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Can anyone comment on Jacob Wilson who has had a chance to see him play? I've seen a few clips, read a few things, that's about all I have. Just reading about him makes me think ... Marp II? A guy that seems to be able to hit, get on base, and they are trying to find a position for him.

He just tore it up this year at West Palm and then Springfield, and he's having a solid AFL season for Peoria. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp ... pid=607111

He is going to be #21 on the list I believe, so I'll write a bunch about him there, but he's a grinder. I liked him coming out in the draft and thought he had a shot to be a utility guy. One thing to keep in mind is how much of a mirage it can be for left-handed hitters at Springfield and he had never hit like that before. I tend to take AFL stats with a grain of salt as well.

Wilson can play 2B/3B and has a bit of pop. I don't think he has near the plate discipline, pitch recognition or contact ability of Marp, but I think he becomes what we had hoped Greg Garcia would be minus the SS in a pinch part.

phins wrote:He is going to be #21 on the list I believe, so I'll write a bunch about him there, but he's a grinder. I liked him coming out in the draft and thought he had a shot to be a utility guy. One thing to keep in mind is how much of a mirage it can be for left-handed hitters at Springfield and he had never hit like that before. I tend to take AFL stats with a grain of salt as well.

Wilson can play 2B/3B and has a bit of pop. I don't think he has near the plate discipline, pitch recognition or contact ability of Marp, but I think he becomes what we had hoped Greg Garcia would be minus the SS in a pinch part.

Why has Garcia seemingly been written off as a future contributing Cardinal after only 14 at bats while having a .333 OBP in those at bats.

Did his defense fall apart? He had almost .360 OBP and a .740 ops in AAA this season. what gives?

phins wrote:He is going to be #21 on the list I believe, so I'll write a bunch about him there, but he's a grinder. I liked him coming out in the draft and thought he had a shot to be a utility guy. One thing to keep in mind is how much of a mirage it can be for left-handed hitters at Springfield and he had never hit like that before. I tend to take AFL stats with a grain of salt as well.

Wilson can play 2B/3B and has a bit of pop. I don't think he has near the plate discipline, pitch recognition or contact ability of Marp, but I think he becomes what we had hoped Greg Garcia would be minus the SS in a pinch part.

Thanks phins, always look forward to your write ups. Sounds like a player on the rise.

salukifan2 wrote:

phins wrote:He is going to be #21 on the list I believe, so I'll write a bunch about him there, but he's a grinder. I liked him coming out in the draft and thought he had a shot to be a utility guy. One thing to keep in mind is how much of a mirage it can be for left-handed hitters at Springfield and he had never hit like that before. I tend to take AFL stats with a grain of salt as well.

Wilson can play 2B/3B and has a bit of pop. I don't think he has near the plate discipline, pitch recognition or contact ability of Marp, but I think he becomes what we had hoped Greg Garcia would be minus the SS in a pinch part.

Why has Garcia seemingly been written off as a future contributing Cardinal after only 14 at bats while having a .333 OBP in those at bats.

Did his defense fall apart? He had almost .360 OBP and a .740 ops in AAA this season. what gives?

Never was thought to be a big contributor regardless, but Garcia appeared to be a maxed out player at the big league level. He's probably going to bounce around some, and there's a chance he figures it out with more experience, but I'm not hopeful for him long term. Getting anything out of the guy has provided return on our investment in him though.

Garcia had a .734 OPS in the Pacific Coast League as a 25 year old. The league average OPS in the PCL was .771. His K rate was above the league average and he only has an Iso of .110. No power, old for a prospect, strikes out too much and appeared overmatched at the big league level in all aspects.

That's a steep hill to climb.

Greg Garcia has 18 career MLB PA and is only 24, so it's probably a bit early to say he looked maxed out at that level.

33anda3rd wrote:Greg Garcia has 18 career MLB PA and is only 24, so it's probably a bit early to say he looked maxed out at that level.

I disagree. That's the whole point of scouting- to project moving forward.

Garcia has put up ISO's of .134, .080, .129, .136, .113, .133, .110 in the minor leagues. The .136 and .133 came in probably the best park for left-handed hitters in all of the minor leagues.

Wilson on the other hand has had years of .204 and .214 as a right handed hitter with better K rates everywhere he's gone.

It is not that surprising that Garcia would have the bat knocked out of his hands at the big league level and have trouble identifying the breaking ball because he was trying to adapt to the fact he couldn't handle the fastball well enough.

I like Wilson's future quite a bit. I could see him as a quality right handed bat, capable of filling in everywhere except C, SS, and CF. At 24 years old, he will need to move up to Memphis at some point next year.
This article even uses Allen Craig as a comp
http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2014/11/12/ ... -craig-2-0

Woolkins wrote:I like Wilson's future quite a bit. I could see him as a quality right handed bat, capable of filling in everywhere except C, SS, and CF. At 24 years old, he will need to move up to Memphis at some point next year.
This article even uses Allen Craig as a comp
http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2014/11/12/ ... -craig-2-0

I'd love for him to turn into an Allen Craig/Matt Carp type older guy break into the bigs and have a good couple of years. We shall see.

Is it even remotely possible he could stand in the area between third and second and not be a complete hindrance? Our bench could really use a little pop and could use a removal of Kozma.