2016 Cowtippers Farm Report, Part Two

By popular demand-- err, at the request of one person-- we present a continuation of the 2016 Cowtippers Farm Report, beginning with #11:

11. Byung-Ho Park, 1b
Born: July 10, 1986 (age 29). B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 194. Acquired: 1st round, 2016 winter farm draft.

Background: There have been many Korean-born baseball players who have played in MLB throughout history, but only a very small handful of hitters in the KBO (their version of MLB) have ever made an impact in the US. Last year, Jung-Ho Kang seemed to break that barrier, and now MLB teams are scrambling to find the next Kang. This winter, the Minnesota Twins signed Park, who is widely regarded to be the top hitter in the KBO.

Stats: Last season, Park hit .343/.436/.714, with 53 homers. It was the second year in a row he topped the 50 homer mark. He also struck out 161 times, which doesn't bode well for his transition to the US.

The Future: We aren't expecting Park to slug 50 homers in MLB this year, but if he replicates Kang's performance from last year (.287/.355/.461, with 15 HR), we would be very happy with that. With a hole at first base in 2017, Park provides one possible solution to fill that hole.

12. Nick Banks, of
Born: November 18, 1994 (age 21.) B-T: L-L. Ht: 6-0. Wt: 200. Acquired: 1st round, 2015 summer draft.

Background: Now a junior with Texas A&M University, Banks is considered to be a strong candidate to be selected in the first round of the MLB amateur draft. He is considered to be the best "pure hitter" among the college hitters available in this draft, and evokes comparisons to Nick Markakis offensively.

Stats: As a sophomore, Banks hit .364/.450/.536, with 8 home runs, and a 34/58 BB/K ratio. This past summer, he was the best hitter on the USA National Team, finishing the season with a .386/.453/.491 average.

The Future: The best case scenario is that Banks has his best season yet at A&M, is selected near the top of the first round in June, speeds through the minor league system, and becomes one of the first players from this draft to reach the Major Leagues. In his prime, he could be an everyday starting center fielder with excellent defense, a .300 batting average, and 15-20 home run power. At worst, he becomes Mark Kotsay.

13. Corey Ray, of
Born: September 22, 1994 (age 21). B-T: L-L. Ht: 5-11. Wt: 185. Acquired: 2nd round, 2016 winter farm draft.

Background: Ray has been a well-known collegiate producer for two years, but he didn't enter the conversation to become one of the top picks in the June MLB draft until his summer performance with the USA Collegiate National team. Ray led that team in several offensive categories, and played flawless defense, earning accolades from coaches and scouts alike.

Stats: As a sophomore with Louisville last year, Ray hit .325/.389/.543 in 265 at-bats, with 11 home runs, and 34 stolen bases. He also struck out 60 times, with only 24 walks.

The Future: The strikeout and walk numbers are concerning to us, and those are the numbers we will be hyper-focused on this coming season. That will likely determine where he is selected in the draft, and how quickly he develops as a professional. He certainly has the tools to be a "five-tool" player at the Major League level, but far too often, we've seen players of his type (such as Cameron Maybin, Lastings Milledge, and Brian Goodwin), don't always translate their talent into performance.

14. Renato Nunez, 3b
Born: April 4, 1994 (age 21.) B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 200. Acquired: via trade, winter, 2016.

Background: Nunez was among the top prospects on the international market way back in 2010. He hit the ground running, and held his own against much older competition at every level, playing the entire 2015 season at the Double-A level at the age of 21.

Stats: In five minor league seasons, Nunez owns a triple-slash line of .276/.328/.473. Last season, he hit .278/.332/.480, with 18 homers, and a 28/66 BB/K ratio.

The Future: There are two knocks against Nunez: he strikes out too much and he makes too many errors. He cut down his strikeout rate drastically last year, from 20% to 16%. Although he swings hard on every pitch, he is more of a line drive hitter than a slugger. With a little more maturity, he could tone down his swing and become more of a pure hitter. His glove, however, is another issue entirely, and likely his greatest obstacle toward the big leagues.

15. Dominic Smith, 1b
Born: June 15, 1995 (age 20.) B-T: L-L. Ht: 6-0. Wt: 195. Acquired: via trade, winter, 2016.

Background: Smith was a first round draft pick in the 2013 MLB draft out of high school. He projects as a James Loney or (at best) Freddie Freeman type of first baseman: sweet lefthanded swing that results in a high batting average and gap power, but a cap of 10-15 home runs, excellent defense, and no foot speed.

Stats: After a rough April and mediocre May, Smith seemed to heat up in the second half, posting an OPS of .869 in June, .758 in July, and .809 in August. He finished the year with a line of .305/.354/.417. For his career, he sits at .290/.357/.387, playing mostly in pitcher-friendly leagues.

The Future: We're very interested to see how Smith develops over the next year. The one area of our farm club where we are a little light is first base, so it would be exciting to see Smith take a step up and continue the momentum from the second half of last season. The knock on Smith has been his work ethic, but that seems to have corrected itself as he matures.

16. Rob Refsnyder, 2b/of
Born: March 26, 1991 (age 24.) B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 205. Acquired: via trade, winter, 2016.

Background: We originally drafted Refsnyder, and then traded him to Ravenswood a year ago, and then reacquired him this winter. He has done nothing but hit since beginning his professional career, but he seems to lack a position. The Yankees' second base position was wide open heading into this winter, but the offseason acquisition of Starlin Castro seems to indicate that Refsnyder will become a utility player who will see time at second base and the outfield.

Stats: Refsnyder's four year career minor league batting line is .290/.380/.432. He hit .302/.348/.512 in a limited (47 PA) appearance in the big leagues last season.

The Future: For now, it appears as though Refsnyder will be a super-utility player and backup at several different positions. How much playing time he receives depends on how well he hits. If he hits well enough, the Yankees will find a spot for him. We expect him to be a contributor to our 2017 in some form or fashion.

17. Amed Rosario, ss
Born: September 20, 1995 (age 20.) B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-2. Wt: 170. Acquired: 2nd round, 2014 winter farm draft.

Background: We very nearly released Rosario on Cutdown Day, but decided to give him one more opportunity to impress us. He is one of those players whose scouting reports never seem to match his performance. He is consistently ranked among the top prospects in his league by the managers and coaches in the league. In 2014, he ranked #3 in the New York Penn League. This past season, he was ranked #7 in the Florida State League (ahead of Anthony Alford, Alex Blandino, and Dominic Smith, among others.) There must be something to his game that the statistics simply haven't reflected.

Stats: Rosario's career batting line of .257/.302/.350 hardly screams "future star." He has hit only 5 home runs in 974 plate appearances, but his 39 doubles and 15 triples suggest that there is some gap power there. He doesn't strike out or walk a lot, and he has stolen only 22 bases in his career (with 13 caught stealing.) His calling card is his glove, which is said to be "major league ready."

The Future: We are giving Amed one more year to prove that the scouts have been right all along. To be fair, he has played his entire career against much older competition, and that has to be considered when evaluating his statistics. He played the entire 2015 season in the High-A league as a 19-year-old, which is over three and a half years younger than the average age of the players in that league. We expect him to play 2016 at the Double-A level, which will give us the opportunity to see him in person and judge for ourselves.

18. John Lamb, p
Born: July 10, 1990 (age 25.) B-T: L-L. Ht: 6-4. Wt: 205. Acquired: via trade, Chapter 5, 2015.

Background: Believe it or not, Lamb was once ranked the 18th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America. That was way back in 2011. Since then, he has undergone Tommy John surgery, and spent most of his time over the past three years attempting to return to form. He seemed to finally achieve that goal last season.

Stats: In 111+ innings at the Triple-A level last year, Lamb went 10-2 with a 2.67 ERA. He walked 36, and struck out 117. Upon his promotion to the big leagues, he maintained that sky-high K-rate (10.5) in nearly 50 innings, but finished with a deceptive 5.80 ERA, which was fueled by a .376 balls-in-play average.

The Future: 2016 could be a make-or-break year for Lamb, or yet another stepping stone on his journey back from obscurity. Now with the Cincinnati Reds organization, it seems as though the stage is set for him to take a step forward.

19. J.J. Schwarz, c
Born: March 28, 1996 (age 19.) B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 192. Acquired: 2nd round, 2015 summer draft.

Background: Schwarz has won so many awards in his brief collegiate career that he must need a storage facility to store them all. As a freshman with the University of Florida, he was named Freshman Hitter of the Year (NCBWA), Co-Freshman of the Year (Louisville Slugger), and Second Team All-American (multiple organizations), among many other honors. He finished third in the NCAA in RBI's, and fourth in home runs.

Stats: In 70 games (the maximum), Schwarz hit .332/.398/.629, with 18 home runs, and a 28/46 BB/K ratio. His 160 total bases led the Florida team -- by a lot.

The Future: It may prove foolish to rank Schwarz so low here, but he still has a long way to go before we know his true level of talent. For now, he looks like a potential 1-1 pick in the 2017 MLB draft. Power-hitting catchers are a rare breed, and it seems that most MLB teams move most catching prospects to another position to "save their knees." By most accounts, he has the tools to remain behind the plate, but that never stopped MLB teams from messing with their catching prospects before.

20. Adrian Rondon, ss
Born: July 7, 1998 (age 17.) B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 190. Acquired: via trade, winter, 2016.

Background: We waited anxiously as our pick drew nearer and nearer in the winter of 2015. We have become used to having a very low draft pick, and spending the entirety of the first round watching one name after another disappear from the top of our list, and 2015 was no exception. But as our pick -- the 19th overall -- drew closer, we couldn't believe our good fortune. One of the names at the very top of our list, from the very beginning, was still available: Adrian Rondon. Incredibly, he remained available right up to the 18th pick. We hit refresh over and over again, waiting for that pick to be made, so that we could officially welcome Rondon to our farm club. Then...Greg Newgard of the Flagstaff Outlaws ripped our heart right out of our chest. It took nearly a full year to do it, but we finally managed to announce the acquisition of Adrian Rondon.

Stats: In his first professional season, playing in the rookie level Gulf Coast League, Rondon hit an abysmal .166/.256/.234. He struck out 57 times in 43 games, walked just 17 times, and didn't hit a single home run.

The Future: Why, you may ask, have we experienced such eagerness to add this young man to our roster, when he was clearly so overmatched? Well, we believe in our scouts, and we believe that we shouldn't place too much emphasis on stats recorded by a sixteen year old child playing against grown men while living away from home for the first time in his life. We believe Adrian Rondon will be a star in the major leagues someday. Clearly, that will take some time, but we are confident that it will happen.

21. Erik Johnson, p
Born: December 30, 1989 (age 26.) B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-3. Wt: 230. Acquired: 1st round, Chapter 5 free agent draft, 2015.

Background: It is a trade that will live in Cowtippers infamy. In order to fill a gaping hole at shortstop, we acquired Ian Desmond from the Los Altos Undertakers back in 2014. At the time, we thought we were getting a hitter with 20+ home run pop, 20+ steals, and an average glove. Instead, we ended up with a Trojan Horse who occupied the number nine spot in our batting order for two years (and failed to hit well enough to occupy even that spot.) In exchange, we gave up Anthony Rizzo. The rest is history. Almost forgotten, however, is that we also threw in Johnson "just to make it even." Thankfully, he was later released by Los Altos, and we snatched him up late last year.

Stats: In 2013, it looked as though Johnson was on the verge of becoming a young ace. In 142 minor league innings, he posted an ERA of just 1.96, with only 7 homers allowed, 40 walks, and 131 K's. Then, the wheels inexplicably came off the bus. His Triple-A ERA in 2014 ballooned to 6.73. His hit rate went up, his walk rate went up, and his K rate plummeted to 5.4. Maybe it was mechanical problems, or maybe he was injured. Whatever the cause, he seemed to find the cure in 2015. In 132+ minor league innings, he brought his ERA back down to 2.37, and his walk rate (2.8 per nine) and K rate (9.2 per nine) returned to normal. He was then given a cup of coffee with the big club, and contributed a 3.34 ERA in 35 innings.

The Future: Which Erik Johnson will show up in 2016? If it is the one who has been on display every year of his professional career, with the exception of 2014, then we will have ourselves a cheap ace for the 2017 season.

22. Jacob Lindgren, p
Born: March 12, 1993 (age 22.) B-T: L-L. Ht: 5-11. Wt: 205. Acquired: 4th round, 2015 winter farm draft.

Background: Lindgren posted some video game numbers during his junior year at Mississippi State (55+ IP, 23 H, 25 BB, 100 K), propelling him to the second round of the 2014 draft (55th overall.) A lefthanded reliever, it was assumed that he would move quickly up the ladder, but bone spur surgery on his left elbow derailed his first taste of the big leagues last spring.

Stats: Lindgren continued to dominate opponents during his first exposure to pro ball in 2014, as he averaged more than 17 strikeouts per nine. He recorded similar numbers in 2015 (22 IP, 16 H, 10 BB, 29 K) before he was called up to the big club.

The Future: We are writing off 2015 as if it never happened, and look for Lindgren to be a valuable member of our 2017 bullpen. He needs to get his walk rate under control, but we like the idea of adding that power lefty arm for the middle innings.

23. Scott Schebler, of
Born: October 6, 1990 (age 25). B-T: L-R. Ht: 6-0. Wt: 225. Acquired: via trade, winter, 2016.

Background: In a recent FantasyPros article, budding young writer Bobby Sylvester noted that many top players (such as Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, Josh Willingham, and J.D. Martinez) were not highly regarded as prospects because they lacked certain tools that scouts tend to overemphasize. We feel that Schebler may fit into that mold. He was a 26th round draft pick out of community college. He has never been highly regarded as a prospect, and yet he has done nothing but hit throughout his professional career.

Stats: Schebler's career minor league numbers sit at .272/.338/.490. He posted a .900+ OPS in 2013 and 2014, and then tapered off a bit last year, hitting just .241/.322/.410 in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. He enjoyed a productive Arizona Fall League, however, batting .310/.352/.524 in 24 games, and had a quality cup of coffee (.250/.325/.500) with the Dodgers as well.

The Future: Schebler was traded to the Cincinnati Reds this winter, and he is listed behind Jay Bruce in their official depth chart. Given the rumbling over a possible trade of Bruce, it's possible that Schebler could slide into a starting role. If he gets the opportunity, he is capable of posting some solid numbers.