AL West Prospect Update

by Rich Douglas 

We continue our prospect update with the AL West, which is a hot bed of talent at the shortstop position, starting with the Astros top prospect.

Carlos Correa - Houston Astros - SS
Correa moved up to the A level after spending the previous two at the Rookie league level.  The 19 year old has been posting a .403 wOBA in his 69 games this year.  In his last 10, he's posted a 1.049 OPS, with just a single strike out.  He's increased both his walk rate to 12%, and decreased his strike out rate to 16.2%.  His ability to continue rallies by getting on base with runners in scoring position is underscored by his .562 OBP.  The only underlying problem could be a .384 BABIP, which suggests Carlos is getting somewhat lucky in getting to the basepaths.  Defensively, he does also have 10 errors in 69 games.


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RJ Alvarez - Los Angeles Angels - RP
Alvarez has spent his season with the Inland Empire 66ers, the Angels High A affiliate.  He's posted a better ERA through his 35.2 innings of work than he had in 27 and change last year (2.78 to 3.28), and just a 2.47 FIP.  He's stranding runners at an excellent 80% rate, and posting a 37.3% strike out rate.  In his last 10 games, he's struck out 32 batters.  Opponents have only been hitting .192 against him, which has driven a lot of his improvement.  However, he has had some trouble with walks, posting a 12% rate opposed to last years 9%.

Jurickson Profar - Texas Rangers - SS
Profar started the year as one of the league's most coveted prospects, and has spent just 37 games at the minor league level this year.  All the hype might have gotten to Profar as he's struggled to generate the same success at the big league level that he did in the minors.  His biggest issue so far has been a .380 slugging percentage, a fairly direct result of his 12% infield fly ball rate.  Its also been a problem for Profar so far that he's taking so many first pitch strikes, 63%.  This struggle has dragged down his wOBA to .312, and he has been missing out on walk chances with just a 6.2% rate.  His strikeout rate though is just 19.5% and he's played 4 positions (2B, SS, 3B, and OF) with high fielding percentage, and just 4 errors.

Russel Addison - Oakland As - SS
Russel has spent his season at the A's High A affiliate in Stockton CA.  The 19 year old short stop has played well offensively, OPSing .820, getting on base 34% of his at bats.  He's also stolen 12 bases, and only been caught 3 times.  He;s also shown good power, with a career best .220 ISO, having hit 22 doubles and 9 home runs.  His speed has also shown of with 7 triples.  His only weak spot so far has been a tendency to strike out, posting a 24.8% strike out rate so far, the highest of his career.  His strike outs are also driving down is wOBA, to a career low .357.  He also has 10 errors in 70 games, second most on the team.

Michael Zunino - Seatlle Mariners - C
The Mariners catcher started the season at AAA Tacoma, where he was able to hit extremely well.  He posted a .806 OPS, mashing 11 home runs and 12 doubles in his 47 games.  That ball mashing resulted in a .265 ISO, and a .345 wOBA.  His Major League start has been solid, but not nearly as impressive.  Zunino has just a .557 OPS with the Mariners, largely due to his 22% strike out rate, and just a 3.4% walk rate.  He also has been unable to find his power stroke so far, with just a .089 ISO.  He does only have 60 plate appearances in his major league career, so theres still plenty of time for him to find his stroke against top tier competition.