Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Plate appearances by prospect

There comes a time when a player either has it, or he doesn't. Sometimes it looks like a player doesn't have it, and they ultimately do. Sometimes a player has it, and then loses it. Obviously there is a lot of leeway in organizational need, quality of instruction at lower levels, etc. Let's just take a gander at some prominent MLB youngsters, and their minor-league plate appearances ("A" accomodates short-season, low-A, and high-A)

Evan Longoria, TB: 881 mL (minor league) PAs
A: 167
AA: 556
AAA: 158

Prince Fielder, MIL: 1929 mL PAs
Rook: 192
A: 719
AA: 577
AAA: 441

Ryan Howard, PHI: 2151 ml PAs
A: 1004
AA: 433
AAA: 384

Just for comparison's sake, Lance Berkman, HOU: 1241 mL PAs
A: 223
AA: 517
AAA: 501

Alright. With that small look at the way teams have recently handled the young'uns, let's peek at some guys in the Astros' system.

Drew Locke: 2086 mL PAs
Rook: 192
A: 1360
AA: 534

Koby Clemens: 1920 mL PAs
Rook: 133
A: 1766
AA: 21

Collin DeLome: 1253 mL PAs
A: 792
AA: 461

Jason Castro: 644 mL PAs
A: 345
AA: 239