LSB Community Prospect Project: Mid-Season #23

Thanks, Dirkatron, for keeping the prospect rankings going. You are doing a great service for those of us who like to learn what others know about the future Rangers.

In my opinion, the minor leaguers who are likely to receive the largest number of votes in the next eight rounds readily fall into three groups:

Poised to Zoom up the Charts in 2009
Mitch Moreland – Despite playing in the pitcher-friendly MWL and suffering through a slump the last few weeks, Moreland is hitting 303/383/507/890. He is currently ranked 4th in OPS, 4th in slugging, 7th in OBP, and 8th in avg among qualified players in the MWL. Given that he has only recently become a one-way player (he was his team’s closer in college) and his power is only recently producing homeruns (he hit 7 of his 12 homers in July), don’t be surprised to see Moreland put up a 300/400/600/1000 line in the hitter-friendly Cal league next year.

Tim Murphy – A relatively polished college pitcher with 3 to 4 quality pitches that he can throw for strikes, Murphy is pitching out of the bullpen in Spokane to limit his innings. Thus far, he has pitched 23.2 innings and given up 12 hits, 11 walks, 2 HR, and 6 ER. He has 27 K’s, a 1.39 GO/FO ratio, an ERA of 2.28, and a WHIP below 1. Except for the fact that he is left-handed and weighs only 190 lbs, its hard to distinguish 2008 Tim Murphy from 2007 Tommy Hunter. Don’t be surprised to see Murphy fronting the Bakersfield rotation at the start of 2009 with an opportunity to rise quickly through the Ranger’s minor league system next year.

Jose Vallejo - He’s been discussed ad nauseum, so I won’t attempt to lay out his attributes. JD says Vallejo has done more for his status this year than any other prospect in the Rangers system. If he can improve his OPS and consistency next year in AA/AAA, then Vallejo is essentially guaranteed to get a chance to play in the majors.

Wilfredo Boscan – After catching the eye of Zywica and Jason Parks last year as a 17-year-old in the DSL, Boscan has not disappointed in his stateside debut this year in Spokane. Consistent with his performance last year, the 18-year-old right-hander has produced a 2.52 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 9.2 K/9IP, and 1.7 GO/FO ratio in 39.1 innings. Next year, Boscan should follow the trail blazed between Spokane and Clinton by Feliz and Holland and get his first taste of full-season minor league baseball. Hopefully, Boscan will have the same level of success in the MWL in 2009 that his two predecessors experienced in 2008.

Robbie Ross - The highly competitive lefty with a low-90’s fastball, a potentially plus breaking ball, and a developing change-up will have Fall Instructs and Spring Training to show whether he should get the Beavan treatment (starting in Clinton) or the NeRa treatment (starting in Spokane) in 2009. Whichever the case, Ross will almost certainly rank in the 10-15 range when we go through this exercise next year.

Still to come:
Extraordinarily talented but disappointing in 2008
Omar Poveda
Fabio Castillo
Christian Santana

Likely to Contribute Soon at the Major League Level
German Duran
Beau Jones
Andrew Laughter
Brennan Garr