Whilst Roy Halladay and Tim Hudson were in the midst of a throwdown, I was at a minor-league game between the AAA affiliates of the Cincinatti Reds (Bats) and the New York Mets (Bison). Before I begin the mini amateur scouting reports on the players, it’s worth mentioning that it was about 50 degrees, windy, and rainy, so the players were dealing with less than optimal conditions. On to a look at some of the game’s major prospects.
Buffalo Bison
There aren’t many good prospects in the Mets organization, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis was probably the best Mets prospect in this game. Baseball America believes him to be a fourth outfielder with five average tools. Nieuwenhuis was 2-for-3 with a walk in an impressive offensive performance, and he put his tools, especially his speed, on display. After the walk, he got a good jump to steal second, though the ball was in the dirt, and later, he laid down a nice bunt single. It seemed like he had plenty of speed. Defensively, he didn’t have to make many plays, but on his one throw toward the plate, I’ll generously say it was closer to home plate, as it was nowhere near his intended target. It was a tough play as he was running more toward right than home to get to the ball and it was wet, but it wasn’t a good throw at all. He looked pretty good to me, but I can see why the 4th outfielder tag is put on him.
Dale Thayer and Pedro Beato were the only other decent prospects in this game. Beato was at 93 during his first inning of work with a decent slider, but once they put him out there for a second, he was 89-90 with no life on anything. He predictably got knocked around. Thayer was more impressive. His fastball sat 94-96, and because his arm drops directly behind him before he throws, he has added deception that ensured batters were late on his fastball. Unfortunately, he had no other usable pitch, but he seems like a decent middle reliever.
Louisville Bats
Unfortunately, Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier didn’t play in this one (well, Frazier pinch-hit, but you can’t get much from that). Yonder Alonso was the highest-ranked player on the Reds’ list in the game, and he performed pretty well. He had a nice swing, showed the ability to the opposite way, and he made good contact. Defensively, they’ve moved him to LF to avoid having him blocked by Votto, but he won’t play well out there. He’s thick, and he runs like a hippo, or not fast. He showed the ability to track balls off the bat, but he simply can’t cover much ground at all. He might be serviceable there for a few years, but it won’t be pretty.
Zack Cozart is next on the list. He barrels the ball well, but he could add some pop by involving his lower half more in his swing. Defensively, he has a good arm (he made a really nice bare-handed grab and throw early in the game and needed that arm), but his range didn’t look great as there were a couple plays he probably should have gotten to. Regardless, he should be the Reds shortstop right now.
Danny Dorn is much farther down the list, but he was the only other player that impressed me on this side. He had a much better approach than I’d seen from him in the past. Patient, and he stayed back and drilled a low curveball off the wall in left (he’s left-handed, thus to his opposite field). I don’t know that he’ll be more than a bench bat in the majors, but he’s definitely got some pop.
He’s not a prospect by any means, but Corky Miller was behind the plate for the Bats. While he has nothing left except for an excellent arm (nailed Luis Figueroa by like 10 feet trying to steal), the crowd absolutely loved him. No other player got much of a cheer, but Miller heard shouts of “Corky!” and lots of applause. For a guy definitely at the end of his career and who looks more like a beer league softball player, it was pretty awesome to see him get such a reaction.
