The Prospect Stock Watch: Ross, Stephenson, Urena

The baseball season is in full swing and prospects around baseball are already seeing their stock values start to shift up or down. Today we’re looking at a pitcher who could help out in the playoff race in the second half of 2015 and a few other players that are quite talented but also a few years away from reaching The Show.

Ozhaino Albies, SS, Braves: Albies didn’t enter pro ball until 2014 but the 18-year-old infielder is already making a name for himself. After hitting . 364 in his debut, the young prospect is more than holding his own in full-season ball. He has a .313 batting average and has walked almost as much as he’s struck out (21/28) and has stolen 20 bases in 52 games. Braves’ incumbent shortstop Andrelton Simmons will be a tough man to move off of shortstop but second base could eventually become home to Albies, and the Braves organization is not shy about aggressively promoting talented prospects (as seen with the likes of Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones). [Value Up]

Joe Ross, RHP, Nationals: Traded to Washington in the offseason, Ross is seeing additional success in 2015 — especially in terms of missing bats. After striking out less than eight batters per nine innings for much of last season, he’s now up above nine. He’s also continuing to induce a solid number of ground balls and providing lots of innings. The Nationals entered 2015 with one of the deepest, most talented rotations in the Majors but injuries have taken a bite out of it. With both Doug Fister and Stephen Strasburg battling injuries, Ross could pitch his way onto the big league roster in the second half of the season. [Value Up]

Robert Stephenson, RHP, Reds: Stephenson has some of the best stuff of any minor league pitcher left in the minors. But his name is still not bandied about as much as one might expected given his raw abilities — and that’s mostly because he’s hit a bit of a wall since reaching Double-A in 2014. The 22-year-old hurler walked 74 batters in 136.2 innings — which would equate more than 100 free passes in 200 innings of work. So far this season, his control is no better with 31 walks in 54.1 innings at the same level — actually it’s about a full walk per nine innings worse. The biggest positive to the season so far, really, is that he’s striking out an eye-popping 10.88 K/9. And hitters are only hitting .216 against him since the beginning of 2014. Once (if) he learns to harness his stuff, the Reds have an arm to eventually replace Johnny Cueto, who is likely to leave via free agency this coming offseason. [Value Steady]

Richard Urena, SS, Blue Jays: When the Jays dealt away Franklin Barreto in last offseason’s Josh Donaldson trade with Oakland, the organization’s middle infield depth was dealt a blow. However, Urena’s development helps fill that void — and he has a much better chance to stick at shortstop than Barreto does. The Jays’ prospect — who received a significant bonus as an international free agent in 2012 — is also showing unexpected power with seven home runs in his first 46 games of 2015 after he hit just two all last year. At just 19 years of age, he’s showing the ability to make adjustments. After posting a .250 average in April he’s up to .302 in May. The next step in his development will be a better eye and more patience; he’s walked just five times compared to 44 strikeouts. [Value Up]