BA Top 20 Prospects: Northwest League

[Outshined_One]

Donald Veal comes in at #2 and Mark Reed comes in at #20.

 

Link

[mhuber92211]

not bad for Reed to make the list. I was under the imprssion that he had an underwhelming year.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

not bad for Reed to make the list. I was under the imprssion that he had an underwhelming year.

 

From the ensuing chat:

 

Q: evan from Cincinnati (OH) asks:

I was a bit suprised to see Mark Reed playing caboose in a league where coming up with 20 prospects must have been a bit of a stretch. How comparable is his bat to older brother Jeremy's and do you think Mark can stick behind the plate? Is his ranking based more on performance (decidedly mediocre) or on a perceived lack of tools?

 

A: Will Kimmey: Maybe that's a track record ranking. He's a solid defender and a lefthanded hitter, two traits that will get most catchers a long look. Reed did struggle at the plate during his second summer as a pro and has to learn to go the other way more. That his brother Jeremy always hit, props him up some but also gives reason to believe that he will eventually hit enough.

 

Other Boise-related chat stuff:

 

Q: Russ from NY asks:

Fastest to the Majors: Lindsay or Veal?

 

A: Will Kimmey: I'll take Lindsay. He's a bit more consistent already, he dominated more and the Rockies have a greater need for starters than do the Cubs organizationally. But I'd take Veal as a major leaguer simply because Coors keeps chewing up and spitting out arms like nobody's business. My point here is don't add Lindsay to the roster of your super-deep fantasy league, if that's part of the rationale behind this question.

 

Q: Navin from Los Angeles asks:

Were there any other Hawks close to making the list, such as Darin Downs or Jesus Yepez?

 

A: Will Kimmey: Downs, a lefthander with an upper-80s fastball and solid curveball, came the closest in his second year in the league. That combination tends to lend to more chances for southpaws than other arms.

 

Q: Bryan from Boise,ID asks:

If Mark Pawelek had qualified for the list would he have been the top prospect in the NWL?

 

A: Will Kimmey: Probably, but he pitched just three more innings in this league than did Mark Prior, who would have rated ahead of him

 

Q: Bryan from Chicago asks:

Does David Gregg have much of a big league future or is he an all speed, can't hit type of guy -- AKA Dwaine Bacon?

 

A: Moderator: Gregg was one of the few hitters who bunted for hits in the SEC, a college league all about the long ball. Gregg's defense in center and great speed are nice assets, but in the current state of baseball, you better hit to play. His early offensive success suprised me some, but he ultimately regressed to about his appropriate average.

 

Oh, and the East Coast bias must stop:

 

Q: Pete from nyc asks:

Why a 7 a.m. chat for people on the west coast about the Northwest Leage?

 

A: Will Kimmey: Unfortunately it's a scheduling thing, kind of like making the Red Sox play all those late west coast starts in the first round of last year's playoffs. That's why we opened the questions up last night, so there'd be more access to everyone. Or you can just blame it on East Coast Bias if you'd like.

[Quakers]

No surprises here. From what I saw of the Hawks, Reed was the only real prospect. 20th on the list seems about right. I didn't get a chance to see Veal pitch though.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

No surprises here. From what I saw of the Hawks, Reed was the only real prospect. 20th on the list seems about right. I didn't get a chance to see Veal pitch though.

 

No one else on the offense stood out?

 

From the scouting report, Veal was in the 88-91 mph range (down from topping out at 97 at Pima in the spring), but his FB had good movement. He had good control of his FB (and kept it down), good poise and his curve is above-average.

 

The scouting report had good things to say about Reed's defense. He has good bat speed but has holes in his swing which were exploited during the season.