About Vitters and some questions.

[ray0413]

Vitter has been in the Peroia one month. He does a good job.

His AVG is about 0.317. He proves that he can hit, but he only has two homer.(Maybe is three)

Most of the cub's fans think he is the top prospect in the farm.

Why do they think of that? young or great potential?

Vitters is a great prospect, but other prospects hit better than him, such as Josh harrison, Jake fox, and Rebel Ridling.

Why the BA never talk about them?

 

I am a big fans of vitters. But I think his homer is fewer than I expect (5 or 6).

How do you feel about his SLG(0.451)?

Thanks for people who answer my questions.

My English is not good, so if my article confuse you, I feel so sorry.

[Outshined_One]

To answer your questions...

 

Vitters is considered the top prospect in this organization primarily for three reasons:

 

1) His bat

2) His ability to play 3B

3) His age

 

Regarding the first reason, Vitters has a really good swing. His bat is very quick through the zone and he displays excellent rotation and strength with that swing. His eye at the plate is also pretty good, as he does not strike out very much. Granted, he could stand to take more walks, but I think those walks will come down the road. After seeing him, I do not think he will be someone who can hit 40 home runs every year down the road, but it is very easy to look at him and think he could hit .300 in the majors with a good amount of power, perhaps about 25-30 home runs a year with about 35 a year in his prime. In the Cubs' system, there are not many comparable hitters in terms of those projections.

 

Regarding the second reason, third base is a relatively high priority position in baseball. There are not very many people in baseball who can play third base and hit well. Vitters could stand to work on his defense at third base, but I think he will end up sticking there with about average defense. If he can stay at third base and be a good hitter, that would be much more valuable than if he were playing in the outfield or at first base.

 

Finally, Vitters is young for his level. He does not turn 20 years old until late August. It is unusual for a 19 year old to be playing in the Midwest League, much less hitting there with some success. He is still growing into his body, meaning he could put on more muscle and hit for more power. He has not reached his physical or his mental ceiling yet. There is a lot of potential left for him and he is already doing well for his level.

 

At this point, I think Vitters' ceiling is Aramis Ramirez. Great bat, does not strike out very much, probably won't walk much, hits for good power, and fields his position decently. The odds of Vitters reaching that ceiling are low, but even if he doesn't reach his ceiling he still could be a good starting third basemen in the majors.

 

Other hitting prospects compared to Vitters in this system tend to fall into one of two categories...

 

The first category are those hitters with equal or better potential, but who have a significantly lower likelihood of reaching that potential. Guys in this category include Starlin Castro and Junior Lake, who showcase really good raw tools, but who have a long way to go before they can harness those tools up to their potential.

 

The second category are those hitters who are more advanced than Vitters, but who have a lower ceiling than him. Josh Harrison, Jake Fox, and Rebel Ridling all fall into this category, along with other names like Ryan Flaherty and Tyler Colvin. Those are all hitters who are doing reasonably well, but they have certain limitations that will keep them from having the same potential as Vitters. Josh Harrison is older than Vitters at the same level, hitting for very little power. Jake Fox is much older than Vitters, does not play any position well defensively, and is in his third stint at AAA. Rebel Ridling is older than Vitters at the same level, playing a low priority position in first base, and has a history of poor plate discipline.

 

I hope this answers your questions.

[ray0413]

To answer your questions...

 

Vitters is considered the top prospect in this organization primarily for three reasons:

 

1) His bat

2) His ability to play 3B

3) His age

 

Regarding the first reason, Vitters has a really good swing. His bat is very quick through the zone and he displays excellent rotation and strength with that swing. His eye at the plate is also pretty good, as he does not strike out very much. Granted, he could stand to take more walks, but I think those walks will come down the road. After seeing him, I do not think he will be someone who can hit 40 home runs every year down the road, but it is very easy to look at him and think he could hit .300 in the majors with a good amount of power, perhaps about 25-30 home runs a year with about 35 a year in his prime. In the Cubs' system, there are not many comparable hitters in terms of those projections.

 

Regarding the second reason, third base is a relatively high priority position in baseball. There are not very many people in baseball who can play third base and hit well. Vitters could stand to work on his defense at third base, but I think he will end up sticking there with about average defense. If he can stay at third base and be a good hitter, that would be much more valuable than if he were playing in the outfield or at first base.

 

Finally, Vitters is young for his level. He does not turn 20 years old until late August. It is unusual for a 19 year old to be playing in the Midwest League, much less hitting there with some success. He is still growing into his body, meaning he could put on more muscle and hit for more power. He has not reached his physical or his mental ceiling yet. There is a lot of potential left for him and he is already doing well for his level.

 

At this point, I think Vitters' ceiling is Aramis Ramirez. Great bat, does not strike out very much, probably won't walk much, hits for good power, and fields his position decently. The odds of Vitters reaching that ceiling are low, but even if he doesn't reach his ceiling he still could be a good starting third basemen in the majors.

 

Other hitting prospects compared to Vitters in this system tend to fall into one of two categories...

 

The first category are those hitters with equal or better potential, but who have a significantly lower likelihood of reaching that potential. Guys in this category include Starlin Castro and Junior Lake, who showcase really good raw tools, but who have a long way to go before they can harness those tools up to their potential.

 

The second category are those hitters who are more advanced than Vitters, but who have a lower ceiling than him. Josh Harrison, Jake Fox, and Rebel Ridling all fall into this category, along with other names like Ryan Flaherty and Tyler Colvin. Those are all hitters who are doing reasonably well, but they have certain limitations that will keep them from having the same potential as Vitters. Josh Harrison is older than Vitters at the same level, hitting for very little power. Jake Fox is much older than Vitters, does not play any position well defensively, and is in his third stint at AAA. Rebel Ridling is older than Vitters at the same level, playing a low priority position in first base, and has a history of poor plate discipline.

 

I hope this answers your questions.

 

Really thanks for your detail illustration.

I still have one question.

In the BA's prospect, Vitters is only at the No. 51.

At Vitters' draft, there are still some high school player, such as jason heyward, and some great prospect, such as moustakas, dominguez.

Excluing dominguez, these hitting prospect at BA are much higher than Vitters.

They are also very young. I find their class-A data. Vitters is at the same level with them.

Why does Vitters only at No.51? Only because his injuryed or he just play at Boise last year?

 

Really thanks for your answer.

[Outshined_One]

Really thanks for your detail illustration.

I still have one question.

In the BA's prospect, Vitters is only at the No. 51.

At Vitters' draft, there are still some high school player, such as jason heyward, and some great prospect, such as moustakas, dominguez.

Excluing dominguez, these hitting prospect at BA are much higher than Vitters.

They are also very young. I find their class-A data. Vitters is at the same level with them.

Why does Vitters only at No.51? Only because his injuryed or he just play at Boise last year?

 

Really thanks for your answer.

 

Vitters had a few problems.

 

1) Injuries derailed his season last year and kept him from spending the season in Peoria. While he played for Peoria, he apparently was injured and it affected him.

 

2) As the #3 overall pick in a loaded draft that featured big names like Matt Wieters, Jarrod Parker, and Rick Porcello, there were huge expectations for Vitters. However, while he put up good numbers in Boise, people had higher hopes for him than that. I think a lot of people expected him to play in full season A and to put up good numbers there, much like Moustakas, Heyward, and Dominguez all did. Since he did not, that hurt his stock.

 

3) There were (and still are) concerns that Vitters might not stick at third base. Given how Vitters has played so far, I think those concerns are dying down.

 

These are all legitimate problems when it comes to ranking him compared to other prospects in baseball. If he wants to make substantial progress up the BA Top 100 list, he needs a full season without major injuries, show he can play 3B well, and put up very good numbers in terms of his average (over .300) and power (20 or more HRs). I think he's capable of all three this season.

 

However, as a caveat to all of this, you should be aware that the Cubs have a very weak farm system. Vitters is the top prospect in this system mainly because of where he was drafted, the hype he received when he was drafted, and his age. If he was the same player, but instead was an unknown guy taken in the 10th round, he would not be #1 overall in this system and he would not have made BA's Top 100.

[biittner77]

Anyone know why Colvin is still at Daytona? He's not DHing anymore so why hasn't he been moved up?

[CubColtPacer]

Anyone know why Colvin is still at Daytona? He's not DHing anymore so why hasn't he been moved up?

 

It might have to do with the time he missed last week, plus he's only proved that he can play the field 3 days in a row as of today. They might be waiting to make sure he doesn't have a setback before moving him up.