MLB: The Breakouts Of The Lo-A West North Division
The Low-A West North Division has seen some incredible talent play on their baseball fields this season. Having been to too many games in this league over this year, I’ve seen quite a good number of talented prospects. While the top-tier guys of Fresno ( Zac Veen), San Jose ( Marco Luciano, Luis Matos, Kyle Harrison), Stockton ( Tyler Soderstrom), and Modesto ( Noelvi Marte) are all pretty much set in stone as the top prospects, who are the players that took a drastic jump from each team?
San Jose Giants
Patrick Bailey
Admittedly, my first player is kind of cheating. Bailey was (and still is)a top-10 Giants prospect going into the season. So he’s not really a breakout. When I look back at San Jose’s year, I really wanted to put Jairo Pomares or Prelander Berroa into this spot. However, Bailey was pretty much left for dead 1/4 of the way through the season before making his way to San Jose.
San Fransisco decided to challenge Bailey in his first full pro season. They assigned the 2020 1st round pick to Eugene, skipping Lo-A, San Jose. To say Bailey struggled would be an understatement. In 135 ABs, Bailey hit .185. To make it even worse, he had a .290 OBP and only amassed 25 hits.
He was placed on the injured list. Upon his return, was sent to San Jose. Bailey has been lights out at the plate ever since. In 163 ABs, he’s hitting .325 to go along with a .425 OBP. He’s totaled 53 hits and 24 RBI’s. The change of scenery for Bailey has given him new life. The reason he’s on this list is that he truly was San Jose’s best player and nobody really cared after that dreadful start in Eugune. Anyone who counted him out gets reacquainted with him.
Modesto Nuts
Alberto Rodriguez
Who says that Julio Rodriguez is the best outfield prospect in the Mariners organization? Okay, he still is, but, Alberto isn’t a slouch. If we are going off of pure bat speed, ARod ( pun intended) might be near the top of that list in all of the minors, not just Lo-A. It didn’t matter if the ball was foul or fair, the ball got smacked. Rodriguez knows how to make contact. That’s probably his biggest strength.
More MLB: Cleveland Guardians Best Prospects
Alberto Rodriguez was promoted to Hi-A Everett at the beginning of September. During his time in Modesto, the Seattle Mariners’ 21st ranked prospect hit for a .295 BA with 109 hits, 10 Hr’s, 30 doubles, 5 triples, and 63 RBI’s. There is pure power to his swing and he has shown that, and given the chance, he can be a productive part of the Mariners’ future.
With Jared Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, and Kyle Lewis all looking to be the main pieces of the Seattle OF core, you have to wonder if someone like Alberto Rodriguez fits into the long-term plans. I’d like to think he is. He could be of the team’s best power hitters. That’s all on Seattle’s development of him.
Stockton Ports
Lawerence Butler
Oakland’s 6th round pick in 2018, Butler has shown this season why he was signed right out of high school. After not having a true full first season in the minors in 2020 (Covid year), Butler has killed it in Lo-A, Stockton. On the year, Butler has hit 17 HR’s and collected 67 RBI’s. He was able to get a promotion to Hi-A, Lansing in September.
Butler may never be more than a HR hitter with frequent strikeouts (131 K’s in Lo-A). To be fair, Oakland has a few of those guys on their major league roster right now. The leap he made this year was pretty drastic. Given some more development time, Butler could evolve into a more consistent hitter. The K’s need to come down. I personally do not think they will.
Butler is destined to be a .250-.265 hitter in the majors with a 25-30 HR pace. That’s not bad all things considered. Although considering the jump he took this year, we might be getting a lot more than we expected out of him.
Fresno Grizzles
Ezequiel Tovar
You can make the case that Tovar was the best hitter in all of Lo-A. During his run in Fresno, Tovar hit a solid .309 with 11 HR’s, 21 doubles, 92 hits, and stole 21 bases. He did this in 298 ABs with a .346 OBP. Yeah, nobody really saw this coming. He was ranked just inside the Rockies’ top 20 at the beginning of the season. Now, depending on who you ask, might be inside the top-8.
Tovar has cooled off at Hi-A Spokane. This shouldn’t be an indication he’s not the player he was at Fresno. Tovar is a talent. He’s a solid defender that can stick at the SS position. Does he need to hit for more power? Yeah, that’s going to be a concern. And the Rockies aren’t always the models of consistency in developing prospects. I’d like to point out what a Rockies front office member said about Tovar.
“We’ve got a young man and SS in Tovar, and this guy is a complete stud”
-Marc Gustaffson, Colorado Rockies Director of Scouting Operations.
Pretty sure Colorado believes pretty highly of Ezequiel Tovar.
Image Source: NBC Sports/ San Francisco Giants
Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
