Cincinnati Reds #21 Prospect: 3B Gavin LaValley

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The 2015 season got out to a nice start for third baseman Gavin LaValley. In the first three games of the year he would go 1-3 in each game and hit two total doubles with two walks. After a slight slump where he’d go 0-9, he rebounded by going 5-11 with two walks, four runs and three RBI. The final 11 games of the month were a real struggle though as LaValley would hit just .189 in 45 plate appearances. That would lead to a month with a .227/.363/.303 line to go along with 13 walks and 24 strikeouts over 80 plate appearances. The walk rate was strong, but the strikeout rate was very high and the power didn’t show up in the month.

The slump the ended April continued into May. In the first week of the month LaValley would hit just .185 and he wouldn’t draw a walk. The second week was a slight improvement, but was still a struggle as he went 5-23 (.217 average). Things weren’t much better in the second half of the month as the third baseman would hit .241/.290/.276 in 62 plate appearances. The overall struggles of May led to a .222/.271/.287 line with six walks and 33 strikeouts. The high strikeout rate remained, there wasn’t much power output and the high walk rate disappeared as well.

June couldn’t have gotten out to much better of a start for the 20-year-old. In his first nine games he would go 17-36 (.472) with six extra-base hits and two walks. He would miss a week after that and go 0-3 with two walks in his return game on the 18th. Things then picked up right where he left off. In the final nine games of the month he would hit .341 with six extra-base hits. After two months of struggles it seemed that the warmth of June was what LaValley needed to get things going in the right direction as he would hit .388/.437/.600 with six walks and 15 strikeouts in 87 plate appearances. His walk rate rebounded, his strikeout rate plunged and he began to show plenty of power.

When the calendar flipped to July things slowed down some. Over the first two weeks of the month the third baseman would hit .256/.407/.326 with nine walks and just four strikeouts in 54 plate appearances. The second half of the month was a real struggle though as LaValley would go 11-58 (.190) with just one extra-base hit, six walks and 16 strikeouts. After a strong June, July was a step backwards at the plate for LaValley, who would hit .218/.328/.257 on the month in 119 plate appearances with 15 walks and 20 strikeouts. He showed a strong walk rate and a quality strikeout rate, but his power he showed off in June disappeared and when he made contact, the ball simply wasn’t finding the grass.

The first two weeks of August continued the struggles from July. LaValley would hit just .233/.277/.279 in 47 plate appearances. Over the final three weeks of the season he would pick up the pace and go on a nice run. With 23 hits, including six extra-base hits and seven walks he would post a .324/.392/.437 line in 79 plate appearances. In the final five week stretch, concluding after a week in September, LaValley would hit .289/.349/.377 with 10 walks and 22 strikeouts over 126 plate appearances.

After a really slow start to the season, Gavin LaValley would rebound – though he would struggle with consistency at times. The third baseman showed big improvements in cutting down on his strikeout rate as the season progressed and improved his walk rate at the same time. He didn’t show off too much power over the season, hitting just four home runs over 125 games.

Scouting Report

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Hitting | LaValley was known more for his power coming into the 2015 season, but it was his hit tool that was the better of the two, particularly in the second half. He can and does use the entire field well.

Power | While the power output wasn’t there so much in 2015, LaValley still shows enough raw power to hit for 15-20 home runs. Some scouts believe that his weight loss has sapped him of his power potential that was once believed to be in the 25-30 home run range.

Running | Dropping a lot of weight over the last two-and-a-half years has really helped LaValley pick up some speed, but he’s still a below-average runner.

Arm | He’s got average arm strength, but it’s good enough to play at third base.

Defense | LaValley made big strides in 2015 with his defense. Coming into the season reports suggested he wasn’t going to stick at third base in all likelihood and would slide over to first, but he showed enough improvements that there is a reasonable belief he can remain at third. He will need to continue to make improvements, but 2015 was a big step in the right direction and if things pan out he profiles to be an average defender at third.

The player that was expected and the player that played in 2015 were not exactly the same. LaValley was supposed to be a power hitting first baseman who was being played at third base and was overmatched defensively at the position. Outside of one month, that power never really showed up. What did show up was a much better defender than was advertised, probably due in some part to the better conditioning of his body. At one point in high school he was nearing 300 lbs, but when the season ended he was around 210. That weight loss has probably cost him some power in the long run, but it’s also helped him improve in nearly every other aspect of his game. His swing got shorter as the season went along and it helped cut down on his high strikeout rate he showed through May, nearly cutting it in half over the final three months of the season.

Spray Chart

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