Alfredo Escalera

Position: LF
Level: High A
Affiliate: Wilmington Blue Rocks
League:
Age: 21
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 186
B/T: Right / Right
Acquired: 8th Rd., 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft (KCR)

Prospect Spotlight

There are not many aesthetically pleasing hitters in Wilmington’s lineup, but Escalera happens to be one of them. Just 21 years old, Escalera features a broad, projectable frame that he could add some solid muscle and strength to. At the plate, he features a crouched stance with loose hands and above-average bat speed. He has a squared setup with a leg kick timing. He fires his hips and hands almost simultaneously, creating limited separation and limiting his barrel control, but his swing is short and compact through the hitting zone. He has shown an aggressive approach, but has some pitch recognition skills and feel for contact on pitches on the inner half. He struggles with velocity and with quality breaking pitches, but when he does make contact, Escalera has average gap-to-gap power. With some added strength, his raw power could ultimately reach average.

On defense, he has average reads and reactions, but he takes crisp routes to fly balls, giving him the ability to play all three outfields positions from a strictly positional standpoint. But his arm is below average, so right field is most likely out of the question. Maybe Escalera’s best tool is that he features athletic strides and plus (4.20-to-4.26) running times from HP-to-1B. With a limited hit-tool ceiling and below-average arm, it’s tough for Escalera to profile as a major league regular but with that being said, he still garners ceiling as Role 40; fourth or fifth outfielder. – C.J. Wittmann