Victor Acosta was one of the big signings by the San Diego Padres in their 2021 international signing class. The switch hitting shortstop hit .285/.431/.484 in his debut with the DSL Padres while stealing 26 bases.
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When the 2022 season began the Padres brought Victor Acosta to Arizona and put him onto their Arizona Complex League squad. The season got out to a really tough start for the teenager, who had hits in just three of the first 10 games of the season and hit .129 over the first two weeks.
After getting a few days off, Acosta returned to the lineup on June 23rd and over the next three weeks he hit .370/.444/.565 with as many walks as strikeouts. But for as hot as his bat was, he went just as cold in mid-July. From July 16th through the end of the month he went 5-31 (.161) without an extra-base hit.
On the 1st of August he would go 1-3 with the ACL Padres, but the next day he was traded to Cincinnati. It would be a week before he would get into a game with the ACL Reds, but he would double in four of his first five games with the organization. The season was coming to a close at that point and he would only play in six more games, finishing 4-17 with as many walks as strikeouts in that stretch (4).
For all 2022 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Victor Acosta Scouting Report
Position: Shortstop | B/T: S/R
Height: 5′ 11″ | Weight: 170 lbs | Acquired: International FA (2021, Padres), Trade (August 2022)
Born: June 10, 2004
Hitting | He has an average hit tool.
Power | He has average power.
Speed | He has above-average speed.
Defense | He’s an above-average defender.
Arm | He has an above-average to plus arm.
After signing with San Diego for $1.8M in January of 2021 the Reds acquired Victor Acosta in trade at the 2022 deadline. With new restrictions on how much a team can spend in the international this was a shrewd way for Cincinnati to add talent that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.
Victor Acosta has average or better tools across the board. The switch hitter has showed good plate discipline from both sides of the plate, showing high walk rates and a solid contact rate. In 2022 he had a very limited number of at-bats as a right-handed hitter (just 31 of them) thanks to the short nature of the rookie-ball season, but he did have some struggles finding hits as he went 5-31 from the right side. He drew more walks, six, than he had hits from the right side. From the left side he hit .259/.357/.370 in 108 at-bats.
There’s plenty of bat speed for Acosta, which should help his continued development both with his hit tool and his power. With his power he’s going to need to pull the ball more to tap into his raw power and turn it into more playable game power. He won’t turn 19 until the summer of 2023, so there’s plenty of time for continued development at the plate.
Defensively he’s got all of the right tools to be able to stick at shortstop, but he’s going to need to clean some things up. In his two seasons he’s posted an .888 fielding percentage at the position. His arm sticks out on the infield and he could easily handle the move to second or third if needed down the line.
All of the underlying skills are there for Victor Acosta to be an every day big leaguer, but like nearly every 18-year-old he has plenty of development and refinement to go before he can be that kind of player.
Victor Acosta Spray Charts
As a Left-Handed Hitter
As a Right-Handed Hitter
Interesting Stat on Victor Acosta
He was a significantly better hitter at home than on the road. In 25 home games he hit .279/.396/.468. In his 18 road games he hit just .203/.301/.234.
Secondary interesting stat: He only had one plate appearance against a pitcher that was younger than he was. Acosta was hit by a pitch during the at-bat.
A few red flags for me—his size, the lack of a playable power, the fielding percentage. While the skills seem to be there, even if things go to plan the ceiling is just so low for smallish guys like him. He’s one of the SS prospects Krall might be looking to move.
He could be another Jose Peraza, and more than likely that’s where he’s headed. But what if he puts on 15 lbs of muscle he could be much better.
I wouldn’t really be worried about the size of guy who is pretty much the same size as Willie Mays, Lou Brock and Roberto Clemente. Mookie Betts was 5’9″, 156 at that age.
There is at least a small chance that Acosta will get stronger as he gets older than 17 or 18.
There are many things that could keep Acosta from becoming a good MLB player. Size is not one of them.
Agreed. He’s 18. He is going to get bigger and stronger.
Reports when he signed said he was a quick twitch athlete. Assuming that is still true his size is even less of a worry than if he were merely just a good athlete from a professional standard.
If I were going to say there were a red flag to be concerned about it would be that he struggled to hit this year.
I’ve always liked the quick twitch kids. They often are hyper alert and just make plays. In youth baseball, we used to put them at catcher where their hyperactivity was the least difficult to deal with.
5’11” at age 18 isn’t necessarily small. He certainly has to add strength, though he also likely has one last growth spurt ahead of him. He currently has average power, too, which is more than Alfredo Rodriguez ever really had. Time will tell.
The more of this type of prospect in the system, the better. If they accumulate enough of them, they can be really good if only half pan out.
Agreed, and we seem to have a lot at every level of development.
As Doug alluded to above, I rather enjoy pilfering other team’s international signings.