MLB Dirt

The 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook is set to be released soon. For those that have never purchased one before, I strongly recommend picking a copy up (I have already reserved mine). The book is the ultimate guide and really does help a lot.

Each year though in the handbook, under each team’s section there includes a “breakout prospect” and a “sleeper” prospect. As I sat looking at last year’s copy, I though it would be interesting to see how BaseballAmericadid in their predictions. For each team I have listed the breakout and sleeper prospect as projected by BA and included their stats for the 2011 season as well as some blurbs on some of the players. I am going to include the NL teams in my first article and roll out the American League Teams tomorrow.

Arizona Diamondbacks:

Breakout: Wagner Mateo—18 years old, Left-handed, Outfielder. He hit .228/.309/.379 in 230 plate appearances at rookie level. He had 6 homeruns, 25 RBI, and 4 stolen bases.

Sleeper: Yonata Ortega—25 years old, right-handed, relief pitcher. 4.11 ERA, 12.0 K/9, 5.1 BB/9 in 57 innings between High A and Double A.

Atlanta Braves:

Breakout: Erik Cordier—25 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. Had a rough year with a 5.14 ERA, 5.0 BB/9, and 6.4 K/9 in 91 innings between AA and AAA.

Sleeper: Lee Hyde—26 years old, left-handed pitcher, reliever. Pitched forWashington. 5.68 ERA, 9.0 K/9, 6.2 BB/9 in 38 innings pitched at AAA.

Chicago Cubs:

Breakout: Aaron Kurcz—21 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. 3.28 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 in 82.1 innings at High A.

Sleeper: Matt Cerda—21 years old, left-handed hitting, third baseman/second baseman. Hit .283/.394/.357 with 1 homerun, 43 RBI with a 15.2 K% and 15.2 BB% in 467 plate appearances at High A.

Cincinnati Reds:

Breakout: Andrew Cisco—20 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. Drafted 6^th round of 2010 draft. Did not pitcher last year due to Tommy John surgery.

Sleeper: Daniel Tuttle—21 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. 4.59 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 in 80.1 innings between rookie ball and Low A. 3.32 FIP at Low A.

Colorado Rockies:

Breakout: Rosell Herrera—19 years old, switch hitting, shortstop. Hit .284/.361/.449 with 6 homeruns, 34 RBI, 5 stolen bases, and 8 triples in 275 plate appearances at Rookie level.

Sleeper: Josh Rutledge—22 years old, right-handed, shortstop. Known for his great defense but hit .348/.414/.517 with 9 homeruns, 71 RBI, 9 triples, and 16 stolen bases in 523 plate appearances.

Florida Marlins: (NowMiami Marlins)

Breakout: Arquimedes Caminero—24 years old, right-handed, relief pitcher. Caminero pitched in only 1 inning last year and I cannot find out why anywhere. The flamethrower touches 101 MPH and he could be a nice piece at the back of a bullpen.

Sleeper: Jheyson Manzueta—22 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. Posted a 6.57 ERA with a 6.5 K/9 and a 6.6 BB/9 in 100 inning pitched between Low A and High A. Obviously his command needs to be improved.

Houston Astros:

Breakout: Telvin Nash—20 years old, right-handed, outfielder. Hit .274/.380.488 between rookie ball and Class A but a large majority as Class A. Had 14 homeruns and 37 RBI but strikeout numbers were very high.

Sleeper: Jose Perdomo—20 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. 9.00 ERA with a 10.5 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in only 18 innings (5 games started).

Los Angeles Dodgers:

Breakout: Scott Schebler—21 years old, bats left-handed, outfielder. Hit .285/.324/.529 with 13 homeruns, 58 RBI, and 8 triples in 315 plate appearances at Rookie Level. Good mix of power and speed.

Sleeper: Shawn Tolleson—23 years old, right-handed, reliever. May be one of the best sleeper picks. Had a 1.17 ERA, 13.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, and a 1.014 WHIP in 69 innings between Low A, High A, and Double A.

Milwaukee Brewers:

Breakout: Erik Komatsu—24 years old, left-handed, outfielder. Was traded to the Nationals last year in the Jerry Hairston Trade. Hit .277/.367/.382 with 7 homeruns, 48 RBI, and 21 stolen bases in 521 plate appearances at AA for both clubs. Had good BB numbers and low K numbers.

Sleeper: Dan Merklinger—26 years old, left-handed, starting pitcher. 4.10 ERA with a 7.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 158.0 innings at Double A.

New York Mets:

Breakout: Darrell Ceciliani—21 years old, left-handed, center fielder. Hit .259/.351/.361 with 4 homeruns, 40 RBI, and 25 stolen bases in 488 plate appearances for High A. Stats were down from 2010 when he hit .351/.410/.531 at Low A.

Sleeper: Zachary Dotson—21 years old, left-handed, starting pitcher. Pitched in only 1 inning last year, and I’m not sure why. Previously served a 50 game suspension in 2012 for testing positive for a stimulant.

Philadelphia Phillies:

Breakout: Jonathan Pettibone—21 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. He really performed well with a 2.96 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 6.4 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, and a 1.137 WHIP in 161.0 innings pitched for High A.

Sleeper: Colby Shreve—23 years old, right-handed, relief/starting pitcher. Had a 2.87 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 in 84.2 innings pitched.

Pittsburgh Pirates:

Breakout: Victor Black—23 years old, right-handed, relief pitcher. Had a 5.05 ERA, 7.1 K/9, 5.0 BB/9 in 35.2 innings pitched between Low A and High A. A large majority of the year was spent at Low A.

Sleeper: Evan Chambers—22 years old, right-handed, center fielder. Hit .234/.350/.374 with 11 homeruns and 20 stolen bases in 525 plate appearances for High A. Needs to lower strikeout numbers.

St. Louis Cardinals:

Breakout: John Gast—22 years old, left-handed, starting pitcher. Had a 4.02 ERA, 6.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 in 161.1 innings pitched between High A and Double A. K/9 numbers were down and BB/9 numbers up.

Sleeper: Kevin Thomas—25 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. Rough year with a 6.44 ERA, 5.14 FIP, 6.82 K/9, 4.71 BB/9 in 93.2 innings for Double A.

San Diego Padres:

Breakout: Jose De Paula—21 years old, left-handed, starting pitcher. Had a 5.22 ERA, 3.16 FIP, 7.0 K/9, and 3.0 BB/9 in 112.0 innings for Higha A. First full season after a stress fracture in his elbow.

Sleeper: Eugenio Reyes—21 years old, right-handed, starting pitcher. Pitched in only 4 innings last year in rookie ball. Has drawn Simon Castro comparisons.

San Francisco Giants:

Breakout: Mike Kickham—23 years old, left-handed, starting pitcher. Had a 4.11 ERA, 3.48 FIP, 8.30 K/9, and 2.98 BB/9 in 111.2 innings pitched for High A.

Sleeper: Armando Paniagua—21 years old, right-handed, relief/starting pitcher. Had a 7.50 ERA, 2.28 FIP, 9.75 K/9, and 3.75 BB/9 in only 12 innings last year at rookie level.

Washington Nationals:

Breakout: Adrian Sanchez—21 years old, switch hitting, second/third baseman. Hit .262/.295/.353 with 3 homeruns, 51 RBI, and 25 stolen bases in 577 plate appearances for High A. Average was down from previous seasons.

Sleeper: Wade Moore—24 years old, bats left-handed, outfielder. Hit .206/.325/.308 with 3 homeruns, 35 RBI, and 16 stolen bases in 375 plate appearances for High A.

Filed under: Digging Deep - Analysis, On the Farm - Prospects Tagged: | Aaron Kurcz, Adrian Sanchez, Andrew Cisco, Armando Paniagua, Arquimedes Caminero, Colby Shreve, Dan Merklinger, Daniel Tuttle, Darrel Ceciliani, Erik Cordier, Erik Komatsu, Eugenio Reyes, Evan Chambers, Jheyson Manzueta, John Gast, Jonathan Pettibone, Jose De Paula, Jose Perdomo, Josh Rutledge, Kevin Thomas, Lee Hyde, Matt Cerda, Mike Kickham, Prospects, Rosell Herrera, Scott Schebler, Shawn Tolleson, Telvin Nash, Victor Black, Wade Moore, Wagner Mateo, Yonata Ortega, Zachary Dotson