Michael Beltre is having a breakout year in 2016 for the Cincinnati Reds farm system. Entering the season he was a prospect to keep an eye on, looking to rebound from a tough transition from the Dominican Summer League and into the Arizona League. Despite his initial struggles in the United States last year as a 19-year-old, I still felt he was the best prospect on the Arizona League Reds entering the season. That statement is making me look like a genius at this point as Beltre has put together a fantastic season.
In his age 20 season Michael Beltre hit .292/.380/.443 with the Reds in Arizona, smacking four doubles and six triples while stealing nine bases in nine tries. The outfielder posted a 9% walk rate and a 20% strikeout rate, but his walk and strikeout rates both improved after the first three weeks of the season. Let’s take a look at how things played out over the first three weeks with the Reds versus the second stretch of three weeks (up to the point in which he was promoted).
| Split | PA | BB% | K% |
| 1st 3 weeks | 59 | 5.1% | 22.0% |
| 2nd 3 weeks | 63 | 12.7% | 19.0% |
The strikeout rate did drop off, but not by a ton. The walk rate is where Beltre saw real strides made, more than doubling his walk rate and getting it into the double digit range.
The Dominican Republic native was promoted to Billings on August 8th and he’s picked up the pace from where he was in Arizona. In the 21 games since being called up the now 21-year-old has hit .308/.419/.526. He’s added in eight doubles, three home runs and stolen three bases in four chances.
He’s also taken another step forward when it comes to controlling the strikezone. He carried forward what he had done in that second stretch in Arizona and improved upon it. With the Mustangs he’s walked 15% of the time and he’s cut his strikeout rate to just 13%.
For the entire season, with just two regular season games left for Billings before they head to the playoffs, Michael Beltre is hitting a combined .299/.397/.478 with 25 walks and 37 strikeouts in 215 plate appearances.
Michael Beltre Scouting Report
[private_subscriber]
I have not personally seen Michael Beltre play in person, or even on video. But, I have reached out to a few people that I trust who have seen him play in person, both in and out of the organization to help provide a scouting report on him.
He’s a physical guy who is very strong. He’s got plus speed to work with and can play center field right now, but may have to slide over to right field in the future if he loses any speed along the way.
He’s got some raw power to work with, and it’s started to develop this year into more usable game power, but there’s more in the tank in the future for him. While we’ve seen it in the stats, it hasn’t gone unnoticed by those watching him just how improved his plate approach has been this year, and it’s let his abilities play better than they have in the past.
[/private_subscriber]