As a part of the subscription side of the site I will be including some of the scouting reports from the 2015 Prospect Guide over the winter and leading up to the season. Today is the first of that series and will be looking at the #19 prospect in the Reds system, Carlton Daal.
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The word began to come out of extended spring training in 2013 that Carlton Daal really stood out among the players, but he was injured right before short-season began and missed most of the season. The Reds made an aggressive promotion to the Midwest League despite much professional experience for the 20-year-old shortstop. Daal got out to a quick start, hitting .307 through May with a .354 on-base percentage. While he slowed down in the second half, he still hit .281 but his on-base percentage did drop to .310 due to a lower walk rate. Daal uses an up-the-middle and opposite field approach, rarely pulling the ball. He also has a high rate of grounders hit, which limits his power. He shows good bat speed and there is more power for him to develop, but he will remain a below-average power guy. It doesn’t always show up out of the box, but the shortstop shows above-average speed at times. Where he shines, yet also has a lot of improvement to do, is on the defensive side of things. He shows good range and a quality arm at the shortstop position that should allow him to remain at the position long-term. At that same time he is inconsistent with his throwing mechanics which led to 39 errors in just 93 games played. Daal has the tools to stick at shortstop and could also hit for a solid average in the future. He will need to improve his mechanics defensively and continue to improve from an offensive standpoint, but he has the upside to be a starting shortstop at the Major League level if things go right in his development.
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