Three Named in “Prospect Primer”

This year, minor league baseball’s website, milb.com, named a few prospects to watch from each major league organization. Each team got a “shining star,” a prospect who is “major league ready,” a “breakout prospect,” and then a few players named as ones to “keep an eye on.”

As usual, ATVL combed through all thirty entries, looking for former Valley League players. There were three listed.

Let’s take a look:

1. Eric Stamets (Haymarket 2010), Los Angeles Angels, named as the breakout prospect. This is what Sam Dykstra wrote about Eric:

A 70 grade is rare in the scouting world in any category. Among MLB.com’s top 100 prospects, only Billy Hamilton, Byron Buxton, Delino DeShields and Luis Sardinas got a 70 or above for their running tool, and each of those speedsters stole at least 32 bases in 2013. Stamets received a 70 in the category but swiped only 16 bags on 20 attempts at Inland Empire last season.

Stamets, the Angels’ No. 16 prospect, utilized his speed in plenty of other ways, most noticeably at short where he exhibited solid range. What’s more, 21 of his 142 hits last year came via the bunt, and a .315 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), buoyed by the speed, helped him slash .281/.335/.375 in his first full season.

The Halos hope to see more line drives in 2014 — and they certainly believe Stamets is capable of gap-to-gap power — along with plenty more steals.

“Twenty [stolen base] attempts is not acceptable from him going forward,” said Scales. “He should be able to get 30-plus [steals]. That’s something we have to encourage him to do more because it can be a big weapon for him.”

2. Tommy LaStella (Haymarket 2009), Atlanta Braves, also named the breakout prospect. Here is Tyler Maun’s writeup:

La Stella was lighting up college pitching through his first two years at Coastal Carolina before a 2011 NCAA rule change made the familiar “ping” of the college ranks disappear in favor of bats that behave more like wood. That did not matter much to La Stella.

“That was one of the things our scout said when we drafted him,” Richardson said. “That was right around the time when they changed the bats in college. Our guys said that he was still able to drive the ball all over, even with that change.”

The Braves selected La Stella in the eighth round that year with the second baseman coming off a Big South Player of the Year season and a second-team All-American selection. His bat has spoken loudly since.

A career .327 hitter with an impressive .908 OPS through three Minor League seasons, La Stella is poised to move up for the first time to Gwinnett, where he’ll continue working on his defensive acumen. He’ll bring the experience of his first Major League action with him.

“He had a chance to go to big league camp this year to really learn a lot about himself,” Richardson said. “Not only that, but he learned a lot from the veteran players.”

La Stella batted .255 in 20 games this spring with the big club. Despite a series of nagging injuries that have limited him to a career high of 90 games in a single season, La Stella is pushing the envelope to compete for the Braves’ second-base job.

“His bat is there right now, and we really feel that he can be an average defender at the Major League level and contribute soon.” 

3. Mac Williamson (Harrisonburg 2011), as one to keep an eye on. John Parker wrote:

Mac Williamson led the Giants organization with 25 homers for San Jose last year, but also ranked fifth with 132 strikeouts. The right fielder’s power is unquestioned; if he can maintain a decent on-base percentage in Double-A, he’ll be a slugger to watch.

Congratulations to all three former VBLers for the mentions!