Comments on: St. Louis Cardinals Top-15 Prospects of 2009, No’s 1 – 5

By: Breaking down the mechanics of Jess Todd | Pitchers Hit Eighth :: A St. Louis Cardinals blog

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:46:45 +0000

[...] Prospects 1 – 5 Prospects 6 – 15 [...]

By: Alex Eisenberg

Alex Eisenberg — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:13:24 +0000

Thanks, Jake. As for why I rated Rasmus’ power better than Wallace’s, Rasmus is wiry strong, in the Chase Utley mold and still has room to fill out. He flashed his plus power in 07′ with a .275 ISO. While Wallace’s power is good, it’s not great. He makes consistent hard contact, but his swing and approach is more of a line drive, use the whole field approach. I think the biggest factor between the power of both players is the FB%. Wallace had a FB% of about 29 last year and he hit more ground balls than fly balls in college. Rasmus on the other hand, with his uppercut swing, has consistently had a FB% between 46 and 48 over his career. many more ground balls than Rasmus. The more a player hits the ball in the air, the more extra base hits and homeruns they will hit.

By: Jake

Jake — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:08:34 +0000

You lost me when you rated Rasmus higher in power than Wallace. Otherwise very informative.

By: Baseball-Intellect Prospects 1 - 5 « Play The Red Cards

Baseball-Intellect Prospects 1 - 5 « Play The Red Cards — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:09:32 +0000

[...] ???? bosspresso ? ?? 9, 2009 LINK [...]

By: Alex Eisenberg

Alex Eisenberg — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:37:26 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, Kris.

My grading scale is actually pretty strict…no A+’s though. The highest grade you can get is an A and you have to have almost no red flags and be close to MLB ready to get one. I think he should be able to lower his K% down to maybe 15 (where it was in A+ ball), but besides his Single-A stint in 06′, his BABIP rates have been between .280 and .300. Usually the elite guys post high BABIPs…I’m not quite sure why Rasmus hasn’t been able to hit for average. For guys like him though, average isn’t that important because he’s going to get on base via the walk.

By: Kris

Kris — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:08:29 +0000

Great take on Rasmus, but I still think he comes in above the A- you give him. I’m not familiar with your scale, but I would assume that an A+ would be Top-10 Prospects in the game?

I tend to think that once Rasmus knows what’s required of him, he’ll succeed. For the next couple years, Rasmus is probably going to have to lower his K rate, and just make all around better contact to succeed. A few years down the road, he’ll be able to take advantage of his power & eye, and will still be able to succeed with a 20+ percent K-Rate.

Great Read!