting .348/.347/.583 in 34 games. At the very least, Brown should be a valuable pinch hitter for a National League team and he even has a career batting average of .293 versus southpaw pitchers.