Wilkerman Garcia, SS, New York Yankees
There were 19 shortstops on the 2016 Top 101, so betting on a young, toolsy one isn't exactly going way off the board, despite Garcia's very limited professional experience. He is the complete package up the middle, with some of the smoothest hands you'll see from an 17-year-old, and the arm and range to stick at short for the long haul. Garcia is still raw at the plate, but he's a switch-hitter with some feel for the barrel from both sides. That is a nice little top-prospect starter kit. The one thing he is lacking right now is a track record outside of the complex, something he will remedy this season. A strong showing in the New York-Penn League as an 18-year-old (where he will be facing a lot of college arms) would thrust him into the national conversation as one of the better shortstop prospects in baseball. I'll put my chips down on that square. –Jeffrey Paternostro
Duane Underwood, RHP, Chicago Cubs
Underwood has shown glimpses of top-of-the-rotation ability since being drafted in the second round back in 2012, but 2015 was the first year where he showed the quality stuff on a (relatively) consistent basis. He's 93-96 mph with his fastball, and it plays up close to plus-plus because the life on it is so late. He'll throw a quality curveball with the necessary spin and depth to get swings and misses, but it's very rarely in the strike zone. The best off-speed offering is the change, a pitch that has late fade and that he has excellent feel for. The biggest issue is throwing strikes, but Underwood's command took a big jump forward in 2015, and another one in 2016 will see him sit among the best right-handed pitching prospects in baseball. –Christopher Crawford
From BP's "Next Year Risers"
Danny Woodward's blog.
Moderator: Angels
Return to “The Big Chief Tablet”
Jump to
- ↳ ExCo General
- Announcements
- ↳ Announcements
- ↳ Polls
- General
- ↳ IBC Forum
- ↳ The Marketplace
- ↳ The Dumpster
- ↳ OOPSS Upgrades
- ↳ Power Rankings
- ↳ Hot Sheets
- Official Business
- ↳ ZiPS Bidding 24-25
- ↳ Transactions
- ↳ Waiver Claims
- ↳ Trade Approvals
- ↳ Injury Stuff
- ↳ ZiPS Bidding 23-24
- ↳ All-Star Voting
- ↳ Admin Crap
- ↳ ZiPS Bidding 2020-21
- ↳ ZiPS Bidding 21-22
- ↳ ZiPS Bidding
- ↳ ZiPS Bidding 2019-20
- ↳ ZiPS Bidding 2018-19
- ↳ ZiPS Bidding 2017-18
- ↳ Winter League
- Blogs
- ↳ #torture
- ↳ You can put it on the board, YES!
- ↳ DBacks
- ↳ Dodger Dreams
- ↳ Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
- ↳ Orioles
- ↳ All The Queen's Men
- ↳ Blog to Contact
- ↳ Phillies
- ↳ Redbird Roost
- ↳ The Devil Inside
- ↳ The Silver Bullet
- ↳ The Hunt for Red October
- ↳ The Roof Is Closed
- ↳ Musings from Maine
- ↳ Evil Empire Blog
- ↳ Redleg Outpost
- ↳ The Brave Blue Ballers
- ↳ Moneyball - Adapt or Die!
- ↳ 5280: Mile High Reefer Madness
- ↳ Welcome to the Land
- ↳ The Rays
- ↳ Brewers Summer Ail
- ↳ Schnauf's Blog
- ↳ Snakes in the (Synthetic) Grass
- ↳ Red Ivy
- ↳ For lo, The Winter is Past...
- ↳ Royal Pain in the Ass
- ↳ Canadian Blue Birds, eh?
- ↳ Whale's Vagina Monologue
- ↳ The Big Chief Tablet
- ↳ Only Bangers
- ↳ Future Orioles
- ↳ The Cub Hub
- ↳ Twin Killings
- ↳ The Home Brew
- ↳ Tribal Gaming
- ↳ Tigers
- ↳ Rangers with Candy
- ↳ The Rally Monkey
- ↳ The Hunt for Red October
- ↳ Brett Degen's blog