Feature Photo: Francisco Mejia, C, Indians
The MLB All-Star Break gave me some time to get up to Manchester, N.H. for the 2017 Eastern League All-Star Classic. Here are my looks at six players who stood out, including my thoughts on two converted position players who are advancing nicely through the Red Sox’ and Yankees’ systems on the mound, as well as Conner Greene (RHP, Blue Jays) who could see a higher ceiling as a Role 70 closer if his control issues necessitate a moves to the bullpen. I also profile Rafael Devers (3B, Red Sox), whose double-plus power bat was the highlight of the trip, and Francisco Mejia (C, Indians), whose above-average hit tool and average defense could give him a ceiling of an above-average receiver in the big leagues.
I’ll be back soon with some looks from the Cape Cod League, as well as reports from a recent tour of Massachusetts by the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
2080 Prospect Spotlights
Double-A Eastern League
2017 All-Star Classic Game & Workouts
July 11-12, 2017
Willams Jerez, LHP, Red Sox (Double-A Portland, Eastern League)
Ht/Wt: 6’4”/200 lbs. B/T: L/L Age (As of April 1st, 2017): 24y, 10m
Jerez was an interesting view in this game, working one inning. Originally drafted by the Red Sox in the second round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Grand Street Campus H.S. (Brooklyn, N.Y.) as an outfielder, he converted to the mound in 2014 as a pure reliever, and he has developed into a power-armed lefty that’s worth following. Jerez showed a double-plus fastball sitting 95-to-97 mph with most readings at 96 mph and a potentially above-average slider that comes in short but with hard bite and some tilt at 88-to-90 mph. The fastball command comes and goes, but it comes in with run bore and tail and he can locate it to both sides of the plate with plus life, making it an easy plus offering. His control profile is improving, dropping his BB/9 to an above-average 2.84 BB/9 this year, down from a well-below-average 4.15 BB/9 last year, which is an encouraging trend given his 2014 conversion. In spite of his age, he still needs development innings and time to refine the arsenal, and dial in the control. He’s thrown a light 148-plus innings at the Double-A level, but with a plus fastball and above-average slider, and with the control numbers trending in the right direction, he has the makings of a realistic Role 50, average seventh-inning reliever.
Yefry Ramirez, RHP, Yankees (Double-A Trenton, Eastern League)
Ht/Wt: 6’2”/205 lbs. B/T: R/R Age (As of April 1st, 2017): 23y, 4m
Ramirez, like Williams Jerez (LHP, Red Sox), is converted position player who took to the mound after a single year of infield play at Rookie-level DSL ball in 2011 after signing with the Diamondbacks as a non-drafted free agent on Jan. 25, 2011. Taken by the Yankees in the Triple-A Phase of the 2015 MLB Rule 5 Draft, he has been used in a starter’s role for the Yankees in his first year playing at the Double-A level, and he threw one inning of relief in the game. Ramirez has a well-proportioned frame with long arms. He brings double-plus arm strength and a quick arm action, and utilizes a no-windup, abbreviated delivery from a 3/4’s arm slot. His fastball is above average, coming in from 92-to-95 mph and mostly sitting at 93 mph with some sink and tail. He had difficulty commanding it to the arm-side in this view. His slider is projectable at 85-to-87 mph, with the pitch presently showing some inconsistent shape, but he does show enough tilt and depth with the pitch for me to see a future plus pitch developing. His changeup also projects as plus, sitting 85-to-87 mph with fading action and deceptive arm-speed replication. He’s getting plenty of swing and miss, striking out roughly a batter-per-inning over the 200-plus innings he’s thrown the past two years, but the control profile remains a concern at a well-below-average 4.04 BB/9. While the three-pitch mix shows potential in a starter’s role, his control issues may limit his ceiling to that of a solid-average middle reliever at the major league level.
Conner Greene, RHP, Blue Jays (Double-A New Hampshire, Eastern League)
Ht/Wt: 6’3”/210 lbs. B/T: R/R Age (As of April 1st, 2017): 21y, 11m
Greene is a big-time power arm who worked two innings out of the bullpen, and he performed well in the role, allowing just two hits and striking out four, but importantly he also did not allow a walk, though the free passes remain an issue in his starter’s role (52 over 90 2.3 innings prior to the All-Star break). Over these two innings, he showed three plus-or-better pitches, including an 80-grade heater that played up in the relief role, topping out at 100 mph several times while sitting 97 mph, and showing heavy sink to both sides of the plate and late life. His plus curveball sat 76-to-81 mph, maintaining solid two-plane depth throughout the velo range. His changeup was also plus, with late fade and tumble. While the Jays are wise to give him a long leash in developing as a starter, and he does well to keep the ball on the ground (1.94 GO:AO ratio this year) the control numbers have regressed to 5.4 BB/9, which is an unsustainable number for a starter. If he can rein it in to even fringe-average, he can still hold down a rotation spot, but at this point in his development, I see a higher ceiling as a Role 70, impact closer.
Jairo Labourt, LHP, Tigers (Double-A Erie, Eastern League)
Ht/Wt: 6’4”/205 lbs. B/T: L/L Age (As of April 1st, 2017): 23y, 0m
Labourt was a key piece in the 2015 trade-deadline deal that brought David Price (LHP, Red Sox) to the Blue Jays in return for Labourt, as well as Daniel Norris (LHP, Tigers) and lefty Matt Boyd (LHP, Triple-A Toledo). It was a limited 2/3-inning view of Labourt, but his stuff looked better than his line would suggest (two runs, one hit, a walk, and a pair of strikeouts). Labourt pitches out of the stretch, and his delivery was more compact that I’ve seen in prior views. His plus to double-plus fastball sat 94-to-95 mph and he worked it to both sides of the plate with run and tail, but his command was erratic, though the movement itself was plus. His slider was average, and though inconsistent in execution, he was able to add and subtract from it, and get some backup action to right-handers. Converted to a relief role just this year after 400 innings as a starter in pro ball, Labourt tries to throw everything hard now, and shows just a fair feel for pitching. He still needs refinement in his fastball command and overall control, but he’s improving in that area out of the pen, with the BB/9 dropping this year to 2.52 BB/9 from last year’s 7.2 BB/9 over 87 innings at High A Lakeland. That said, the ingredients are there in the two-pitch combo for Labourt to settle into a realistic role of an average major league middle reliever. The Tigers also see some potential – he was promoted to Triple-A Toledo immediately following the All-Star game.
Rafael Devers, 3B, Red Sox (Double-A Portland, Eastern League)
Ht/Wt: 6’0”/195 lbs. B/T: L/R Age (As of April 1st, 2017): 20y, 5m
Devers is an impressive 20-year-old who went 1-for-2 with a strikeout in the game, but possesses plus to double-plus potential with the bat and double-plus power to-boot. He showed easy power to all fields in his BP sessions with strength, leverage, and loft to his stroke. He has plus bat speed thanks to quick hands and wrists and a solid bat path to really barrel balls up and generate consistent hard contact to all fields. He’s improved his approach and pitch selection, and because of the quickness and bat speed he can let the ball get deep in the zone before pulling the trigger, taking advantage of his improved knowledge of the strike zone this year. In the field, he shows a plus arm with good carry on his throws, and with the ability to throw from angles. He has soft hands, good footwork for his size, and average fielding actions that project to a solid-average defender at the corner. Devers shows agility that belies his size, and he should have average range at maturity. He’ll need to keep on top of the footwork and agility to stick at the position long term. The bat is his carrying tool, however, and he has a ceiling of a Role 70 perennial All-Star whose bat will do damage in the big leagues, regardless of position. He was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket on July 14.
Francisco Mejia, C, Indians (Double-A Akron, Eastern League)
Ht/Wt: 5’10”/180 lbs. B/T: S/R Age (As of April 1st, 2017): 21y, 5m
I had a limited, three at-bat look at Mejia in the game, but the switch-hitting Mejia looks to be a projectable above-average major leaguer catcher at this point in his development, and he, along with Rafael Devers (3B, Red Sox), was one of the youngest participants in the All-Star game at just 21 years old. Signed as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2012, Mejia has a small, compact frame, but he showed surprising pop in his BP sessions, and its not a stretch to project a plus hit tool with average power, given that he is showing his bat off in the Eastern League this year, leading the league with a .336 average, and with 28 of his 78 hits going for extra bases (16 doubles, two triples, and 10 home runs). While he shows good barrel control from both sides of the plate, he looks to be more advanced and productive hitting from the right side, where he is hitting .475 versus lefties in 58 at-bats. From both sides of the plate he shows the ability to get the bat head out and barrel the ball up to all fields. On defense, he shows average receiving actions, mobility, and range, and his arm is plus, with good carry and average accuracy. The hit tool and average defense should give him a floor of at least a Role 50, average major leaguer, but if the hit tool continues to mature as it has, he could hit a ceiling of a Role 60, above-average receiver.
