While we here at Project Prospect have our fingers on the beat of all things Minor Leagues, it doesn't mean that we just forget about our boys once they graduate to actual major league rookies and beyond.
Listed below are players who have exhausted their rookie eligibility during the 2007 Major League Baseball season thus far. We take a look at what they're doing now, what they've done in the minors in the past, and if they are cutting out their biggest flaws on their way to being successful big league ball players.
Two highly-touted prospects received their diploma's this week: the Brewers' Ryan Braun and the Cubs' Felix Pie.
Ryan Braun - Milwaukee Brewers - 3B - Born 11/17/83 - Age 23
Ryan Braun was drafted 5th overall in 2005 out of the University of Miami. Following a stellar college career, he started off his Brewers career in 2005 at the Rookie Level. He then mashed his way up to Low-A and closed the year with a combined .349/.387/.630 line and 10 HR, 45 RBI, and 4 SB between the two levels. Optimism was raining down in Milwaukee after such a terrific debut but this much was expected of Braun as an advanced college hitter at these low level minor league stops.
In 2006, the Brewers started Braun in High-A. After just 59 games of .274/.341/.438 play there, the Brewers figured Braun needed to be challenged more, so they upped him to Double-A, where he really began to blossom.
In the same 59 games in Double-A, Braun hit a robust .303/.361/.589 with 15 HR, 12 SB, and a 21/46 BB to K ratio. Obviously, the Brewers and their fans were pretty excited by this and for his prospects for the 2007 season.
Fast forward to Spring Training 2007 and Braun really began to turn heads. The fact that Corey Koskie was coming off of post-concussion syndrome left a big hole at the hot corner in Milwaukee. Ryan did his best to try and win the job, hitting .353 during the spring with 5 bombs and 15 RBI in just 34 at-bats. His defense was the only thing holding him back, so the Brewers made the tough choice and sent him to Triple-A.
The Hebrew Hammer didn't stay there long however, smacking around Triple-A pitchers to the tune of .342/.417/.701 with 10 HR in 117 at-bats with a 15/11 BB to K ratio. The Brewers had seen enough and on May 24th they called him up to play with the big boys. Braun must have never gotten the message though, because he's been treating major league pitchers just as bad as the one's he saw inTriple-A.
In 155 at-bats thus far, Braun has tore the Senior Circuit up to the tune of .342/.382/.645 with 10 HR and 31 RBI already, not to mention tossing in 8 steals in 9 attempts. He has been striking out almost once a game and his defense has improved to a point, but beggars can't be choosers here.
Braun is the clear-cut favorite for National League
Rookie of the Year at this point and it seems like every single night
he is just filling up the stat sheet, drawing comparisons abound to the
Mets David Wright and even the Yankees Alex Rodriguez. Those might not
be as far fetched as once thought.
Felix Pie - Chicago Cubs - OF - Born 2/8/1985 - Age 22
It's hard to believe that Felix Pie is only 22 years old. It seems as though he's been imbedded in the Baseball landscape for years and years now.
Pie started playing professional baseball as a 17-year-old, playing his first game for the Arizona Cubs in Rookie league in 2002. After an eye opening .321/.385/.569 line with 16 doubles, 13 triples, 4 homers, and 17 steals (caught eight times, 68.0%) in 218 at-bats, Pie had the baseball world's eyes and ears focused on his every 5-tool movement.
Pie brought along very similar numbers in the Class A Midwest League in 2003 and in High-A in 2004, as a 19-year-old. He doubled his home run total in 2004 from 4 the previous season to 8 in almost 100 less at-bats, and talent evaluators took that as a sign that maybe his projected power was beginning to develop. After all, this was a player who some people were comparing to some big-time sluggers.
It was in 2005 when the expectations began to reach a pinnacle. Pie was named as one of the top prospects in the minor leagues by pretty much every major sports writer and most of the prospect websites. Playing for the West Tennessee Jaxx in the Double-A Southern League in 2005, Pie hit .304/.349/.554 in 240 at-bats with 11 HR and 13 SB (caught nine times, 59.1%). An ankle injury put a damper on what was looking to be a breakout season for Felix the Cat, so he had to settle for going back to the minor leagues in 2006.
The Cubs promoted Pie one level a season and kept with that pattern, moving him to Triple-A Iowa in 2006. There, Pie played a full season and hit a respectable .283/.341/.451 with 15 HR, 57 RBI, and 17 SB (caught 11 times, 60.7%). He hit 33 doubles and 8 triples, so he was basically an extra-base-hit machine in those 559 at-bats. With his defense as solid as ever, the Cubs were starting to pencil him into their 2007 plans.
His one achilles heel since he was signed has been his penchant for striking out. Throughout his minor league career, Pie has struck out roughly three times as often as he has taken a bases on balls, which as we know in the prospect world is a big time no no. For that reason alone, Pie seemed to hit a stale patch for a while with the Cubs organization not wanting to promote him when they had an opening available.
On April 17th of this year, Pie led off for the Cubbies against the San Diego Padres, making his major league debut in place of an injured Alfonso Soriano. He stuck around for a month, was sent back down for a few weeks, and has since been recalled. He is currently batting .217/.273/.348 in 138 at-bats with just 2 HR, 18 RBI, and 6 SB's. He hasn't shaken the strikeout problem, as he has whiffed in about 19.9% of his plate appearances thus far.
Pie is a work in progress. It will take some time for
him to either live up to his potential or turn into another Corey
Patterson-esque dissapointment in front of the Cubs cursed fans eyes.
<<< Click here for Chris' May 29-June 25 Graduation Report.
Chris Loupos can be reached at loopdog1@aol.com.