Yesterday the guys at MLB.com released their Cincinnati Reds Top 30 prospects list. Jonathan Mayo is one of the guys responsible for the list and yesterday afternoon he took to twitter to answer a whole bunch of questions. One of the more interesting questions that Mayo took the time to answer was about who he could see being breakout prospects for the 2016 season.
Many options in solid system. But big sleeper, I’ll go Carlton Daal; Think Taylor Sparks breaks out too #Top30 https://t.co/ij3hNPwyh0
— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) February 24, 2016
Both guys spent their entire 2015 seasons with the Daytona Tortugas. The two guys are quite different in how they approach the game. Let’s take a look at what each guy did last season and what they could improve upon to fulfill Mayo’s prediction that they could be a breakout guy for the 2016 year.
Taylor Sparks
Overall, the 2015 season for Sparks was solid but unspectacular. He hit .247/.302/.401 with 30 walks and 162 strikeouts. The season was essentially two halves though. Over his final 60 games he hit .261/.338/.443 with 21 walks and 74 strikeouts, an enormous step forward over the .235/.270/.366 line he had in his first 65 games.
Sparks has plenty of tools, including big time power and good speed. His plate approach needs some work, especially when it comes to making contact. In both halves he struck out more than 30% of the time he stepped to he plate. His walk rate was incredibly low in the first half but it jumped up to 9% in the second half and will be fine at that rate moving forward if he can keep it there. Defensively, Sparks shows the tools you want to see as well at third base. He does need to refine those tools into skills though as he made 36 errors and posted a .902 fielding percentage during the season. His error rate improved in the second half as he found more consistency.
For Taylor Sparks to have a true breakout season in 2016 he’s going to need to cut down on his strikeout rate, which will allow him to get more out of his power and maybe even his speed on the base paths. He will also need to improve his defensive showing.
Calten Daal
In the 2015 season Calten Daal hit .270/.311/.286 for Daytona. His average was good, but hit on-base percentage was a little low and he managed to hit just six doubles with no other extra-base hits during the year in 112 games.
Offensively, Daal builds his game around making contact. He struck out in just 14.6% of his plate appearances on the season. There’s not much power for him to grow into, though he could add some extra-base hits along the way if he alters his opposite field all-the-time approach some. Defensively he split time at second base and shortstop in 2015, but his future is more likely to be at shortstop. He drastically improved his error rate over the 2014 season (.911 fielding percentage in 2014. It was at .954 at shortstop and .967 at second base in 2015). He will need to continue to improve his rate of errors, but the big strides in 2015 were a good sign.
For Calten Daal to have a true breakout season in 2016 he will likely need to improve his contact rate a few percentage points as well as add some extra-base hits along the way. A good runner, he stole 21 bases in 2015 but he’s got enough speed to add to that total. Adding in a few additional walks along the way would also be beneficial. With slight improvements across the board on the offensive side of things and some improvements defensively we could see Daal have a real breakout season.