Baseball America recently unveiled their list of the top ten Marlins prospects and its pitchers, pitchers, and more pitchers. Three right handers dominate the top three and a left handed pitcher comes in at number four.
The Marlins first round pick in 2005, Chris Volstad, tops the list. The right hander had a nice season at Low A and while his strikeout numbers weren’t dominate (99 in 152 innings) his walk rate was phenomonal (2.13 per nine innings). He’s only 20 years old and he’ll get the bump up to High A and his development is worth watching.
Brett Sinkbeil comes in at number two. He dominated in the New York-Penn League but then after getting bumped up to Low A, he struggled. Not too shabby for a guy who was just drafted in 2006. BA expects him to start at Low A again, which makes sense for this 22 year old.
Gaby Hernandez came in at number three. He has some nice strikeout numbers (115 in 120 innings) and at a league that was probably over his head. He won’t turn 21 until May and he’ll be pushed into a tough Double A league that should definitely the youngster. This is a guy you should start hearing about early next year if he continues to progress.
Sean West rounds out those four pitchers and he’s the lone left hander of the group. He had a good but not great season at Low A but he’s only 20 as well. Man, even if two of these guys pan out, the Marlins could have a top notch rotation in four or five years.
What about position players? Gaby Sanchez comes in at number five. Sanchez bounced around and topped out at High A, which is probably where he’ll start in 2007. Most impressive about Sanchez is his patience at the plate. He walked 56 times versus 32 strikeouts in three different stops in 2006.
This is a solid crop of prospects. Most won’t make it to the big league club for a couple of years at least, but help is on the way.
