Today I wanted to take a look at the best tools down on the farm that I have had a chance to see. That limits it to guys who played in full season ball since I didn’t have a chance to see Billings or the Arizona League Reds guys. Only prospects are eligible for this list, so Mike Hessman and Donald Lutz won’t be eligible for the power tool and a guy like Tony Cingrani won’t be eligible in any pitching categories despite their playing in the minors this year, they have exhausted their prospect eligibility due to service time on the MLB roster.
Offensive tools
Hit Tool
Jesse Winker gets the nod here. He can go foul line to foul line from the left side of the plate and can hit the ball with authority to all fields.
[private_subscriber]
Power Tool
I wanted give both current and raw power nods here. For current power the nod goes to Neftali Soto. On the raw power side of things the nod goes to Juan Duran.
Best Plate Discipline
Another tip of the hat to Jesse Winker. He lays off of most pitches outside of the zone and will take close pitches just outside of the zone.
Fastest Runner
Billy Hamilton gets the nod here, to the surprise of no one. With that said, Theo Bowe is nearly just as fast as Hamilton is.
Best Base Runner
Billy Hamilton once again gets the nod here. Partly due to his speed, but also due to his instincts on the bases both in terms of stealing as well as taking bases on hits by others.
Defensive Tools
Best Defensive Infielder
There are plenty of guys that could be looked at here, but the guy who impressed me the most was Travis Mattair at third base. He was able to make all of the plays. The routine, the coming in play, to his left, to his right and the spectacular.
Best Defensive Outfielder
Billy Hamilton gets the nod here despite having just about a year of time in the outfield. His speed comes into play here as he can run down just about everything that can possibly be run down in center and at this point he gets good jumps and runs good routes.
Best Defensive Catcher
Tucker Barnhart tops this list. He does everything well behind the plate. He frames pitches well, can block pitches well, has a strong arm and controls the running game.
Best Infield Arm
While I only saw his arm in video form, Juan Silverio stood out among several other candidates.
Best Outfield Arm
Yorman Rodriguez is one of several outfielders in the system with a plus arm, but his impressed me the most during the past few seasons so he gets the nod here.
Best Catching Arm
The Reds have several catchers in the system with plus arm strength. Tucker Barnhart gets the nod here because while others have similar pop-times as he does, his throws were a little bit more accurate from what I was able to see along with the plus pop-times.
Pitching Tools
Best Fastball Velocity
For starting pitchers it was an easy choice as Robert Stephenson consistently sat 95-97 MPH and often sat 96-99 MPH. For relievers I would have it as a tie between Loek Van Mil and Michael Lorenzen who both routinely sat in the mid 90’s and touched upper 90’s.
Best Fastball Movement
For starting pitchers the guy who stood out the most was Carlos Contreras with his 2-seam fastball that had outstanding sink and arm-side run. For relievers the nod goes to Alejandro Chacin who gets big time arm-side run on his fastball.
Best Curveball
Once again for the starting pitchers it was an easy choice to go with Robert Stephenson here with his power curveball in the low 80’s. For relievers, while it can be inconsistent when it is at its best the nod goes to Michael Lorenzen.
Best Slider
For starting pitchers I wanted to give it to a guy like Ben Lively, but I only had a chance to see him pitch twice and both times he was rather limited by pitch counts. While he struggled throughout the season, when Daniel Corcino threw his slider at its best it ranks up there as the best. For relievers Drew Hayes slider stood out when he threw it at its best.
Best Change Up
For starters it was easy to pick Ismael Guillon who has a plus change up. On the relief side of things it is trickier, as the best change up from a future reliever that I saw was from a guy who is currently starting, Carlos Contreras. The Reds view him as a relievers though, so I will make it easier on myself and choose him.
Best Control
Drew Cisco gets the nod for starting pitchers. He doesn’t just have good control, he has good command. On the relief side of things Pedro Villarreal pounds the strikezone, which gets him the nod for that group.
[/private_subscriber]