Chicago White Sox catching prospect Miguel Gonzalez posted a .311/.385/.503 line in 2009 as an 18-year old in the Appalachian League earning himself prospect placement just outside of the organizations top-10 entering 2010. Offensively, Gonzalez couldn’t replicate his short season success in the “Sally” posting an anemic .218/.257/.276 line at the level.

Why not use Scouting the Sally as your Personal Scout?

At present, Gonzalez’ progress offensively has been impeded by poor plate discipline and a tendency to swing at anything near the strike zone. Gonzalez also likes to swing with his shoulders which negates the bat speed he does have. Now 20, Gonzalez has time to figure it out, but it will take an overhaul of both his swing mechanics and approach to make it happen. However, Gonzalez’ true strength does not lie in his hitting ability.

Gonzalez is a “catch and throw” guy at his core. In 2010, he threw out half of opposing runners and possesses one of the best releases I’ve seen at the level. His body type is that of a prospect who will lose agility and quickness as he matures, but for now, Gonzalez is a good athlete for his build and is an asset defensively.

Going forward, Gonzalez profiles as no more than a big league backup should his offense not improve drastically. In 2011, it would not surprise me to see him repeat the level and spend at least half of the season back in Kannapolis.

Enjoy the piece? Be sure to follow Scouting the Sally on Twitter, check out our YouTube Channel, and friend us on Facebook! We’d also love to hear from you in the comments section!

Late in the 2010 season, I had the opportunity to see Chicago White Sox prospect Jacob Petricka, a hard throwing right-hander who was taken with the 63rd overall pick in 2010 draft. In recording Petricka’s bullpen, it marked the first time I felt uneasy standing near the backstop as neither he, nor I had any idea where the ball going.

Why not use Scouting the Sally as your Personal Scout?

Physical Projection: At a listed height/weight of 6’5″, 170 lbs., Petricka looked heavier in person, but not by much. He’s lean throughout, and his body type is that of player who has, and will continue to struggle adding size.

With his lean and well-proportioned frame, I expected a better athlete than I saw in person as his motion is a bit rigid and mechanical, and included his landing on a stiff front leg. The most fluid part of Petricka’s delivery is his follow through, but it’s inconsistent to the point where his back foot is sometimes still on the ground after release which looked awkward.

Mound Presence: In both the bullpen and game action, Petricka presented as one of the more wild pitchers I’ve seen this season. In the bullpen especially, he looked to be fighting his mechanics on almost every pitch. This led to my thinking he would be pulled from the first appearance he made in Savannah as Petricka surrendered a run and struggled to locate. And while this is acceptable from a teenager in the league, at 22, Petricka appeared significantly behind the development learning curve. Of course his big fastball is an equalizer few other prospects have.

Fastball: During his first appearance, Petricka worked in the 94-96 MPH range with his fastball. The velocity is there for it to be a plus pitch, but command and movement are lacking. However, he has the ability to create downward plane at times which will help keep the ball in the park. And while he will sometimes elevate the pitch, the great majority of his fastballs which missed the strike zone were down and away to right handed hitters.

In his second outing, Petricka worked 92-94 MPH, touching 96 a couple of times. The drop in velocity three nights later didn’t hurt him in game action, but it was easy to tell the difference behind home plate as the glove was not popping nearly as much as during his previous appearance.

Curveball: In the bullpen, Petricka’s curveball had good depth and sharp break, but his release point was wildly inconsistent leading to everything from spinners which found the netting 10-feet above the catchers head to a sharp “downer” which would make a hitters knees buckle. Of course this was all in the bullpen as he threw very few, if any in game action. I would have liked to see him work counts where the pitch was a viable option, but Petricka was consistently behind in the count and seemed content to rear back and try to throw “bee-bees” past Sand Gnats hitters

Changeup: Another pitch Petricka shelved in game action, this one looks to have some promise from an arm action standpoint as I could not pick up any real difference between his fastball and changeup. From the number of times he threw it in the bullpen, and lack of use during both appearances, it led me to the conclusion the pitch was a bit of an afterthought at that point in the season.

For me personally, Petricka gains value if the White Sox can drop his arm slot just a touch to smooth out his arm action and keep the ball down. On top of that, the change in slot may also lead to his releasing the curveball out front more consistently leading to better results.

In Jacob Petricka, the White Sox have found an impressive arm considering I can count on one hand the number of pitchers who touched 96 MPH in the South Atlantic League this season. And while that’s a great foundation to start from, Petricka is a bullpen arm to me until he proves otherwise. At present, his stuff plays as more of a 7th inning arm instead of a pitcher who will excel in high leverage situations.

Thumbnail from edwardsjournalism.com

Enjoy the piece? Be sure to follow Scouting the Sally on Twitter, check out our YouTube Channel, and friend us on Facebook! We’d also love to hear from you in the comments section!

Chicago White Sox prospect Juan Silverio split the 2010 season between the Pioneer and South Atlantic Leagues posting a .228/.267/.384 combined line in just over 300 at bats.  However, about half his home run and walk totals came during short season in less than a hundred at bats while his performance in the “Sally” was reminiscent of a third string catcher.  Is Silverio a non-prospect? No, but he’s not a player without significant flaws which more likely than not will prove fatal at higher levels.

Why not use Scouting the Sally as your Personal Scout?

Physical Projection: Listed at 6’1″, 175 lbs., Silverio is closer to 210 as his lower half has become quite thick through the hips and quads.  He has some development through the shoulders and forearms, but he’s disproportionately bottom heavy which means he is likely to become slower, and less mobile as he continues to mature.  From his frame, I suspect he is not done filling out through the upper body either meaning Silverio could wind up at 230 lbs. or so.  With his already being a little “soft” through his core, he will have to work to ensure whatever weight he has, or adds will be “good” weight.

And while Silverio moves decently, I question his explosion as I simply do not see much of it.  It’s nice to see a big frame and dream of power potential, but it’s really nothing more than potential beach muscles if not combined with enough athleticism for the size to translate into his all-around game.

Offense: In the batter’s box, Silverio appears to be an intimidating presence.  However, it only took a couple of swings to see a lack of wrist snap and bat speed.  This may be the result of a very weak setup in the box which leaves him lunging forward and wrapping his bat pre-swing after a load which is little more than his rocking back and forth with no intent.  For as strong a young man as he appears to be, very little of said strength actually translates into his swing.  Does it leave room for significant improvement? Yes, but one has to trust he is capable of making that improvement.  And while I didn’t notice anything glaring in his makeup, a scout mentioned to me that he didn’t care for Silverio’s body language and wondered if he really wanted to be there.

Defense: Silverio was able to make the plays at third base and showed enough arm to stick.  His eventual position on the field will be dictated by Silverio’s bottom half and whether it impedes his ability to move laterally and react to batted balls.  If he is able to keep his present level of fluidity and athleticism, third base is a possibility.  If not, he will need to move to 1B/LF leaving his prospect status in even worse shape than it already is.

Speed: At present, Silverio has very little speed to speak of.  In the future, he only projects to slow down even more.

In 2011, Silverio will be back in Kannapolis where he is likely to spend the entire season.  With it being his age-20 season, he has time to re-establish himself within the organization.  To do this, he will need a complete overhaul of his swing mechanics to utilize his strength.  Even then, I’m a huge fan of wrist snap when projecting offense and there’s no guarantee his will improve.  At this point, I just can’t project Silverio as a future big leaguer as there are simply too many areas in which Silverio needs a significant amount of work.  I look forward to doing a v2.0 report next season in the hope of seeing growth as a prospect.

Thumbnail from portersprospects.com

Enjoy the piece? Be sure to follow Scouting the Sally on Twitter, check out our YouTube Channel, and friend us on Facebook! We’d also love to hear from you in the comments section!

The best position player on a prospect barren team, Chicago White Sox farmhand Tyler Saladino is a quality shortstop in a league which fielded a scarce few during the 2010 season.  The 7th rounder in this year’s draft handled himself better than most college picks thrust into full season competition by posting a .309/.397/.442 line in just under 200 plate appearances.

Why not use Scouting the Sally as your Personal Scout?

Physical Projection: Listed at 5’11″, 180 lbs., Saladino looked closer to 200 pounds as his build is compact and muscular.  With thick quadriceps, and some growth through the forearms and shoulders, Saladino is fully developed and may need to slide to second base at some point.  As an athlete, Saladino is fluid, plays fundamentally well, but has no standout tool leaving him a player who can chip in in a variety of ways, but is unlikely to excel in a single area.

Offense: With a quiet load, and strong, athletic stance, Saladino makes an excellent first impression at the plate.  When swinging the bat well, Saladino keeps his hands inside the ball allowing him to scorch line drives to left field.  On occasion however, his load will become long forcing his pull arm to extend to a locked position.  While it didn’t happen often, Saladino had great difficulty adjusting to pitches above the letters when it did.

In game action, Saladino did not show much aptitude for taking pitches the other way, but consistently made solid contact and showed the potential for gap power.  His quick wrists and level swing plane are tailor-made for doubles into the left-center field gap.  I have some concern with his pitch recognition as he seemed to struggle picking up decent offspeed pitches and sat “dead red” for most of the series.  This led to his swinging and missing more than a hitter with his approach probably should which explains his K% of more than 22%.

Defense: Throughout the series, Saladino made all of the routine plays and showed a solid average throwing arm which may have been a tick above.  With Saladino’s thick trunk, I wonder about his range and how well he moves laterally.  Slide him over to second base and his tools would play very well as an everyday player at higher levels.  At shortstop, I envision Saladino playing the position in a pinch in more of a utility capacity.

Speed: On the 20/80 scale, Saladino is a 50-runner now and may slow down with age.  While he will never be mistaken for a stolen base threat, he has enough speed to score from second or more from first-t0-third on a single.  With Saladino being a fundamentally sound player, his speed should play up due to his making good turns and cuts on the basepaths.

As a seventh round pick, the White Sox found themselves a steal in Saladino.  While he lacks the projection of younger, more “toolsy” talents, few prospects can boast an average skill set across the board and Saladino can.  Add to this his professionalism and polish and Saladino projects as a high floor, moderate ceiling talent who is a good bet to land on many White Sox top-10 lists this offseason.  After sneaking a peak at Red Sox first rounder Kolbrin Vitek in the South Atlantic League playoffs, I might even prefer Saladino due to his all-around game whereas Vitek is an all bat, no glove guy.

Enjoy the piece? Be sure to follow Scouting the Sally on Twitter, check out our YouTube Channel, and friend us on Facebook! We’d also love to hear from you in the comments section!

Thumbnail from thesummitleague.org

Dayan Viciedo’s 2009 season disappointed many as his .280/.317/.391 line in AA as a 20-year old was not quite up to par for an international signing who received an 8-figure signing bonus. In fairness to Viciedo, his season was solid if one peels away the prospect hype and considers age vs. level. With many solid prospects being in full-season A at Viciedo’s age, I ran the equivalency calculator to project what Viciedo would have done at the appropriate level. The results? A .352/.402/.493 line which would completely change the current prospect conversation about him.

Why not use Scouting the Sally as your Personal Scout?

Physique & Athleticism: In uniform, Viciedo looked a bit bloated as his thick upper body gave way to thinner limbs. He is quite strong and will always have a wide body, but his weight is likely to be an issue his entire career; or at least until he is able to redistribute it proportionally through a good weight program.

When not on offense, his baseball movements were slow as if his extra weight was getting in the way. At the plate, it did not seem as if his girth impeded his swing.

Offense: With truly elite bat speed, Viciedo simply does not need all of the extra muscle and movement currently incorporated into his swing mechanics. Like so many international prospects, the extra movement negatively effects timing and the ability to repeat his swing. Early in the count, he flailed wildly at any pitch near the strike zone pulling off badly. Conversely, he had a fantastic two-strike approach in which he shortened his swing to make hard contact and hammered two lasers for singles back up the middle. His approach was enough to drive most hitting coaches crazy, but his offensive ability is still tantalizing. He is the type of hitter whose power could really take off if he just trusted his hands and worked on being short and compact through the strike zone on every swing.

Defense: Viciedo was able to handle balls hit directly at him, but he stabbed at balls with his glove showing hard hands. His lateral movement was non-existent, and his arm action looked labored. Since the 2009 season ended, news about Viciedo having some minor arm problems have surfaced. At the big league level, he is likely to settle in as a 1B/DH.

Speed: Stolen bases will never be a part of Viciedo’s game. He is likely to become a liability on the base paths.

As with many big money international prospects, Viciedo just was not able to live up to the hype surrounding his signing. It was unfair to expect so much from him, but Viciedo certainly did not do himself any favors by playing the season out of shape. In 2010, he may once again find himself in Birmingham as he works on the finer parts of his game. The offensive ceiling is still there, but he is going to have to adopt a more professional approach to reach it.

Enjoy the piece? Be sure to follow Scouting the Sally on Twitter, check out our YouTube Channel, and friend us on Facebook! We’d also love to hear from you in the comments section!

A former supplemental first round pick of the Atlanta Braves, Gilmore was a piece of the deal which brought Javier Vazquez to Atlanta. In 2009, he posted a .274/.322/.361 line as a 20-year old for Kannapolis. Pedestrian as those numbers may be, his .355/.410/.491 August and even more impressive September will earn him some looks as a sleeper entering 2010. Last season I pegged him in a “sleeper potential” piece and have my doubts after watching him play.

Physique and Athleticism: With a strong lower half and size through his forearms, Gilmore projects for additional size through the back and shoulders. At 6’3″, 195 lbs., he could handle an additional 20-25 lbs. which would hurt his speed, but help his ability to drive the baseball. If I were a scout, I would have been thoroughly impressed with his physique.

Offense: During the series, Gilmore took the ball the other way peppering a Kyle Allen (Mets) 90+ mile heater for a solid single. In going to right field during subsequent at bats, it became obvious Gilmore’s swing was inside-out out of necessity as his swing was too long to successfully stay inside the baseball. With his high back elbow, a hitters first tendency is the drop the elbow causing the bat to drag. While this is a problem, the fix is relatively easy and it seems as if Gilmore made those adjustments late in the season. Should the fix prove to be permanent, he could see a power spike in 2010.

Why not use Scouting the Sally as your Personal Scout?

Defense: A bit mechanical in the field, he moves well enough for me to believe he can remain at the position. In game action, he showed a solid average arm which was plenty strong for third base. As a former football player, he has some of the same issues Red Sox prospect Will Middlebrooks did at the hot corner. While I don’t see him becoming a plus defender, solid average is not out of the question should his footwork improve and his movements become more fluid.

Speed: Gilmore has no present speed and will likely settle in as a slightly below average runner. However, he won’t be a base clogger and hurt his team on the base paths.

With Kannapolis in the Sally league playoffs, Gilmore will have a few more opportunities to improve his prospect status heading into the off season. Prior to his late season surge, he was bordering on bust and needs to carry his second half success into high A next spring. With his size and strength, he has significant untapped potential, but has been slow to develop which has left him a wild card in an organization with two high profile prospects in Gordon Beckham and Dayan Viciedo currently playing some third base. While neither may be long for the position, Gilmore needs to begin establishing himself in a hurry for the White Sox to consider him a legitimate heir possibility at the hot corner.