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As he does every week, GetSports' Minor
League Analyst Jeremy Deloney looks at the top prospects in baseball in
his Future Stars.
Over the course of every minor league season, many
relative-unknowns step to the forefront and thrust their way into elite
prospect status. Some players were simply signed or drafted to fill
rosters and others were expected to push disappointing prospects to play
better. Let us spotlight a few players who began the season as ordinary
players but are now emerging as legitimate prospects.
In the 24th round of the 2003 draft, the Cleveland Indians
drafted Ryan Goleski, a 6'3" power-hitting outfielder from Eastern
Michigan. He played well at short-season ball last year, but wasn't
counted on as an everyday contributor for Lake County, the Indians Low A
affiliate in the South Atlantic League. The 22-year-old Goleski now leads
the league in home runs (10) and is second in RBI with 39. He also is near
the top of the league leaders with a .331 batting average. Despite the
depth in the Indians farm system, Goleski is pushing his way to a quick
promotion to Kinston.
The New York Mets haven't done a very efficient job of signing
and cultivating Latin American talents. One signee, however, has burst
into top prospect status. Nineteen-year old Venezuelan RHP Yusmeiro Petit
is having one of the best seasons in all of the minor leagues. He's 5-1
with a 1.62 ERA for Capital City in the South Atlantic League. Most
amazingly, he's struck out 59 batters in only 44 innings and is holding
batters to a .157 batting average.
Ian Kinsler was drafted as an organization filler in the 17th
round of last year's draft by the Texas Rangers. The University of
Missouri shortstop wasn't even an everyday player last year for his
short-season club. This season, however, Kinsler is leading the South
Atlantic League in batting average (.409), OBP (.470), doubles (23), and
slugging (.624). He'll never be a power-hitter or great defender, but he
will push Joaquin Arias and Drew Meyer as the Rangers best shortstop
prospect.
The Chicago Cubs drafted 6'6" LHP Sean Marshall not for his
success at Virginia Commonwealth, but for his long-term potential. His
body hadn't yet filled out and the Cubs felt that with proper instruction,
he could add a few more ticks to his fastball. The Cubs couldn't be
happier with Marshall's progress. After posting a 6-7 record with a 2.36
ERA in 15 starts last season for short-season Boise, Marshall began the
current campaign with Low A Lansing of the Midwest League. Because of his
amazing success (1.11 ERA in 48.2 innings with only 4 walks and 51 Ks),
Marshall was recently promoted. He bypassed High A and was elevated to
Double A West Tennessee.
Brad Knox was a little-known RHP from Central Arizona College
when the Oakland Athletics popped him in the 14th round of the 2002 draft.
The 22 year old posted nice numbers last season for the short-season
Vancouver club, but his surprising start to this season with Low A Kane
County (Midwest League) has given the A's another potential future
rotation member. Knox is currently leading the league in strikeouts with
68 to go along with his 4-2 record and 1.79 ERA. He's only walked 9
batters and is holding batters to a .203 batting average. Knox is similar
to Marshall in that he'll probably bypass High A and go straight to Double
A. He is now mentioned in the same breath as other A's pitching prospects
such as Joe Blanton and Mike Wood.
Duke, duke, duke, duke of Lynchburg. OK, so that didn't make
sense, but 21-year old Pirates RHP prospect Zack Duke is making sense of
Carolina League (High A) hitters. Duke, a 20th round draft pick in 2001,
leads Lynchburg and the league with an ERA of 1.23 after 44 innings of
work. He's second in strikeouts with 50 as well as opponents batting
average of .169. Duke achieved modest success last season with Hickory
(Low A), but his name didn't appear on any Pirates top prospect lists. His
stuff seems fringe-average but he's waltzing through the Pirates
organization with relative ease.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 20 year old pitching prospect Chris Seddon
had a difficult time with Bakersfield of the High A California League last
season as one of the league's youngest players. As such, the Rays decided
to keep Seddon at Bakersfield to start this year. The rest of the league
must have rued that decision. Seddon, now at Double A Montgomery, led the
league with a 0.65 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 41 innings. He took his 5-0
record to Montgomery and posted 5 shutout innings in his first outing for
the Biscuits (yes, the Biscuits). The 6'3" Seddon was a high draft
pick as a 5th rounder in 2001 and the Devil Rays commitment is paying off.
For any casual minor league observer, the name Bradley Thompson
had probably never been uttered in a conversation prior to this season.
He's now making waves for Double A Tennessee in the St. Louis Cardinals
organization. The promising youngster recently (supposedly) broke the
minor league record of most consecutive shutout innings with 57. Some of
those innings were attributed to last season's work with Palm Beach in the
Florida State League. He allowed only one run in his most recent outing
and has now yielded one in 50 innings pitched for an unbelievable ERA of
0.18. Not known as a strikeout artist, Thompson has polished off speed
pitches to go along with his average fastball. He's struck out 38 batters
against only 6 walks while holding hitters to a .164 batting average. It
is extremely likely that Thompson will see time at Busch Stadium before
the end of the season.
When one looks at Twins OF prospect Jason Kubel, "baseball
player" doesn't come to mind. The 5'11" 190 pounder with the
boyish-face looks like he should be stocking shelves at the local Piggly
Wiggly convenience mart. But this cat (Rock Cat, to be exact) can play
baseball as well as anybody in the entire minor leagues. The 21-year-old
former 12th round pick in 2000 was hitting .377 to start the year. Kubel
also had 6 dingers along with 29 RBIs for the New Britain Rock Cats. And
in true "Moneyball" fashion, he had an equal amount of walks and
strikeouts (19). He now finds himself in the outfield of Triple A
Rochester after a promotion earlier in the week. So next time you see a
Piggly Wiggly stock boy, think of Jason Kubel.
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