Last offseason the Reds plucked up Juan Silverio in a trade from the White Sox. After the 2011 season he ranked as the White Sox #8 prospect in their organization, but he really struggled in 2012 and fell to their #31 prospect as he battled several injuries that year and never really got going in the right direction. The Reds acquired him in late March and sent him to Bakersfield where he spent his entire season outside of 2 games at the very end of the year with a late promotion to Pensacola. Silverio hit .287/.305/.474 with 31 doubles, 4 triples and 19 home runs between the two stops. The power output was impressive and marked the first time that he had topped 9 home runs in a season. Scouts had always talked about his power potential, but he hadn’t been able to tap into it before.
Let’s jump in and take a more in depth look at Silverio at the plate.
Scouting Report
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Hit tool | Despite ups and downs in average over his career, Silverio has a solid hit tool. He can use the entire field and hit the ball hard from line to line with good tendencies to go up the middle with his approach.
Power tool | As noted above, Silverio smacked 31 doubles, 4 triples and 19 homers last year. That is very good power output, but it did come as a breakout in the California League where many have had a power breakout only to see it disappear once they left the league. With that said, Silverio has above-average power potential. Whether his breakout was real or he still needs to tap into his power once he leaves the league is a big question. Either way, he still has some power potential to tap into. He gets good leverage in his swing and has good bat speed.
Speed | Silverio was a step faster when he was younger, but he rates out as an average speed guy at this point in his career. Despite his average speed though, he is a poor base stealer and has been caught stealing more often than he has been successful.
Other | Despite a good hit tool and power tool, Silverio is going to really struggle to use them both to their potential due to his aggressive plate approach. In his career he has a 5.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is about twice as high as even a questionable rate would be. He struggles to identify pitches and his swing mechanics further that point when he guesses wrong as he employs a single step approach at the plate as he strides, leaving his front foot in the air until he identifies the pitch. This often leaves him off balance and messes with his timing, leading to troubles making contact at times and weak contact at others. Perhaps switching to a small step-back to step forward loading mechanism could give him more consistent balance as he begins his swing. Silverio has the right parts to his offensive game to be productive, but unless he can improve his selectability in the pitches he swings at, he is going to struggle to get the most out of his tools as he faces more advanced pitching.
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