Minor League Prospect Watch: Jason Heyward

Jason Heyward is a 20 year old phenom in the Atlanta Braves minor league system, who like Michael Taylor, I recently mentioned in my post about young African-American talent in the major and minor leagues . The 6’4 220lbs. outfielder is known for his batting eye and mature approach at the plate and at just 20 years old has already reached Double-A ball.

Obviously, when such a young prospect is more than holding his own in Double-A; he’s going to be projected not only as a star, but also as a possible future Hall of Famer. Heyward also happens to be left-handed, so Ken Griffey, Jr. is one possible comparison for him, however, there is some question if he can hit for as much power as Griffey did in his prime. Heyward has also been compared to Dave Parker, Billy Williams, and Fred McGriff; which would put him in the 25-40 HR range rather than Griffey’s 40+.

Here are Jason Heyward’s stats for the season to date:

.315 AVG/17 HR/58 RBI/.400 OBP/.559 SLG/.959 OPS/8 SB

You can check out Jason Heyward’s career minor league stats on his Baseball Reference player page and his First Inning player page.

Here is where Jason Heyward ranks among minor league prospects:

Ranking in ScoutingBook (8/25/2009): #9
Ranking in Baseball America 2009: #5
Ranking in Baseball Prospectus: #10
Ranking in MiLB.com 2009 Season Preview: #3
Ranking from ESPN: #3

Here is everything you need to know about Jason Heyward:

The Braves drafted Heyward in the first round in 2007, out of high school in McDonough, Georgia. The 14th overall pick, he was well-known to scouts as an extremely toolsy outfielder with a good measure of polish, but his stock was hurt slightly on draft day because his senior year, while impressive, wasn't quite as good as people expected. He was pitched around frequently, and there was likely also an element of overexposure, as scouts had seen so much of him that they began to nitpick his flaws and not focus enough on his strengths. Even at 14th overall, he looked like an underdraft in the minds of many experts, and so far his pro career has been stellar. His work ethic and intangibles are rated very highly.
(Minor League Ball)

Heyward is 6-4, 220, a left-handed hitter and thrower, born August 9, 1989. Tools-wise, his raw power is rated as excellent and he's made strides tapping into it this year. His speed is a tick above average, and scouts like his baserunning instincts. He also features a strong throwing arm and is a sound defensive right fielder. Heyward's strike zone judgment is also very good. Physically, he's shown some vulnerability to nagging injuries and missed time with a strained hip flexor and a painful abdominal muscle earlier this year, though he's avoided any surgeries or long-term DL trips. (Minor League Ball)

Heyward is very polished for his age. He was solid last year in the South Atlantic League, posting a +23 percent OPS for Rome and hitting .323/388/.483 overall, with 15 steals in 18 attempts and a 49/74 BB/K ratio in 449 at-bats. This year, he's been even better, hitting .296/.369/.519 in 49 games for Myrtle Beach, then a stunning .400/.493/.673 in his first 16 games since being promoted to Double-A Mississippi. His tremendous 10/4 BB/K in his first 55 at-bats at that level demonstrates his excellent feel for hitting. He's now 20-for-24 as a career basestealer, and scouts continue to praise his defense and baserunning instincts. The one knock they had on him entering '09 was home run power, as he hit just 11 last year in 127 games. He's already hit 11 this year in 65 games, while maintaining his batting average and OBP skills. (Minor League Ball)

The first round of the 2007 draft looks like it's going to turn out a half-dozen stars or well above-average big leaguers, if not more, with Heyward at the top of the list of its high school products. Even at age 17, Heyward was a physical specimen, already 6-4 and well-built with room to add muscle as he gets older. He controls the strike zone well, both laying off pitches out of the zone and working himself into hitters' counts; his contact rate was one of the best in the South Atlantic League this year despite his relative youth. He gets his arms extended well, setting up slightly away from his body, so the ball down or over the outer half is well within his reach. Atlanta has moved him from center to right field; he has a plus arm and above-average range now that he's out of the middle of the field. His upside is just a question of power; he's going to hit for average and be an asset in the field. His swing and body point to 30-plus homers a year, which, coupled with a healthy on-base percentage and defensive value, would make him one of the most valuable players in the game. (ESPN - Keith Law)

Hidden behind a talented farm system down in Atlanta, Heyward has quietly produced stellar numbers since his rookie year at A ball. Having drawn comparisons to Willie McCovey and Dave Parker, this young outfielder has all five tools that scouts drool over. He’s athletic in that large frame, actually knows how to play defense (a plus because that might help him raise through the minors faster), and has the patience of a hitter much older than him. If you want to compare his Cube numbers to professional MLB players think of James Loney, Mark Grace, and Conor Jackson (but as it has already been established, this isn’t the most accurate way to compare a player as it just compiles his numbers and rates them against his peers at the same level he is at). However, Jason should prove to be more than those players. (RazzBall)

He hasn’t hit the number of homers some other prospects have, but he hits for average and gap power as of now which should translate into more homers in the future as he shortens his swing and fills out his body. One knock that some scouts have is that he is too patient of a hitter and often times doesn’t hit or swing at the best pitch for him to drive. I am not sure how I feel about this, but really, this should be a good thing. Some hitters don’t know how not to swing. This should be something that he and his hitting coaches should be able to change. He has the work ethic for this to probably happen, and a positive note about a highly tout prospect – he is quite humble. Something I think we all can appreciate. (RazzBall)

"Even at an early age, when he put on a Braves uniform, he looked like he physically fit with the types of bodies that we see with major league players," Braves farm director Kurt Kemp said. "And then when you looked at all the areas of his game—his natural hitting ability, his raw power, how well he throws, how well he runs for a man of his size and the work that he does as an outfielder—there was just not anything that you didn't like about him." "He is just a terrific young man, first and foremost," Kemp said. "He comes from a great family and he has been from day one respectful, hard-working—all of the good qualities that you like to see in a young man, he possesses those things. He has never acted as if he was a first-round draft choice, but he works as hard as any draft choice that we have. He was a first-round draft choice, but he takes instruction as well as any player that we have."
(Baseball America)

If scouts in California were worried that Stanton was too reckless with his swing, scouts on the other side of the country in Georgia had the opposite concern with Heyward. That is, why wouldn't he swing the bat more often? "Senior year, I did walk a good bit more than I ever have in my whole time playing baseball," Heyward said. "They definitely pitched around me a little bit. You could tell, when we were up by five or six runs, they'd put me on base. That's kind of expected in high school, but then there were teams that tried to challenge me, and that's when I tried to make them pay. It didn't happen the majority of the time, but I tried to make it happen." Scouts tell stories of how they went in to see Heyward multiple times, only to come away without seeing him swing in a game. How can a team invest millions in a high school player when no one gets to see him hit? "He had a lot better plate discipline than people realized," one American League scouting director said, "and people confused that with him not being aggressive. He made a fool of some people by being more disciplined than they gave him credit for." (Baseball America)

"I'm friends with a lot of coaches in the county, and they would tell me before the game they're not going to throw to him," Shadden said. "As far as his approach at the plate, he's the most disciplined hitter I think I've ever seen and I've ever coached, period. I've never seen anybody who's got an eye as good as he did. He saw the ball better than anybody and he could fight any pitch off until he got the one that he wanted. "He was so disciplined at the plate there were times that he'd let one go by and I'm like, 'Dadgum man. Come on, swing it.' You know, 3-2, he's got the count worked out, and then he makes it hurt that way too. There weren't a lot of times when he lost composure or anything like that. He knew the game, he was a smart player—he just knew the game. He knew what he needed to do, so telling him anything was just reminding him." For many young hitters, getting pitched around so much could turn into a recipe for bad habits, swinging at pitches out of the strike zone or at least out of a player's hitting zone. It didn't seem to change Heyward. "It's definitely tempting for any hitter who's not getting pitched to, because it's hard to get only one pitch to see a game to get a good swing off of," Heyward said. "You've got to be ready to go because at the big league level, you're not going to get a cookie every time. It's a little tempting, but I had to stay within myself, and that's what everyone wanted to see—me not getting too aggressive and staying within myself." "Certain guys have a pretty good feel from a young age about the strike zone," Braves hitting coordinator Leon Roberts said. "They've been coached pretty good when they were young—Little League, junior high, high school, summer ball, whatever. What happens is, somebody has sort of looked after him or impressed upon him how to hit good pitches and take bad pitches, and through time he's developed a pretty good eye and a pretty good strike zone." (Baseball America)

Heyward will blow out the candles on his 20th birthday cake in a week and a half, but he probably won't have to wait until his 21st birthday to reach the major leagues given his current pace. Heyward, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, is hitting .416/.495/.714 with 13 walks and nine strikeouts in 22 games with Mississippi. Heyward's offensive tools and feel for the strike zone are already outstanding, but the scary thing is that he's still a little less than a decade away from his peak years. (Baseball America)

This power-hitting outfielder was, like Freeman, a steal from the 2007 draft. The Braves nabbed the Georgia native with the 14th overall pick of the draft. An advanced hitter for a prep signee, Heyward has a career line of .312/.379/.491 in 733 at-bats – and he’s still just 19 years old. Earlier this season in high-A ball, Heyward hit .296/.369/.519 with 10 homers in 189 at-bats, while missing time with an injury. In a good pitcher’s park, the left-handed hitter posted a walk rate of 10 BB% and a strikeout rate of 15.9 K%. Since his promotion to double-A, Heyward is hitting .346/.438/.615 with three doubles and two triples in eight games. Neither Freeman nor Heyward should see the Majors this season, but they should both be kept in mind for 2010… They could both be up before the MLB All-Star break, depending on the big league club’s playoff hopes. (FanGraphs)

Heyward flourished in his first week in Double-A and earned the No. 1 ranking on our Midseason Top 25 Prospects. The '07 first-round pick had an invitation to the Carolina League's all-star game but missed it with a hip injury. He'll make up for that absence by playing in the Futures Game this Sunday in St. Louis. Heyward finished out his time in the CL with a .296/.369/.519 line with 10 home runs for high Class A Myrtle Beach. Four of Heyward's first seven hits in Mississippi went for extra bases and he legged out two triples. He could force his way into Atlanta's outfield picture sometime next year. (Baseball America)

Recently promoted to Double-A at the age of 19, this is how Heyward has handled his first 32 plate appearances above Double-A: four singles, three doubles, two triples, four walks, no strikeouts. That’s how you announce that the best prospect in baseball has arrived on the scene. A big left-handed premium bat with power and plate discipline, Heyward profiles as an elite hitter with some defensive value. He could be in Atlanta next year, taking the mantle from Chipper Jones as the next great Braves hitter. (FanGraphs)

Atlanta's hulking 6-foot-4, 220-pound prize prospect continues to impress. After receiving a seven-game cameo with Myrtle Beach to finish out the 2008 season, Heyward started the 2009 season with the Pelicans. The Braves believed his power would come once he began to use his hands more effectively. He is starting to show his true power potential and has smacked nine home runs this season in 139 ABs. Two of those came this past week and he's just two homers shy of his entire home run output of 11 during the 2008 season. With a .561 slugging percentage in a park known for depressing power, it's fair to say that the 19-year-old is starting to tap into his raw power. (Baseball America)

Say Heyward, but don't say it just yet. A real treasure for the Braves as 2007's 14th overall pick, the left-handed Heyward has been lauded for his developing plate discipline and 30-homer power potential for a couple of years now. He could have a future in right field for Atlanta, but with Jeff Francoeur locked in there for a long time to come, it's more likely that he'll go to left field or first base, both positions where the Braves lack a viable long-term prospect. We're penciling 2011 beside his name, but if the Braves get desperate, he could see action sooner. (ScoutingBook)

Outfielder Jason Heyward is a name you should remember in 2009. He had a solid first full season in the Majors after being a first-round pick out of high school in 2007, but he could blossom into a future superstar. The 19-year-old slugger hit .323/.388/.483 with 11 home runs and 15 stolen bases. He also earned 22 at-bats in High-A ball late in the year. Still in his teens, Heyward is an athletic 6′4” 220 lbs and his strong arm is well suited to right field. (FanGraphs)

More: Minor League Prospect Watch

Minor League Prospect Watch - Michael Taylor

I already mentioned Michael Taylor in my post about young African-American talent in the major and minor leagues, but with his name coming up in the Roy Halladay trade rumors, it’s time for Taylor to get his own Minor League Prospect Watch post.

Taylor is a 6’6 250 lbs. outfielder in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system. With his combination of height, power, & speed; the most logical comparison for Taylor would be Dave Winfield. However, unlike Winfield who didn’t spend a day in the minors once he was drafted; Taylor has taken some time to develop his talent after being drafted out of Stanford. He struggled his first year, but has absolutely raked the ball in the past two seasons. He obviously has the physical talent to be a star in the majors and coming out of Stanford means he can combine his physical talent with brains as well. Barring injury it seems that he has all the tools to go on and have a long productive career in the majors.

Here are Michael Taylor’s stats for the season to date:

.326 AVG/17 HR/70 RBI/.404 OBP/.557 SLG/.961 OPS/20 SB

You can check out Michael Taylor’s career minor league stats on his Baseball Reference player page and his First Inning player page.

Here is where Michael Taylor ranks among minor league prospects:

Ranking in ScoutingBook (5/22/2009): #67
Ranking in Baseball America 2009: N/A
Ranking in Baseball Prospectus: #55
Ranking in MiLB.com 2009 Season Preview Unranked
Ranking from the Sporting News: Unranked
Ranking from ESPN: #100

Here is everything you need to know about Michael Taylor:

A 6-6, 250lb monster back in high school, Taylor avoided an early draft by committing to Stanford. When he emerged from college, he was gobbled up by the Phillies in the same 5th round selection that netted them Ryan Howard six years earlier, and scouts see similar things in the two sluggers. After ditching his 'Stanford Swing' for a bigger and more wide open hammer, Taylor tore up the minors last year, slashing .361/.441/.554 at A-level Lakeland and .329/.380/.560 after a promotion to high-A Clearwater. Taylor smashed 19 total homers in just under 500 at-bats. He strikes out a bit too much, especially on quality breaking pitches, but the Phillies system has never shied away from big strikeout numbers, so he'll probably be allowed to smash and swish, as long as he produces overall. As an outfielder, he has limited range, though his speed is probably average, or even a bit better than average. His strong throwing arm that suggests right field is his natural position. While his approach at the plate looks crude, he's actually a pretty polished product: he'll face his first real tests in AA in 2009 while shooting for a Phillies job in 2010.(Scouting Book)

Taylor was one of the best athletes in the 2007 draft -- and that hardly does him justice, as he's a supreme athlete in an NFL sense, not a baseball sense -- but had the ol' Stanford swing that has made scouts less willing to draft hitters from that school than just about any other major college program. The Phillies revamped Taylor's swing from that stiff, funny-looking Stanford approach to a more fluid swing that lets him utilize his lower half and hit for power, with potentially 40-homer power down the road. He's adequate defensively in a corner with an average arm. Taylor is still learning, or perhaps re-learning, the game, but wins raves from the Phillies' player development people for his aptitude and work ethic. Taylor played the year at 22, so he was old for the Sally League and not young for the Florida State League, meaning 2009 will be the first real test of his new swing and approach as he goes to Double-A.(ESPN)

Michael Taylor was a fifth round pick in 2007 out of Stanford. Although an excellent athlete with physical strength, a strong throwing arm, and decent speed, his college performance was erratic, and he never quite lived up to expectations. He did show improved power during his junior year, hitting .335/.395/.584 with 12 homers, but a lot of scouts doubted that his swing mechanics would work with wooden bats. Indeed, he hit just .227/.300/.385 in the New York-Penn League after signing in 2007. I did put him in the 2008 book, noting his physical potential and the fact that he was very intelligent, giving him a Grade C rating. Taylor made adjustments to his swing during '08 spring training, and the results were remarkable: he hit .361/.441/.554 in 67 games for Lakewood in the Sally League, then .329/.380/.560 in 65 games for Clearwater in the Florida State League, hitting 39 doubles, 19 homers, stealing 15 bases, and posting a 50/89 BB/K ratio in 492 at-bats last year. Scouts reported that his swing still needed some adjustments, and not everyone believed that he'd be able to repeat these numbers against advanced pitching. I wrote in the 2009 book that Taylor had long arms and might be vulnerable to inside pitches at higher levels, giving him a rather conservative Grade B rating. The Phillies opened Taylor in Double-A this year, with outstanding results: .333/.408/.569, 15 homers, 18 steals in 22 attempts, and a 35/51 BB/K ratio in 318 at-bats. He was promoted to Triple-A last week, and so far he's 5-for-24 (.208) with two doubles, a homer, three walks, and seven strikeouts. Obviously the Triple-A sample size is too small to mean much at this point, but by the end of August we will have a better read on how he's made the adjustment. Certainly his Eastern League numbers are very much in line with what he did last year. There are a lot of things to like about Taylor. He's always had the tools, and his skill advancement looks legitimate to me. He uses his intelligence well, studying pitchers and showing the ability to make needed adjustments with his swing and his strike zone judgment. His work ethic is highly-rated. Of course, being smart and hard-working doesn't mean you'll succeed even when you have the physical tools to go with it, but it certainly helps a lot, and right now I think Taylor deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's definitely a Grade B+ prospect at least right now, and if the end-of-season Triple-A numbers are solid he could get a Grade A-. He turns 24 in December, so he's not a super-young prospect, giving him less future projection than a Jason Heyward or Michael Stanton. But Taylor's across-the-board tools and blossoming skills are very intriguing; he doesn't have an "old player" profile. I can see him developing into something like a cross between Hunter Pence and Mike Cameron.(Minor League Ball)

Philadelphia outfield prospect Michael Taylor has earned a recent promotion to Triple-A Leigh Valley after a dominating stint in Double-A. Taylor, a former 5th round selection in 2007 out of Stanford University, was third in the Eastern League with a .333 average and OPS of .977 was 252 points above the league average. Taylor entered the season ranked as the Phillies sixth-best prospect and best power hitter according to Baseball America. So far this season he has lived up to the billing. Taylor is quite the physical specimen, listed at 6'6 and 250 pounds, and his combination of speed (19 stolen bases in 23 tries) and power (16 home runs and .236 ISO) make him an interesting prospect to watch for. He has also shown the ability to draw walks and get on base. He had a walk rate of nearly 10 percent and a wOBA of .438 in Double-A this season. This comes after a breakout season last year in which batted .341/.408/.553 with 19 home runs between the South Atlantic League and the Florida State League, both of which are generally regarded as pitchers-friendly leagues. His power numbers are up slightly this year due to his increased fly ball percentage (up to 41.3 this season from 33.7 last year). This has also caused his home run percentage to climb to 3.9 to 4.8. Taylor has appeared in just five games thus far in Triple-A and has managed only three hits (one home run). However, his promotion comes at an interesting time as his name is being brought up in recent trade talks. Taylor could become trade bait as the deadline looms closer.(Hardball Times)

When Taylor got off to a scorching start in low Class A last year, some skeptics (OK, we'd have to be included in that group) wondered what Taylor would do against more advanced competition. Wonder no more, Taylor has improved his slugging percentage on every step up the ladder and is hitting .337/.399/.574 at Reading this year. But his best attribute may be his consistency—Taylor has hit better than .330 in all but one month over the past year and a half.(Baseball America)

You could make a darn good argument that Taylor and high Class A right fielder Dominic Brown form the best duo of outfield prospects in any organization. While Brown got the acclaim as Philadelphia's top prospect entering the season, Taylor continues to force his way up the rankings by barreling through the EL. He's now up to .351/.412/.615 in 49 games with 10 home runs, 17 walks and 23 strikeouts. In other words, that's one heck of a fifth-round pick. (Baseball America)

Any concerns about Taylor's bat coming out of Stanford have been pretty well answered, as Taylor has hit .320 or better in each of his three full-season stops. At Stanford, Taylor didn't use his legs much in his swing, but he's figured out how to make that adjustment in the pros. That explains why he's hitting more home runs now than he did in college with a metal bat. (Baseball America)

Taylor’s exploits have been well covered this season, and for good reason. Taylor couples a good walk rate (10.8%) with a fairly low K rate (14.9%) for a slugger, and then you add in the .193 ISO and the .345 SecA and you have the best prospect at Lakewood, and one of the better statistical seasons in the SAL. The big caveat for Taylor was his age, but he took some of that sting out by continuing to rake at Clearwater, where he was closer to age appropriate. (Phuture Phillies)

Taylor began the year with a .361/.441/.554 line at Low-A Lakewood which created a mixed reaction. At six-foot-six and 250 pounds, Taylor looks like a potential monster, but at the same time he’s 22 years old and coming of of a highly disappointing three-year career at Stanford that left scouts scratching their heads. Moved up to the Florida State League in mid-June, Taylor continues to bump up his stock by mashing in a much tougher offensive environment, most recently by delivering multi-hit games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to raise his batting line for the Threshers to .342/.392/.546 in 53 contests. There are still questions about what it all means, since both his age and the three-year hole he dug himself in Palo Alto are a lot to make up for in some people’s minds, but the further this goes, the more his doubters fall by the wayside. (Phuture Phillies)

Baseball America: You got off to a great start this year. Were there any adjustments you made this season after getting your first taste of pro ball last year?

Michael Taylor: I've been pretty consistent in saying that I learned a lot from last year in terms of getting 230 professional at-bats in, and that's obviously a big part of it. Also just continuing to just make strides as a player. One of my goals more than anything is just to try to get a little bit better in some aspect of my game. So as a hitter, as a defender as a baserunner, just trying to learn something and do the things that I know will help me progress in the long run. How quickly that comes or how much time that takes just depends on the player and depends on a lot of different factors. Another thing is I'm fully healthy this year, which is fantastic. Last year I had a lot of back problems, which inhibited me from putting in the work I needed to put in to be as consistent as I could be. It was very nagging, it was very frustrating, but at the same time I knew I wanted to play and get those experiences because I knew I had the whole off-season to go in and make chances and corrections and do things I needed to do to get better.

BA: Is more of that development done during game situations or in BP and off the field?

MT: It's really both. A lot of hitters talk about getting in the cage and hitting off the tee first, and making the swing adjustments and getting the approach that will be successful in BP, and then BP taking it to the game. And that's really where I started, whether it's in my backyard or in the Stanford cages off the tee, working, trying to figure things out, being frustrated some days, encouraged others, from there to batting practice and from batting practice to spring training, where I finally got to see live pitching. It's been a process and it's been a process more than just last year—it's been a five, six, seven-year process. I'm not saying this is coming to any kind of fruition right now, but I'm starting to see some strides in a positive direction, so it's exciting.

BA: After your early success, have you noticed a difference in how pitchers are attacking you?

MT: It's definitely getting tougher. To be honest with you, I'm not really seeing those first-pitch cookies any more, those 2-0 cookies that you see early on in the season. You come in and you do well, you make an adjustment and the league makes an adjustment to you.

BA: What kind of approach do you like to take to the plate for every at-bat?

MT: I try to have a plan for every single at-bat for every single pitch. I'm not saying it always works out, but I feel like the less at-bats I give away over the course of a 500 AB season, if I give away 50, I may not scrape out 15, 20 more hits, and that's the difference between hitting .275 and .300. For me, I try to go up there, take every pitch, have my plan—and I know we're not supposed to be stepping out—but just to clear my head, take what happened and just get my new plan for that next pitch. If I do that, I feel that I have a chance to be successful with my approach.

BA: Does your approach or the pitch you're looking for vary based on different scenarios?

MT: It depends on the situation. Some organizations preach, 'Guy on third base, less than two outs, they're going to come with the breaking ball or the changeup. I know that, I've experienced that before. But I'd say 90 percent of the time, to be successful at any level of baseball you have to be fastball efficient. So you go up there looking for the fastball that you can handle. (Baseball America)

You hate to compare someone who just finished his first full season to Ryan Howard, but the similarities are unmistakable. A 6-foot-6 260-pound power hitter who was a fifth-round Draft pick by the Phillies? One difference, though, is that Taylor had a much better first full season than Howard did. Howard, in 2001, hit .280 with 19 homers, 87 RBIs and five steals at Lakewood. Taylor batted .346 with 19 homers, 88 RBIs and 15 steals between Lakewood and Clearwater, including a .361 mark at Lakewood before his promotion. His average, 170 hits and 274 total bases all ranked in the Minors' top 10. The Stanford product, who was drafted in 2007, has a plus arm in right field and raw power at the plate. Though he hit .227 at Williamsport in his '07 debut, this is more what the Phillies thought him capable of. (MLB.com)

Five-tool outfielder Michael Taylor was called up from Double-A Reading July 16, bringing the hype surrounding the Eastern League All-Star to the Lehigh Valley. There was so much hype in fact, that the IronPigs decided to get dressed up for the occasion wearing tuxedo jerseys which made ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10. OK, maybe the ‘Pigs sported the jerseys for the ballpark wedding before the game, but there was still a lot of interest in Taylor’s first start. The 6-6, 260-pound outfielder was in the hunt for the Triple Crown when he was called up from the Eastern League. His .333 batting average and 65 RBIs was third in the league and his 15 home runs was fourth. In its history, the Eastern League has had only five Triple Crown winners, one in the last 30 years, which shows how Taylor was tearing apart the pitching at the Double-A level. Taylor went 0-for-3 with a run, walk and a strikeout in his debut with the IronPigs. Over his first four games, Taylor went a combined 2-for-13 which left some wondering if he was ready for the call up. However, since starting with a .133 batting average, Taylor caught fire and hit .389 from July 20-24 (five games) and is now carrying a more respectable .263 average going into the series finale against the Gwinnett Braves this evening. It will be a while, but with time Taylor, the number six prospect (rated by Baseball America) in the Phillies system, could eventually create hype for another call up. Although, if Taylor is not shipped away in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes and does ever get the promotion to Philadelphia, don’t expect the Phillies to break out tuxedo jerseys. (Examiner.com)

More: Minor League Prospect Watch

Minor League Prospect Watch - Desmond Jennings

Now that the baseball season is a few weeks deep, it's time to bring back the Minor League Prospect Watch. The first prospect I chose to highlight this year is Tampa Bay Rays OF Desmond Jennings. Jennings is a 6'2 185 pound outfielder who runs like the wind and is off to a hot start in Double-A at the age of just 22 years old.

Jennings could be on he fast track to Tampa Bay sometime this season with his hot start. He is still young, so he hasn't shown much power yet, but this year he seems to be showing signs of a little more pop in his bat. As of right now, I would compare him as a right-handed Carl Crawford or Johnny Damon, but over time if he develops some power I could see him as more of a Carlos Beltran type of hitter. He has already been referred to as a "Carl Crawford type with power." Since the Rays don't have a full time right fielder as of right now, I could see them calling Jennings up to play RF as the season goes on. If Crawford or Upton get hurt, then he most certainly will get a call-up. He is also said to be a plus defender in centerfield. The one knock against him right now is if he can stay healthy after missing most of last season with a left shoulder injury and part of 2007 with a knee injury.

Here are Desmond Jennings' stats for the season to date:

.396 AVG/4 HR/24 RBI/.455 OBP/.610 SLG/1.065 OPS/14 SB

You can check out Desmond Jennings' career minor league stats on his Baseball Reference player page and his First Inning player page.

Here is where Desmond Jennings ranks among minor league prospects:

Ranking in ScoutingBook (5/22/2009): #66
Ranking in Baseball America 2009: #80
Ranking in Baseball Prospectus: #49
Ranking in MiLB.com 2009 Season Preview Unranked
Ranking from the Sporting News: Unranked
Ranking from ESPN: #25

Here is everything you need to know about Desmond Jennings:

After missing most of 2008 season due to left shoulder surgery, Jennings has announced his candidacy for our Minor League Player of the Year honors. He has the speed and athleticism to be a weapon in the field and on the basepaths, with 14 steals in 18 attempts and five triples. He has the plate discipline to take his walks and get a good pitch to hit, and the hand-eye coordination to find the ball with the barrel routinely. And he has enough power to punish pitchers when they put the ball over the plate. As long as he's on the field, there isn't much that Jennings—now batting .396/.455/.610 in 39 games—can't do. (Baseball America)

Rays outfield prospect Desmond Jennings went 3-for-4 Tuesday to raise his Double-A average to .400 on the season. He also hit his 14th double. The 22-year-old could be a candidate for a second-half call-up by the Rays, especially since they don't really have a long-term solution in right field right now. (CBS Sports)

Desmond Jennings’ potential is tantalizing. The Rays’ Double-A Montgomery center fielder has a combination of elite athleticism, speed, strike-zone discipline and feel for hitting that few prospects in the minor leagues can match. The 22-year-old’s early-season performance isn’t too shabby, either. Through 13 games, Jennings is batting .377/.431/.679, including four doubles, three triples, two homers and six steals in six attempts. Jennings went 5-for-6 with a triple on Saturday, then followed up the next day by going 3-for-3 with a triple and a home run. That makes yesterday’s 1-for-3 with a home run, a stolen base and a hit-by-pitch look modest by comparison. Jennings has an excellent approach at the plate, which has led to his walks being nearly equal to his strikeouts the last two years. He stays balanced at the plate and keeps his head locked in, then has the hand-eye coordination to regularly put the barrel of the bat to the ball. “Very good strike zone management,” Montgomery manager Billy Gardner Jr. said. “He doesn’t get fooled very often. He gets on a fastball good, he stays on the ball well and he uses the entire field to hit. He’s got some jump in his bat—the ball comes off his bat really well.” With all that Jennings has done early in the season, perhaps his most exciting play came at Chattanooga on April 15. With Dodgers lefthander Scott Elbert on the mound, Jennings took off and used his explosive speed to steal home. “He stole home plate, and I didn’t realize until I read some blogs the next day that it was Jackie Robinson Day,” Gardner said. “When you’re in the heat of the battle, you don’t think of that type of stuff. You just look at the opportunity that presents itself during the game. It was a situation where we had runners at first and third with two strikes on a lefthanded hitter against a lefthanded pitcher, so we felt like it was a good opportunity to steal a run here. The pitcher had a pretty slow movement with a high leg kick, and we set it up so that once he picked his leg up, if he threw over to go ahead and get a jump.” Beyond his value at the plate and on the basepaths, Jennings has the plus-plus speed to be a weapon on defense as well. “He covers a lot of ground out there,” Gardner said. “I haven’t seen him get into a bad route yet. His arm is accurate and he can play shallow center field and go back to the ball well. He’s the type of exciting guy who can beat you with the bat or he can beat you with the glove.” It’s not big news that Jennings can hit, run and field well. The major barometer for him this season won’t be a rate stat but a simple counting stat: games played. Jennings played only 24 games last year before having surgery on his left shoulder, one year after missing the final month of the 2007 season to have knee surgery. If he shows he can stay healthy for the entire season, he’ll be among the game’s elite handful of prospects. (Baseball America)

Should we start charging Jennings rent for being a regular tenant here on Hot Sheet? Phone lines are open. The guy just keeps on tearing through the Southern League, with his latest escapade starting last Friday with a five-hit game that included three runs scored and a double. And get this: He's hitting .468/.526/.596 (22-for-47) in May. (Baseball America)

Desmond Jennings' new position doesn't take away his biggest attribute. Playing in right field for the first time in his professional career didn't distract Jennings and suddenly make him a step slower. For evidence, see the winning run from the Biscuits' 6-5 victory over the Jacksonville Suns on Monday. Jennings scored on a two-out infield single in the bottom of the ninth inning -- from second base. "I had him going all the way," Biscuits manager Billy Gardner said. "The second baseman didn't pick it up well, had to react and make the throw, and D.J. is so quick. "It was a close play, but I thought he made it." Rashad Eldridge hit a hard groundball up the middle that second baseman Chris De La Cruz tried to backhand and didn't field cleanly. Jennings, who ran on contact, rolled around third and De La Cruz threw to catcher Brad Davis. Davis went for the tag and quickly argued with home-plate umpire Jason Cooksey after Cooksey's safe call. The Biscuits celebrated around them. "I kind of had a feeling he would try," Eldridge said. "The guy had to reach out for it and he bobbled it. With (Jennings') speed, I had a feeling that Billy would send him." Jennings also hit a three-run home run in the third inning and showed that right field isn't a place he despises. He had one putout and fielded three other balls, though he cracked that plays "don't come that way." "The only thing is you don't get any balls," Jennings said. "And, on every swing, every ball looked like it was coming right at me." Jennings is regularly a center fielder. The Biscuits will play him in right sporadically -- and in left -- to increase his major-league versatility. Gardner wouldn't say when Jennings would play right again or how much he'll play it this season. "I don't think there's any number," Gardner said. "It's at my discretion. There's no program for it, but I think we'll see him out there more than once a week."
Jennings had apparent trouble on two hits that came his way. In the seventh inning, Bryan Peterson tripled down the right-field line and Jennings had to fish the ball out of the corner. "I couldn't tell how it was going to play off the wall over there," Jennings said. "I didn't get it cleanly." (Montgomery Advertiser)

Is anybody going to stop Double-A Montgomery CF Desmond Jennings (Rays)? He hit .464/.469/607 (13-for-28) with two more doubles, another triple and six more RBIs since the calendar flipped to May. Overall, the 22-year-old is batting .377/.409/.605 with three home runs, seven doubles, five triples and 22 RBIs. And Montgomery still has 112 games to go. (Baseball America)

BA's Ben Badler featured Jennings in a Daily Dish on Thursday after the Rays' impressive outfielder enjoyed a tremendous weekend in which he delivered eight hits, five RBIs, tripled twice and also homered. Oh, and he also successfully stole home. If you happen to be traveling through southern Alabama this weeked or early next week, swing by the Biscuits' ballpark in Montgomery. They're in the middle of a 10-game homestand that ends on Wednesday night. (Baseball America)

Jennings missed two months with back trouble to start the year, then hurt his non-throwing shoulder while rehabbing the back. He tried to play through the shoulder injury, but lasted just 102 plate appearances in 2008 before surgery ended his regular season, although he came back to play on the Peoria Javelinas' taxi squad in the Arizona Fall League. The lost year of development hurts, but Jennings remains a top prospect due to his tool set and tremendous feel for the game. Jennings is a great athlete, a plus-plus runner who's well-built and has a compact stroke geared toward contact. He is strong enough and should be big enough to hit 20-25 homers a year (if not more), but his power hasn't shown up in games yet, and it's not likely to do so until he's 100 percent physically. He also has outstanding baseball instincts in the field, on the bases, and even at the plate, where he shows good pitch recognition. He gets a mulligan on his '08 stats because he was never fully healthy, and gets knocked down a peg here because of the potential for recurrent back trouble down the road, but he still has star potential as a center fielder who can hit and adds value on the bases. (Keith Law's Top 100 Prospects)

While Jennings provides supreme athleticism, a strong knowledge of the strike zone and a ability both at the plate and in the field, injuries have been his Achilles’ heel as a pro. In addition to his back and shoulder injuries this season, Jennings last year had arthroscopic surgery to repair the lateral meniscus in his knee, ending his season in mid-August. Jennings ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the Rays system and the No. 59 prospect in all of baseball entering the year, although his inability to stay healthy has dinged his stock. (Baseball America)

Seen for a time as a raw talent that hadn't shown the polish or discipline to be mentioned along with other leading outfield prospects, Tampa outfielder Desmond Jennings is still lurking in the wings. A multi-sport high school player, the big, strong and fast Jennings (45 steals in 2007) was seen by many as the second coming of Carl Crawford, in a good way. But his 2008 season was a train-wreck, derailed by back, shoulder and knee injuries that limited him to 24 games. It might have been for the best, as he was hitting 50 points below his previous year when he was finally shut down for the season. In 2009, he'll need to show that he's both fully recovered and ready for the next level if he's going to move up the charts in Tampa. (Scouting Book)

Desmond Jennings had a breakout season in 2007 only to miss most of last year due to injury. The outfielder hit .259/.360/.412 in just 85 High-A at-bats, but he is expected to be 100% healthy in 2009 when he repeats the level. The outfield depth in Tampa Bay is not nearly as deep as it once was, so the athletic Jennings could make an impact in the Majors as soon as 2010. (Fan Graphs)

Can Desmond Jennings stay healthy? A healthy Jennings was tearing up A-ball in 2007, conjuring up images of a right-handed Carl Crawford. Since then, however, injuries have brought his career to somewhat of a halt. Shoulder surgery cut Jennings’ 2008 season short after just 24 games. He only played 99 games in 2007. It’s been very frustrating for both Jennings and the Rays because in his limited time on the field, the speedy leftfielder has displayed some mouth-watering skills. Jennings' 2007 numbers were impressive for Class A Columbus (GA) in the South Atlantic League. He hit .315 with nine homers and 37 RBI while finishing with 45 steals and a .401 on-base percentage. Desmond’s 2007 campaign was good enough to get him onto Baseball America’s prestigious top 100 prospect list heading into 2008. Some scouts actually had him rated higher than David Price. Jennings was promoted to high-A Vero Beach in the Florida State League for the 2008 season. Jennings missed some games early on with nagging injuries, but eventually got into 24 games and hit .259 before shoulder problems forced him into the season-ending surgery. Apparently, the 22 year old is making good progress recovering from surgery because the Rays elected to send him to the Arizona Fall League. At this point, any time Jennings can spend on the field is huge. So far, Jennings is hitting .241 with a homer and four RBI in 29 at-bats for the Javelinas. For a young prospect with the combination of big-time talent and injury concerns, the future is difficult to predict. The Rays would absolutely love it if Jennings can put together a healthy 2009. That would give them the option of trading him for great value at some point in the future, or possibly moving Carl Crawford (I know, it is sacrilege to even speak of it) to make a spot for Jennings. Remember this is all speculation, and there have already been some murmurs that the Rays could trade Crawford. The Rays have a club option on Crawford for 2010 that could pay him as much as $11.25 million and if Crawford is still worth that in 2010, then it is almost a certainty that the Rays won’t be able to afford him once he hits free agency in the 2010 off-season. Anyways, the Crawford decision is likely a long way off and hopefully Jennings can play well enough in 2009 to give the Rays some options. Just another young outfielder with a ton of speed in the Rays’ system. (Tampa Bay Rays Examiner)

Jennings, 22, burst onto the scene with a breakout campaign in the South Atlantic League in 2007. He batted .315/.387/.465, with a 10.4 BB% rate, .852 OPS and 45 steals to help lead the Columbus Catfish to the Sally League championship. Injuries prevented Jennings from building on that performance in 2008, however. He was left behind in extended spring training with back issues, costing him the first two months. He then reported to High-A Vero Beach in June, but a shoulder injury cut short his season after just 24 games. While he has yet to remain on the field for a full season, he arguably has the highest upside of any position player in the Rays’ system. Jennings, a former football recruit at the University of Alabama, is one of the best pure athletes in the organization as well. He also has an advanced approach and his improved his routes to the ball in center field. For these reasons, he has often been referred to as a “Carl Crawford-type, but with more power.” While he may never hit for the power that many scouts expect, there is no denying his talent. Baseball America has him penciled in as the Rays’ starting center fielder in a projected 2012 lineup, which seems likely. Injuries aside, he is young enough to keep his status as a top-five prospect in the organization. (Scout.com)

More: Minor League Prospect Watch

Minor League Prospect Watch (Update): Matt Wieters, David Price, Elvis Andrus, Travis Snider, Dexter Fowler, & More

Here are updates on some of the players I highlighted last season in my Minor League Prospect Watch segment, via Keith Law's Top 100 Prospect list on ESPN:

Matt Wieters, Catcher, Baltimore Orioles, Rank (1): Wieters is typically compared to one of two current big-leaguers: Mark Teixeira and Joe Mauer. Those are tough comps to hang on a player who has yet to sniff the big leagues, but in Wieters' case, they're merited. Wieters' similarities to Teixeira don't end with their common alma mater of Georgia Tech or the fact that each was selected with the fifth overall pick (Teixeira in 2001, Wieters in 2007). Like Teixeira, Wieters is a switch-hitter with plus hit and power tools from both sides. He's a little more fluid from the left side with slightly better raw power, but he could stand on his head and still be short to the ball and get good extension on his follow-through. His plate discipline is strong and improving, and he's filled out since college, adding power to the point where he's at least major league average right now. He does glide a little bit on both sides, but it has no discernible effect on his ability to hit. Like Mauer, Wieters is an offensive catcher with a plus arm who makes everything he does look easy. He's consistently around 1.9 seconds from home to second - I've never gotten anything over 1.96 from him - and his receiving skills have improved dramatically since he entered Baltimore's system. And like Mauer, Wieters is big for the position; he's not as thick as Mauer, who was a high school football star, but he's 6-5 with long limbs and is, like all tall catchers, at risk for knee trouble over the very long term. If he has to spend the last half of his career at another position, his bat will play anywhere on the diamond. Wieters could start 2009 in the majors, although giving him a one-month stint in Triple-A would give Baltimore the advantage of another year of control before Wieters hits free agency. Other than that possibility, there's nothing stopping him from becoming an impact catcher from Day One.

2009 Outlook: Word on the street is that Wieters might start the season in the minors, while recently signed Greg Zaun plays behind the plate. This would allow the Orioles to keep Wieters out of free agency longer, similiar to the way the Rays handled Evan Longoria last season.

David Price, Pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays, Rank (2): I would offer to introduce Price, but he seems to have already introduced himself. Price, like Wieters, is ready to play in the majors right now, although he has a little more development ahead of him that may have to come at the big league level. Price is primarily a two-pitch pitcher today, working at 90-94 mph as a starter but sitting around 94 as a reliever and bumping up to 97. His slider is his out pitch - ask the Red Sox about it - in the low to mid-80s with very good tilt; he can lengthen it against lefties or shorten its break against righties. He does throw a changeup, also in the low 80s, with good action, but it's far enough behind his other two pitches that the Rays had him put it aside for his September callup. He'll need to continue to develop that pitch and improve his fastball command to reach his ceiling as a No. 1 starter, and his workload may be somewhat limited since he threw only140 innings in total in 2008 (including Triple-A and postseason action with the Rays). Given more development time, whether in Durham or in St. Petersburg, he will become a workhorse at the top of the Rays' rotation who racks up strikeouts and shuts down hitters on both sides of the plate.

2009 Outlook: With the Rays trading away starter Edwin Jackson, all indications point to Price being in the rotation for 2009. Price could be the best rookie pitcher this side of Doc Gooden if he's at his best. He certainly has the stuff and makeup to be dominant on the mound.

Travis Snider, Outfield, Toronto Blue Jays, Rank (5): Snider was rushed to the majors this year, but to some degree it's his own fault, as he never stumbled after any of his previous promotions and continued to hit in the majors despite a big drop in his contact rate. Snider is a fair athlete who should have defensive value -- especially from his arm -- but the bulk of his value will be in his bat. His setup and swing are very simple, and his path to the ball is short, so he should be able to hit for a good average even if he's striking out 140 times a year, and he's already showing good power and projects as plus down the road. He looks a little stiff, but is an average runner and more than adequate in right field, with a 60 arm. Putting him directly into Toronto's lineup this year is probably too aggressive -- he was the youngest position player to get a major league at bat in 2008 -- but he should be a big league regular by Opening Day 2010 and an impact player two or three years after that.

2009 Outlook: Snider will be in the Blue Jays lineup somewhere in 2009, but whether that is in LF, 1B, or DH remains to be seen. The Jays were hurt by the struggling economy so a cheap and productive player like Snider is just what they need if they want to compete.

Dexter Fowler, Centerfield, Colorado Rockies, Rank (30): Fowler was one of the top players to just miss my list last year due to concerns about his swing. He has always been a plus defender in center with good speed. He showed patience as soon as he reached pro ball, but he had swing issues from both sides of the plate; it's not surprising that he had issues from the left side, since he's only been switch-hitting since instructional league in 2004, but he was leaking badly as a right-handed hitter as well. The Rockies have done a great job cleaning up both swings -- he keeps his weight back much better now than he did as recently as late 2007, and he does a better job keeping his hands inside the ball when he's hitting left-handed. He's still obviously more comfortable hitting right-handed, but the improvement on both sides is a great sign, and he shows above-average power from the left side when he gets his arms extended on balls out over the plate. Fowler's a plus runner -- albeit a below-average base stealer -- and covers a lot of ground in center. He gets good marks for makeup and work ethic, and given the strides he's already made, there's reason to expect further improvement.

2009 Outlook: All indications point to Fowler having every opportunity to claim the starting CF position for the Rockies. Fowler should be solid, but not outstanding as a rookie. He could have a similiar impact for the Rockies that Denard Span did for the Twins last season.

Elvis Andrus, Shortstop, Texas Rangers, Rank (39): Andrus had more than 1,550 plate appearances in full-season leagues before his 20th birthday, and 2008 was his best year yet in a career that's been more about tools and promise than performance. Andrus' only tool that doesn't project as plus is his power, which could end up as average because he makes such hard contact but isn't likely to surpass that. He does everything else easily: he's got an easy swing, using the whole field and working the count well for someone who doesn't take many walks; he's a plus runner; he has a strong, accurate arm and throws effortlessly; and he's a plus defender at short with a lot of range (something Texas hasn't exactly had over there for a few years) and fast hands. He's been so young for everywhere he's played that he hasn't had a chance to develop fully as a hitter, but it's a testament to his skill set that he has survived, and even performed well this year in Double-A with a .295 average and .350 OBP. He's penciled in as Texas' starting shortstop this year because of his defense, but if the line for 2009 is an OPS of .700, I'd take the under. Down the road, once he's old enough to stay up past the seventh inning, he should be a top-of-the-order hitter, hitting for average and getting on base while adding value with his speed.

2009 Outlook: Unless he fails miserably in the field, Andrus will be the starting SS for the Rangers in 2009. Michael Young has already been asked to move to 3B, which sets things up for Andrus to come in and play from day 1 of the season. I don't expect him to hit much, probably in the .250-.260 range at best, but he should be able to swipe a few bags.

Kyle Blanks, First Base, San Diego Padres, Rank (54): Blanks is a big human being -- he's listed at 6-6, 270 pounds, and it wouldn't shock me to hear either figure was low. The size means two things: he has a huge strike zone, and he has raw power. Blanks has defied the odds on a guy his size by making contact and hitting for average, reducing his strikeout rate and raising his batting average two straight years despite moving up a level each year; he has good hand-eye coordination and his swing is less long than you'd expect from a 6-6 hitter. He has a simple approach at the plate, but because he doesn't stride into the ball, he doesn't make maximum use of his bulk, and has less raw power than a hitter his size should have. In the field, he's limited to first base but should be no worse than average there; he moves around well and it's obviously hard for anyone this side of Chuck Knoblauch to throw one over his head. His home run output hasn't been bad -- San Antonio's a tough place to hit -- but it should be better; if the Padres can get him to use his whole body better, he'll have a chance to be a star, but it'll probably be somewhere else with Adrian Gonzalez standing in front of him.

2009 Outlook: Unless he or current Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez gets traded, then Blanks will be playing the 2009 in the minors again.

Ben Revere, Outfield, Minnesota Twins, Rank (63): Revere was a surprise first-round pick in 2007, receiving the lowest bonus of the round, a figure well below the commissioner's office's slot recommendation for that pick, but he's off to a roaring start to his pro career. After a month in extended spring training, he went to the Midwest League, as he was old for a high school product (he turned 19 a month before he was drafted), and hit .413/.463/.565 in the first half before cooling off to hit .340/.398/.417 after the break. Revere's best tool is actually his speed, as he's a plus runner and covers a lot of ground in center for that reason alone. But he also has shown he can make a ton of contact with a hard, slashing stroke despite a high setup and late trigger. He's strong for his size (5-9), but isn't ever going to hit for power between that and the flat plane of his swing, so he'll need to improve his ability to work the count as he moves up the ladder and sees his batting averages come down to earth. With his combination of speed and contact, he has a chance to become an impact leadoff man if he can keep his OBPs up, with the potential for plus defense in center if he improves his reads.

2009 Outlook: I don't see Ben Revere being in the Twins plans for 2009, but damn if he hits .379 again, they might just give him a chance towards the end of the season, especially if they have injuries.

Be on the look out for more Minor League Prospect Watch features once the season begins.

More: Minor League Prospect Watch

Minor League Prospect Watch - Kyle Blanks

This week I chose to highlight Kyle Blanks in the Minor League Prospect Watch. Blanks is in the San Diego Padres system and is a 6'6", 270 pound first baseman, who not only mashes the ball but he also has some nifty footwork around the bag at first.

Kyle Blanks has been crushing the ball all season in Double-A, including a 9 RBI game this past Monday. He definitely has a Frank Thomas like build to him and while he doesn't walk as much as The Big Hurt, he still gets his fair share of walks with 51 on the season. His .403 on-base percentage is certainly impressive for a man of his size and proves that he is more than just a slugger. The one problem right now for Blanks is that he is blocked at first base in the majors by Adrian Gonzalez, so it wouldn't surprise me to see the Padres trade either Blanks or Gonzalez at some point in the next couple seasons. My guess would be that they trade Blanks, unless they don't want to spend money on Gonzalez when he becomes a free agent.

Here are Kyle Blanks stats for the season to date:

.324 AVG/18 HR/ 104 RBI/.403 OBP/.506 SLG/.909 OPS/51 BB

You can check out Kyle Blank's up to date stats on his Baseball Reference player page and his First Inning player page.

Here is where Kyle Banks ranks among minor league prospects:

Ranking in ScoutingBook (8/29/2008): #182
Ranking in Baseball America 2008: n/a
Ranking in Baseball Prospectus: Unranked
Ranking in MiLB.com Season Preview Unranked
Ranking from the Sporting News: Unranked
Ranking from ESPN: #68

Banks was not ranked that highly at the beginning of this season because he had not shown great power for his size but I think he may be ranked higher when next seasons rankings come out.

Here is everything you need to know about Kyle Blanks:

A nine-RBI performance on Monday, not to mention hits in nearly half his at-bats, was enough to keep the massive first baseman stationed near the top of the Hot Sheet. Blanks has reached a new gear in the second half, hitting .335/.399/.578 with 12 home runs and 13 doubles in 218 at-bats. He ranks second in the Texas League in RBIs (104) and hits (155), fourth in average (.324) and fifth in on-base percentage (.403). That's a heck of a year for the second-youngest regular position player (Elvis Andrus is 20) in the league. (Baseball America)

Kyle Blanks drove in so many runs on Monday, he literally lost track. Blanks went 5-for-6 with a homer and a career-high nine RBIs as the visiting San Antonio Missions totaled 28 hits in a 21-3 rout of the Corpus Christi Hooks on Monday. "I knew I had a few, but I thought I was somewhere around five RBIs," Blanks said. "I didn't know I had nine, but it was nice to know I did that well. It's definitely one of the best games I've ever had, by far." The 21-year-old Blanks drew a bases-loaded walk in the third inning, lined an RBI single in the fourth, singled again in the sixth, hit a two-run double in the eighth and did serious damage in the ninth with a two-run homer and a three-RBI double. "It felt good, I was just swinging the bat and had people on base for me," said Blanks, who's batting .318 with 18 homers and 101 RBIs this year. "Everyone did real well for me tonight, so it felt real good." Blanks drove in a previous career-high six runs in his first professional game back on June 22, 2005 for the Rookie-level Arizona League Padres. "It's nice to know I've got another number to aim for," Blanks said. A lofty goal, although nothing seems out of reach considering the way the Texas League All-Star has been swinging lately. It was the second five-hit effort in the last six days for Blanks, who, after his latest performance, has 21 RBIs in his last 11 games for the Missions. "I definitely think I've made some good adjustments to both the pitchers and parks," Blanks said of his fourth season. "I've played a little more this year, some more first base than DH, and I think I've made some pretty good adjustments. Hopefully I'll continue to do it." Blanks went 5-for-7 with a pair of homers and six RBIs on Aug. 20 against Frisco and said the secret was in his hands. "My hitting coach, Terry Kennedy, has been working with me over the past two weeks, and he gave me a little something he'd seen. Ever since than I've put that to work, things have just clicked," said Blanks. "He told me to get my hands up a little higher, so I brought them up and I started hitting again." The Padres' 42nd-round pick in 2004 has been an All-Star in each of his four seasons in San Diego's system. He was named the best power hitter in the organization by Baseball America in 2006, only to follow up the honor with 24 homers and 100 RBIs for Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore in 2007. That power Storm lineup is now in San Antonio, and Blanks said it felt like old times Monday. The Missions batted around four times. "We actually last year had a 30-0 game with 28 hits," Blanks said of the Storms' May 18 win over Lancaster last season. Blanks had six hits and scored six times that night. "This is virtually the exact same squad. A lot of the same guys are here, so we've put together some good games here as well." With four RBIs heading into the ninth, Blanks was just looking to stay on the roll. "I was just looking for a good pitch to hit. I was getting a lot of fastballs, and I looked for another," he said. "I got it that time and put a good swing on it." The Missions loaded the bases for Blanks a second time. There would be no bases-loaded walk in this inning. "I really just wanted to keep it rolling, just get a hit and keep everything going," Blanks said of the bases-clearing double that gave him 101 RBIs on the season. "And hopefully we'd keep going from there." Blanks is 13th Texas League player to have nine RBIs in a game. J.J. Clark holds a seemingly unbreakable record of 16 RBIs, set on June 15, 1902. But Blanks was just a piece of the puzzle. Jose Lobaton went 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs, Josh Alley had three hits and three RBIs, Craig Cooper added a pinch-hit two-run double and Gabriel Lopez went 4-for-6 and scored twice. The Missions' 28 hits were the most by a Texas League team since they tallied 28 on May 8, 1999 to beat the Midland RockHounds. Craig Monroe was the last player to total nine RBIs in a Texas League game on April 8, 2000 for the Tulsa Drillers. "It really just seemed like everyone was locked in," Blanks said. "Even the pitcher [Stephen Faris] had two hits." (MLB.com)

It may be a lost season in San Diego, where the Padres have long been out of contention and unloaded Greg Maddux up the street to the Dodgers. But in the Padres system there are some encouraging storylines and they begin with Blanks, the 6-foot-6, 281-pound hoss who was a 2004 draft-and-follow from Yavapai (Ariz.) JC.Blanks' big week was highlighted by his 6-RBI, 5-for-7 showing Wednesday against Frisco. In that game, he ripped a double and two home runs, including the walk-off winner in the 12th inning. Just 21, Blanks owns the eighth-best average (.313) in the Texas League as he has shown he is not a think-homer-first kind of basher. And look at his 91 RBIs. They are second, behind 25-year-old Tommy Everidge's 108 and ahead of three others who are in their mid-20s. His 140 hits also are third-best in the league and, cementing his status has to be his home average. It's .328, in a ballpark hardly known to be kind to hitters. Blanks' defense also has not been lost on Texas League managers, who like his nifty foot work at first base (he's committed five errors). (Baseball America)

Kyle Blanks and the San Antonio Missions showed no ill effects, one night after being no-hit for 5 1/3 innings by the Frisco RoughRiders. The 21-year-old slugger smacked his second homer of the game in the bottom of the 12th to give the Missions a wild 14-12 victory over the RoughRiders at Wolff Stadium. Needing a triple for the cycle, Blanks followed Chad Huffman's leadoff walk with his 17th homer of the season to give the Missions (28-29) their third win in four games. "It was great to get the win. We fought back all night and it was nice to get off the field with a win after five hours," Blanks said. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound first baseman went 5-for-7 and tied a career high with six RBIs. He had run-scoring singles in the first and fourth before launching a two-run homer in the sixth. In the eighth, he hit his 20th double to plate another run and, one batter later, Seth Johnston tied the game at 10-10 with a sacrifice fly. The teams traded zeros in the ninth to force extra innings and give Blanks another shot at the triple he needed for the cycle. He struck out in the 10th with the Missions trailing, 12-10, but Colt Morton tied the game with a two-out double. "[The cycle] definitely crossed my mind," Blanks said. "I heard someone say something about it on the bench at some point. I just wanted to get on base and keep the wheels moving and hopefully have someone drive me in." It was Blanks' fifth career multi-homer game and the third time he has driven in six runs. He homered twice and collected six RBIs for Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore on May 12, 2007. That was part of a season in which the New Mexico native batted .301 with 24 homers, 31 doubles and 100 RBIs to earn California League midseason and postseason All-Star honors. The six RBIs moved him into second place in the Texas League with 91. A starter in the Texas League All-Star Game, Blanks had a monster July, batting .307 with six homers and 26 RBIs in 26 games. He is 17-for-33 (.515) with three homers and 14 RBIs in his last nine contests. "I'm just being more patient," said Blanks, San Diego's 42nd-round pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. "When I get those good pitches to hit, I'm hitting them and not missing them." Drew Macias homered, drove in two runs and scored five times, while Johnston homered and drove in three runs. One night after Frisco's Neftali Feliz and Trey Hodges combined on a rain-shortened no-hitter, Macias, Johnston and Blanks combined to go 10-for-17 with four homers, 11 RBIs and nine runs scored. "It's never fun to get no-hit," Blanks said. "They pitched well yesterday, but we wanted to come out and swing the bats and take that away. It seemed like everyone had some kind of part in it and we just had that never-say-die attitude." (MILB.com)

Kyle Blanks is the biggest thing in the Midwest League--literally. If he keeps hitting like he is, he will be the biggest thing figuratively as well.The 6-foot-6, 290-pounder was 3-for-4 last night with two doubles for Fort Wayne, and on the season the Padres prospect is 6-for-16 with five extra-base hits. He also has only one strikeout, a promising sign for a player who fanned 49 times in 164 at-bats in the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2005.The 19-year-old signed as a draft-and-follow after the Padres took him in the 42nd round out of Yavapai (Ariz.) JC. Despite his size, Blanks is graceful around the bag at first as he was named national juco defensive player of the year. (Baseball America)

Blanks batted .440 with 85 hits in 193 at bats, scored 45 runs, drove in 47, with 25 doubles and eight homer runs, leading the team in each of those categories. He also added five triples and 23 stolen bases in 25 attempts while walking 14 times and striking out 38 times. The Padres ended up signing the prospect just prior to the May 30 deadline for $260K.

How is it possible that a Kyle Blanks, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound athlete, can steal 23 bases?

Coach Smeltzer: Actually he is 280 pounds. Kyle is an amazing athlete, not just for his size, but for anyone’s size. He runs a 6.90 sixty-yard dash which is an average Major League time. He is a very intelligent baserunner. I think because of his size he gets ignored a little bit by opposing pitchers until they figure out that this kid will steal a base on me. He is a very good athlete. A very smart baserunner and obviously for his size he can really run.

Kyle won Player of the Year for the league and helped you guys immensely, what does he bring to the table as far as his all-around game?

Coach Smeltzer: Kyle is a kid that can hit for average right now and as time goes on he will develop more consistency with his power. He has a lot of power in his swing and it is not something he showed in high school. He only hit five home runs with the metal bat. What is more impressive about his offensive numbers is we play with wooden bats in our league. Kyle has already had 200 wood at bats which will put him ahead of the game. He ended up hitting ten homers, including playoffs, with a wood bat and that power consistency is going to continue to come and a lot of the average hitting he does comes from the pure strength of being able to pull balls through the six-hole and fighting balls off to the right side. He will continue to hit for average but we will see that average drop as he continues to become more of a power hitter. He has a good approach offensively, even when he gets two strikes. Right now he is about putting the ball in play with two strikes as opposed to what the Padres may try and have him do, air it out through the whole at bat and really learn how to develop that power.

As a right-handed, first baseman with his size, how is his fielding and work around the bag?

Coach Smeltzer: Defensively, agility-wise, his feet work well around the bag. He does tend to get a little bit top-heavy when he is fielding ground balls. I think that is still growing into his body. His feet, for being size 16, they do move well. He will continue to get better. He got a lot better for us as the year went on from a lot of his hard work and being coachable. He was a high school shortstop, if you can believe that. It is really a new position for him and it is continuing to become an everyday learning experience for him. Footwork and athletically he is getting very good at it.

Given his large frame, does he also carry a long swing and what types of pitches give him trouble?

Coach Smeltzer: His strike zone is big but his swing is very short and compact. You have to when you use a wood bat and face the caliber of pitching we face on a day-to-day basis. He has faced plenty of 88-to-92 arms on a regular basis in our conference. You can't have a long swing and have success with a wood bat in your hands facing those kinds of arms. His swing is very short but his strike zone is very big. That is something he has to fight through and he struggles with at times. Those balls down a little bit below his knees are a long reach for him. I think mentally it works in his favor because the pitcher sees that it is a large strike (Padres Scout)

More: Minor League Prospect Watch

Minor League Prospect Watch - Ben Revere

Minnesota Twins minor league prospect Ben Revere stands only 5'9" but don't be fooled because the guy can flat out hit. After 280+ at-bats this season, he was still hitting over .400 and continues to hit well with a scorching .379 average.

Revere has not shown much power yet but since he is still just 20 years old it is possible he will still develop in that area. Revere has shown excellent strike zone judgement and is a speedster on the base paths. As long as he keeps hitting and getting on base, he could be a deadly leadoff hitter for the Twins and may not need to put up great power numbers to be a productive player in the future. He actually has hit a lot of doubles and triples, so his slugging percentage is more than respectable for a leadoff hitter. He also does a Joe Morgan like back arm flap when he hits in order to keep from dropping his shoulder, so you gotta love him for that.

Here are Ben Revere's stats so far this season:

.379 AVG/1 HR/43 RBI/.433 OBP/.497 SLG/.930 OPS/27 BB/43 SB

You can check out Ben Revere's up to date stats on his Baseball Reference player page and his First Inning player page.

Here is where Ben Revere ranks among minor league prospects:

Ranking in ScoutingBook (8/22/2008): #78
Ranking in Baseball America 2008: n/a
Ranking in Baseball Prospectus: #97
Ranking in MiLB.com Season Preview Unranked
Ranking from the Sporting News: Unranked
Ranking from ESPN: Unranked

Here is everything you need to know about Ben Revere:

The awards keep piling up for Beloit's Ben Revere this season as he continues to excel in the Midwest League. In the most recent issue of Baseball America, Ben was named by the MWL Managers as best in the league in four different categories. The four categories include: Best Batting Prospect, Best Strike Zone Judgment, Fastest Baserunner, & Most Exciting Player.
Revere currently leads the league in batting average (.380) and on-base percentage (.433), while also tied for second in stolen bases (41) and third in slugging percentage (.498). Ben also leads the Snappers in average, hits (122), doubles (17), triples (9), stolen bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Ben was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (28th overall) of the 2007 First-Year Player draft. He spent the 2007 season as a member of the GCL Twins, where he hit .325 with 10 triples, 46 runs and 21 stolen bases. (Our Sports Central)

Ben Revere wasn't supposed to begin the season in Beloit. The Minnesota Twins organization had hoped to have their first-round pick (28th overall) in the 2007 Draft start the year with Elizabethton of the Appalachian League. Revere, now 20, was selected out of Lexington Catholic High School in Kentucky and before making his pro debut with the GCL Twins last year. Due to a number of untimely injuries -- including a hamstring ailment of his own which didn't allow him to begin playing until April 28 -- the Twins awarded Revere a shot with the Class A Snappers in 2008. Revere went 0-for-3 in his debut, batting second against South Bend on the 28th. Then it began. Two hits the next day. Two the evening after that. One the following night. And so on. Just like that, the speedy outfielder who many thought wouldn't immediately succeed in the Midwest League compiled an 11-game hitting streak. He was transferred to the leadoff slot on May 6 and raised his average as high as .439 before going 0-for-3 on May 12 to end the streak. Still, what Revere did in the first two weeks isn't uncommon. Players get off to hot starts all the time. Then the brunt of the season comes and they settle in, raising and lowering their average a bit, but usually maintaining a type of consistency that allows scouts to analyze their potential. What Revere's doing four months later, however, is uncommon. Now 73 games into the season, the 5-foot-9, 166-pound outfielder is hitting an eye-popping .388, most in the full-season Minor Leagues. (Terry Tiffee of the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s is second at .375 in 87 games.) Revere was at .404 as recently as July 24 before his first 0-for-5 game of the season Tuesday. Only nine times this season has Revere not recorded at least one base hit, and he's gone hitless in back-to-back games once. Budding from that 11-game hitting streak, which started to garner Revere some attention, the Lexington, Ky., native hasn't let up, forcing teammates, managers, reporters and fans to intently observe Revere's progress and see if he can become the next professional baseball player to hit .400. Major League Baseball hasn't seen a .400 hitter since Ted Williams accomplished the feat in 1941 as a member of the Boston Red Sox, but the Minor Leagues have. Jason Ellison of the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies hit .406 in 2006 at the age of 28, recording 78 hits in 192 at-bats. Rene Aqueron, then 23, did so for the Rookie-league Bluefield Orioles (.405, 66 hits, 163 at-bats) in 2005, and Hernan Iribarren, then 20, reached well above the .400 plateau in 2004 when he hit a combined .422 between Beloit and the AZL Brewers, accumulating 108 hits in 256 at-bats. Naturally, their accomplishments are worthy of praise, but as of Aug. 7, with 24 games remaining on the schedule, Revere has more at-bats (299) and hits (116) than any of the aforementioned trio. "I try to go out there and just play my game. Everybody keeps talking about the .400 thing, but I just want to go out there and have fun every day because that's what I'm supposed to do," Revere said. "It's a big deal in baseball. Everybody knows that and everybody wants to see if I can keep my composure and go out there and try to do it. If I can do it, I'll be happy. If I can't, I tried my best." Since 1998, six players in the Minor Leagues have finished the season with an average above .400. Erubiel Durazo, who hit .404 in 1999 with 344 at-bats, did so with the most plate appearances, and Revere should easily exceed that over the final month of the season. While it may not be at the Major League level, there's still a significant amount of pressure being placed on Revere to become baseball's next prolific hitter. When George Brett and Tony Gwynn made runs at the hallowed mark, they expressed a slight disdain for the amount of attention they were getting. Not only does someone in Revere's situation have to deal with late-breaking sliders and tailing fastballs, but also the constant reminder that they're teetering on the edge of history. "There may be a little bit of pressure, but I won't put that pressure on me," he said. "I don't like to look at my stats. If I go 0-for-4, people will be like, 'C'mon man, you'll lose the .400.' But I don't really care as long as we hopefully we win the game. Then I'll be happy. If we don't, I'll be upset." It's that mentality -- one which permits him to focus on his progression as a player, on making the Majors and on winning the upcoming game -- that may actually allow him to do it. "Really, I'm just being smarter with my pitch selection, getting enough sleep and all that stuff and hopefully I can keep that up and it'll help me play a lot better the next day as well as the rest of the season," said Revere, who has compiled 14 three-hit games this season. Part of the reason he's been able to solve opposing pitching with such frequency is because of his approach at the plate. Revere said he almost always makes an effort to stay inside the ball and hit it hard on the ground, using his superior swiftness to reach base. That approach has swelled into a remarkable plate discipline that's made the job of Beloit hitting coach Rudy Hernandez quite easy. "He never talks to me at all, really," Revere said of his interaction with Hernandez. "He'll say one day that you're around [the ball] a lot and the next day, I'll stay inside of it and hit it up the middle, so he'll say, 'Good job.' But he usually kind of leaves my swing alone." While Hernandez's job has been a cakewalk regarding Revere, the experience hasn't been mutual for opposing pitching coaches. "I know teams are looking at how many at-bats I've got and say, 'Wow this guy can really get on base,' so I won't see that many fastballs. I'll see a bunch of changeups and curveballs," added Revere, who struggled hitting changeups in the GCL (where he batted .325). "After a while, you start seeing guys in the field play me in a lot of different positions when I come up. "Sometimes I have games where I'll hit four balls hard, but right at them and go 0-for-4, and other times I may have a couple cheap base hits." Thus is baseball. But it's not all dumb luck for Revere, whose longest hitting streak of the season spanned 22 games (May 30 to July 1). Dry spells (relatively speaking in his case) can occur as well, and Revere's in the midst of one now. After hitting no lower than .354 in any month this season, Revere's started August 2-for-12 (.167) and is batting .348 post-All Star break compared to .413 prior. Yet another aspect of the complex quest to hit .400 is the length of the season, especially given that this is Revere's first full one at the professional level. He's already played 23 more games than he did in 2007. "My body's kind of getting tired a little bit. It's not really wearing down, just tired," he said. "I think everybody is, but I won't complain." But some people will. "There's still a bunch of doubters out there who say, 'Yeah, he can hit, but he's still not one of the best,' so I just have to go out there and prove that I am the best," Revere said. "They thought I wasn't going to be this good. They thought I'd come up here and struggle a little bit because we've had a couple young first-rounders come up here and struggle in this league. I wouldn't say they doubted me. They knew I was a good hitter, but they were just surprised how well I handled myself up here." Ultimately, Revere's goal is more poignant than staking claim to a rare numerical achievement. It's to make the Majors. And that means working more on improving his arm strength than focusing on .400. It means continuing to prove to the Twins that he's mature beyond his age. After all, everyone already knows the guy can hit. (MLB.com)

Revere's been absent from the Hot Sheet for a few weeks, but that doesn't mean he's stopped hitting. He's picked up base hits in 16 of his last 17 games, and his average is still above the .400 level after 280 at-bats, as it currently stands at .404/.456/.539. His best game of the week came on Monday, when he went 4-for-4 with a double and two steals against Wisconsin. (Baseball America)

One of the big surprises on Draft Day 2007 was Ben Revere, selected in the first round 28th overall by the Twins. A high school outfielder from Lexington, Kentucky, Revere was rated as a second round or third round talent by most teams. He is a terrific athlete with blazing speed, excellent makeup, and was considered relatively polished for a high school hitter, but he's undersized at 5-9, 165. That concern and questions about how his power would look against pro pitching kept him out of first round consideration....except for the Twins. Some believed this was a signability and budget pick, and indeed Revere's $750,000 bonus was below slot for the first round. Comparisons to Denard Span, another young speed demon first rounder who never panned out, were inevitable. But the Twins insisted that Revere was the guy they wanted, and right now their decision looks inspired. Revere had a nice rookie ball debut, hitting .325/.388/.461 with an incredible 10 triples. He stole 21 bases in 50 games, though being caught nine times showed some need for polish. I gave him a Grade B in the book this year, which is high praise for a rookie ball guy. Revere began 2008 in extended spring training, but he joined full-season Class A Beloit in late April and has been on a tear ever since. In 44 games, he's hitting .413/.463/.565 with 22 steals. Althougn not a walk machine (14 BB), he's struck out just 15 times in 184 at-bats and scouts are drooling over his contact hitting ability. He's hit just one homer, but his 13 doubles and six triples are not all due to speed, he's showing some legitimate pop. His OPS is a robust 1.028...obviously strong, but keep in mind that the Midwest League league OPS is a mere .689. His OPS+ is 149. Revere does have some weaknesses. He has the tools to be a fine defender, but isn't there yet, already making seven errors on the season. He has been caught stealing 11 times and must improve his read on pitchers to get the most out of his running speed. He was not a young senior and is already 20 years old. However, given his exceptional makeup, intelligence, and work ethic, it seems likely that his deficiencies can be corrected. I don't think he'll ever be a big home run guy, but if he maintains this level of hitting skill he could be a batting champion someday in the mold of Ichiro Suzuki. Other possible comps would include Ralph Garr or Luis Polonia, or possibly Brett Butler if Revere can boost his walk rate at higher levels. Alhough we obviously need to see how things pan out in the coming years, Revere has to this point certainly justified his selection. My own Shadow Draft fake Twins first rounder last year, RHP Nevin Griffith, just came out of extended spring training for the White Sox...he pitched well in his first start for Great Falls. But at this point I would rather have picked Revere. (Minor League Ball)

And again, it's early, it's early, it's early, but Ben Revere has put on his four-fingered ring and is totally pimp-slapping the Midwest League. After 51 games for Revere (which is where Baseball Reference has updated so far, but it's not quite completely up-to-date), he's leading the league in OPS, while posting a .407/.459/.560 line. The .560 slugging is a bit misleading, because it's "just" a .153 ISO. So, it's not like he was showing the same kind of power that Delmon Young showed in the minors, but for instance, Joe Mauer's best ISO in the minors was .120 as a 21-year-old. Also, Denard Span's best ISO up until this year was .088, and when Span was 20, his ISO was an almost mind-bogglingly low .047. And it's not really just that Revere is leading the MWL in OPS, he's crushing everyone even close to his age. After Revere, the next four guys on the list are 22 or 23. The next guy on the list is Chris Parmelee, whose .239/.385/.496 is crazy in its own right. That's a couple tons of power (.257 ISO is probably the best in the entire system--certainly higher than Morneau and Kubel's current sub-.200 ISO), and another ton and a half of walks (52 walks is the most in the system, better even than Mauer's 47), but the batting average has to be a concern. Even Adam Dunn, career .247 hitter, hit .304 in the minors. I suspect that Parmelee's name is going to be mispelled about eleventy bajillion times if he ever makes the bigs, but it might just be easier to spell his name R-O-B D-E-E-R. Anyway, back to Revere. Parmelee is second to Revere in the MWL in OPS for players 21 and under. But the gap between the two players is relatively huge, with Revere at 1.019 and Parmelee at .881. Then we get to third place in the 21-and-under category, and we have Andrew Lambo at .810--more than 200 points below Revere. In batting average for the 21-and-unders, Revere is hitting .407 and the next best player (Adrian Ortiz). (SBG Nation)

There are some thing in baseball that make watching and following the game of baseball fun. One of the hallowed records that begs to be broken year after year is hitting 0.400 or better. Many players have come close since Ted Williams did it in 1941. I consider this mark more unattainable than hitting 73 home runs again. If there is one record I want to see fall in my lifetime, it’s this record. This year Chipper Jones was the man that has come the closest. Although he recently got injured I still hold out hope that he can get to 0.400 again, but it’s not looking good. One look in the minors tells a different story, a player by the name of Ben Revere is hitting in a zone lately and as of yesterday he was hitting 0.401 after 60 games even! Last year he was the first round pick of the Twins (pick 28 overall). He signed quickly and spent the year in rookie ball (GCL Twins). He hit 0.324/0/29/21 in 191 at bats. At only 20 years old he has the eye of a grizzled veteran. He has only struck out 40 times in his career. To put that in perspective, Cameron Maybin has struck out 40 times in the past 2 months.So here is the million dollar question, who would he compare to in the majors? The answer is that I don’t know. He has the speed of a Haney Ramirez but the eye of Tony Gwynn. So I guess maybe that’s your answer, Tony had some wheels on him when he came up, but his batter’s eye is what made him dangerous. I think of all the minor leaguers out there he may have the best eye in the game. He’s only 20 and the Twins would do a huge disservice in allowing him to advance to quickly. Let him finish the season in Beloit and see if he can hit the magical 0.400. Next stop would be the Ft. Myers Miracle or the New Britain Rock Cats. If I were the GM I would move him to high A Ft. Myers, if he can handle that then send him to AA with an ETA in the majors in late 2009 or early 2010. It is going to be interesting as to what he can do over the next year. (Bad Wax)

Revere got a late start to 2008, not joining Beloit until April 28 out of extended spring training, but he's been the MWL's hottest hitter ever since. For that matter, calling him red hot would be an understatement, as there is a long list of superlatives you could come up with to describe his season so far. Revere has torched Midwest League pitching, reaching base at least once in 31 of the 33 games he's played. On May 3, he celebrated his 20th birthday by going 3-for-5 with a double against Great Lakes, kicking off a streak of five straight multi-hit games. Revere's had an even hotter streak from May 13-19 when he recorded six straight multi-hit games, which was also part of a stretch where he went almost two entire weeks without striking out once. He doesn't have enough at-bats yet to qualify for the MWL batting title race, but if he did, he would lead it by almost 70 points. Not bad for a guy who wasn't a consensus first-rounder. (Baseball America)

Revere didn't arrive in Beloit until April 28, but he's been making up for lost time. He wasn't considered a consensus first rounder before Minnesota made him the 28th overall pick last June, but he hit .325/.388/.461 in the GCL and was rated that league's third-best prospect. He's picked up where he left off this year. Revere is riding a nine-game hitting streak and has served as a spark for the Beloit lineup since his insertion at the top of the order. Prior to Revere's arrival, the Snappers were 8-15 and averaged 3.7 runs per game. They've gone 7-3 and scored 4.1 runs per game since. On the week, he registered five-straight multi-hit games and scored at least one run in four straight. (Baseball America)

Revere was the Twins first round selection in the 2007 First Year Player Draft, and though his selection raised some eyebrows, his game is raising even more now. During the month of May, the speedster batted an incredible .433, swiping 14 bases in 28 games. It seemed like he was on base all the time, as he continues to make the Twins look like geniuses for drafting him so early. For the month, Revere picked up 52 hits, an astronomical number, and scored 21 times. The leadoff hitter wrapped five triples, 11 doubles, and struck out only eight times. He has shown a batting eye way beyond his years, and at only 19-years old, is legitimately a top prospect in the Twins organization. (Twin Cities Dugout)

Ben Revere was taken by the Twins in the first round of the 2007 draft. Many people were skeptical of the pick, as many thought there were definitely better players available and that the Twins shouldn't be adding more speedy outfielders with low power potential. However, Ben shut a lot of those critics up(at least for the time being) and now many think (at least, so far) that it may have been a great pick for the Twins. Of course, it's really too soon to tell. In 191 AB's, Ben hit .325/.388/.461 with zero home runs. That's right, a .461 slugging percentage without a home run. The reason for this is that Ben possesses amazing speed which allowed him to hit 16 extra-base hits, 10 of which were triples. He also stole 21 bases in 50 games and displayed solid plate discipline as well. He projects as a potentially great left-handed lead-off hitter with great defense. Right now, again it's probably too soon to compare him, but I'd say he's a potential Jacoby Ellsbury clone. Ben should be in Beloit this season, and will likely spend the entire season there, sink or swim. (Minnesota Twins Thoughts)

When the Twins let Torii Hunter go, maybe they knew something. Revere is a prototype leadoff hitter: his blazing speed and quick bat pushed him into the league leader boards for doubles, triples, and stolen bases. Only 5-9 and 175, he won't win any home run derbies, but his speed and approach to the game is exactly what Minnesota needs at the top of their roster. He'll start 2008 in the Midwest League, but expect Minnesota to take a look at him during the season. (Scouting Book)

More: Minor League Prospect Watch