Alcides Escobar vs. Jose Reyes, just for kicks

[colbyjack]

Withouth a doubt, Alcides Escobar's development this year has been one of the most exciting stories to follow at the minor league level for the Brewers. I decided to look at his BA scouting report to remind myself what was said about him last offseason:

 

Background: Escobar played the entire 2007 at age 20 and thrived in Double-A during the second half, which says a lot about his skill level and how highly the Brewers think of him. One of the youngest players at every level he has played at, he reversed a two-year trend of declining batting averages by hitting a career-high .306.

 

Strengths: Milwaukee farm director Reid Nichols says Escobar could play defense in the big leagues right now. He's a smooth shortstop, with nice range, soft hands and a strong throwing arm. He has gotten stronger, which has stopped pitchers from knocking the bat out of his hands, and the Brewers believe he'll have gap power as he continues to develop. He's an above-average runner.

 

Weaknesses: Though he has matured physically over the past year, Escobar still needs to get stronger. He'll never have a lot of pop, so his offensive ceiling is as a tablesetter at the top of the lineup, but he needs to improve his plate discipline to reach it. He's a free swinger who seldom takes walks, and he settles for merely putting the ball in play too often. He also must work on his basestealing aptitude after getting nailed in 13 of 35 attempts.

 

The Future: Ticketed to spend 2008 at Triple-A Nashville, Escobar will be difficult to hold back once he shows his bat is ready for the big leagues. Though the Brewers appear set at shortstop, they could move J.J. Hardy to third base and Ryan Braun to the outfield.

 

Obviously, Escobar didn't spend this year at AAA, but he definitely added strength given his increased power output, and he has improved on the basepaths, swiping 32 bags in 40 attempts (80% success rate). The plate discipline is still a concern, but that's an area many talented, young players learn over time, but at least he doesn't strike out a ton.

 

I decided to go back and look at what was written about Jose Reyes in 2002 when he was the Mets top prospect and one of the best prospects overall in all of baseball:

 

Background: After finishing fifth in the low Class A South Atlantic League batting race in 2001, when he was the youngest regular in any full-season league, Reyes was even better in 2002. He stood out in big league camp before reporting to the high Class A Florida State League, where he earned a quick promotion to the Double-A Eastern League. Managers in both leagues rated him the top defensive shortstop, strongest infield arm and most exciting player. He also was MVP at the Futures Game after stroking a bases-loaded triple, appropriate, as Reyes led all minor leaguers with 19 triples while ranking fifth in runs and sixth in steals. He has emerged as the best shortstop prospect in the game.

 

Strengths: Reyes surprises people with his solid physique. His dedication to improving his strength, along with natural maturation, have transformed him from a skinny kid into an impressive specimen. He drives the ball more consistently to all fields. Reyes' plate discipline improved in high Class A before slipping after he reported to Double-A. He's an excellent baserunner with plus speed. He has demonstrated Gold Glove ability throughout his career, with a strong arm and tremendous range.

 

Weaknesses: Reyes needs to make improvements that should come with experience. He'll need more consistent strike-zone discipline to succeed against better pitching and to become the true leadoff hitter the Mets need. Reyes also is prone to making youthful mistakes in the field, though part of that stems from his exuberance. While he's a prolific basestealer, he can become more effective after getting caught 24 times last year.

 

The Future: Reyes is the Mets' best everyday prospect since Darryl Strawberry blazed through the system in the early 1980s. Though the organization shuns comparisons to other players, Reyes' all-around ability and athleticism remind scouts of Alfonso Soriano. The Mets unloaded Rey Ordonez to the Devil Rays in December, clearing the way for Reyes in the long term. The club did sign Rey Sanchez as a stopgap to give Reyes some time in Triple-A to make final preparations for New York, if he needs it.

 

Now I'm not saying that Escobar is going to have the same kind of impact Reyes has had, but the similarities between the two are incredibly similar, with almost the exact same things written about Reyes six years ago about the need to add strength, improving his plate discipline and improving his effectiveness on the basepaths. Not to mention, like Reyes, Escobar was just rated by the Southern League managers to have the best D' at SS, the strongest IF arm while also being the league's most exciting player, just like Reyes. Somewhat of a big difference is that Reyes was 19 when this was written about him, while Escobar is 21, which is still nothing to sneeze at.

 

Mass deserves some props for being Escobar's strongest supporter around these parts for his entire career. I wanted to bring this up just for discussion sake, as it's pretty exciting to think what this young man can do for the Brewers in a year or two. If his development came with the Brewers a few years ago, we would probably already be watching play SS at the big-league level.

[homer]

Funny thing...I looked up Reyes' minor league numbers just the other day to see how they compared to Escobar's and they're fairly similar. Reyes walked a bit more but not significantly and Escobar's walk rate has definitely improved this year. I'll be interested to see what the Brewers do next year.

[ILuvDaBush]

The line that stood out to me was-

 

"Reyes also is prone to making youthful mistakes in the field, though part of that stems from his exuberance."

 

Let's hope the similarities continue (sans the defensive "deficiencies")

[dadofandrew]

The fact you can compare a kid in AA to one of the top SS's in the game pretty much says it all. He's a top 10 prospect in the game right now.