Cincinnati Reds new #21 Prospect: 3B Eric Jagielo

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Eric Jagielo is now in the Cincinnati Reds organization, but he spent the entire 2015 season with the Double-A Trenton Thunder in the Yankees organization. His first game of the year saw him go 1-5 with an RBI, but his second game was a big one. He went 2-4 with a walk against Erie and both of those hits were home runs, hit in back-to-back innings. That game helped carry his week though, hitting just .250/.269/.542 with a walk and seven strikeouts. The following week started out in a big way as he smacked two doubles, drove in two runs and drew a walk. He carried that forward for the week and hit .346 with a .654 slugging percentage thanks to five extra-base hits and also walked three times in seven games. The final week of the month saw more power, three extra-base hits, but he had just four hits (.235 on the week) with two walks and four strikeouts, resulting in an .863 OPS. In 76 plate appearances on the month the third baseman hit .284/.342/.582 with six walks and 17 strikeouts.

May got out to a nice start against Akron for Jagielo. The lefty hitter smacked two doubles in seven at bats and drove in two runs. He would bookend the week with another two hit game, but the middle of the week was rough as he hit just .241 overall. The next week was much better, as he reached base at least twice in all but one game and hit .400 with a slugging percentage of .650 to go along with four walks. While the third week of May wasn’t as strong, he carried some of that forward, reaching base in every game of the week while posting a .435 on-base percentage thanks for five hits and four walks in five games. From the 22nd through the 27th he crushed the ball, posting a 1.065 OPS with four extra-base hits, but the final four games of the month were tough, going just 2-17 (.118). Overall, he had a big month at the plate, hitting .284/.371/.505 with 11 walks and 30 strikeouts in 124 plate appearances. Defensively he had five errors on the month, including two games with two errors.

The first week of June was solid, but unspectacular for the former Notre Dame infielder, though he had a good game with three hits and a double on the 3rd. For the week he hit .300, but it came with just one walk and one extra-base hit. In his next seven games things would take a step backwards as he would go 7-26 (.269) and have just one extra-base hit and no walks to go along with seven strikeouts. That last game, played on June 16th, would end his season. In the 5th inning of the game he would triple and score on the next play, a sacrifice fly. After reaching the dugout you can see him limping and then bending over in front of the trainer before the camera cut away back to the live action of the game (I watched this sequence of plays on MiLB.tv). After an initial disabled list stint that didn’t do much to relieve the issue, he underwent an MRI that revealed loose bodies in his knee that would eventually be removed. The arthroscopic surgery would end his season. The Yankees originally planned to send Jagielo to the Arizona Fall League to make up for some lost time, but decided to give him additional time to rest the knee instead of sending him to the prestigious league.

The first two months of the season were quite strong for Eric Jagielo, posting a .284/.360/.534 line with 17 walks and 47 strikeouts in 200 plate appearances. The final two weeks of his season though were tough and lowered his overall production at the plate, but in a league where the average OPS was .691, he easily outpaced that with an .842 mark. He struggled defensively, particularly with errors. He made nine errors in just 39 games at third base on the season, posting an .883 fielding percentage on the year. While the sample size is small, the errors were also a problem in 2014 in a much larger sample size.

Scouting Report

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Hitting | Despite hitting for a .284 average over the season in the minor leagues, Jagielo has a below-average hit tool. He’s not likely to hit for too much average at the big league level, with a .260 average not being out of the question in most seasons.

Power | This is where he shines, with plus raw power and current above-average in-game power. 25-30 home runs isn’t out of the question if he develops his full potential.

Running | Speed isn’t a part of his game. He’s a well below-average runner.

Arm | He shows a slightly above-average arm, plenty strong enough to remain at third base.

Defense | Jagielo has some real questions about whether he will remain at third base. He’s posted a sub .900 fielding percentage at third base each of the last two seasons. Most of the errors are with the glove, not with his arm. To go along with some glove issues, he’s also got limited range, though if he can correct the fielding issues he may have enough range to be a below-average defender who won’t kill you at the position.

Since being drafted in 2013 by the Yankees, Eric Jagielo has struggled to stay on the field. He’s had a run of injuries that have kept him from playing about 50% of his games over the last two seasons and kept him out of the Arizona Fall League two seasons in a row after initially being slated to participate. His bat should play at the big league level where his power should be a calling card. The big questions about more about his defense and where it fits in. Not many are sold that he can remain at third base in the long run, but some scouts think he’s got the ability if he gets the most from his tools. He’s going to have to put in plenty of time to improve his glove at the hot corner. A move to first base is possible, but moving to one of the corner outfield spots seems a bit unlikely given his well below-average speed. Jagielo has a starters profile, but there’s a lot of risk involved with him too. If he can’t improve his glove at third base, he loses plenty of value by moving to another position on the field.

Spray Chart

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