Post by fish on Aug 8, 2023 8:16:43 GMT -5
When scanning all of the pre-season top prospects lists, Jesus Guzman and Delmon Young are two names you are not going to see. Oh, mlb.com acknowledges them, if you scroll
down a bit, however both are putting up eye popping numbers that has prospect nerds asking "who are these guys"? Oh, some know who Delmon is, after all, his brother Dmitri
signed one of the largest, if not most ridiculous contracts in all of baseball. He's also a pretty damn good baseball player currently tearing the cover off of the ball in Chicago for
the Cubs. Is there a little Dmitri in Delmon? Most scouts didn't see it, and he wasn't certainly wasn't in ESPN's green room on draft day in 2003, getting picked in the 3rd round
by Florida. However, there is a little known website, scoutthestatline.com, ran by Ross Jensen, which lends a little more weight to player performance rather than just pure
scouting numbers, and Jensen is starting to take notice. Snapper fans would tell you Jensen is just now figuring out what they've known for a while. These kids can play, and
what better situation to figure out what they do or don't have than a year where the sole focus of the Marlins should be to see what they have in some of these lesser known prospects.
Guzman is a big bodied, left handed hitting first baseman that was also drafted in the 3rd round in 2003. Guzman was a soft bodied 18 year old out of Venezuela, who had
earned the nickname "pudding pop" in rookie ball. However, all pudding pop has done since joining the Marlins organization is hit, getting promoted aggressively all the way
to AAA in his first full season of professional baseball. The scouts see a good hit tool and little else. Average power, average defense, average average average. However, Guzman
showed glimpses in his first full season at AAA as a 19 year old when he had 28 doubles, 26 homers and slugged nearly .500. However, last year the power pulled back and
Guzman only had 11 homers, however, the OBP went up and the doubles stayed strong, and it looked as if he was settling in to the projections, a guy who could maybe be a
.275 hitter with doubles power that could provide a good left handed bat off the bench. However, 2006 has been something else. Guzman is hitting .422/.475/1.275 with seven
doubles, nine homers and 34 rbi already. That puts Guzman on a 40+ double, 50+ homer and 180+ rbi pace. Did the scouts miss something? Pudding pop is now 225 lbs of
muscle and seems to be forcing his way in to the picture on the big league squad. With Rico Brogna off to a slow start, the Marlins seem to be giving thought to bringing Guzman
up to let him DH and see what he can do in the bigs. He's clearly got nothing more to prove at AAA.
Delmon Young was also a 3rd round draft pick in 2003, as a 17 year old out of Adolfo Camarillo high school in Camarillo, CA. Unlike his brother, the Meat Hook, Dmitri, Delmon was, and
still is, a taller, lanky player, not thick bodied like Dmitri. Like Guzman, Young also has done nothing but hit in the minors. He was the youngest player at AA in his first season as a professional, at 17 years old, and was promoted to AAA the following season. Like Guzman, while Young showed glimpses, he did hit 35 doubles and 18 homers last year, at the end
of the day, he projected to have not enough power to man a corner OF spot full time in the bigs, and as a righty, his value as a bench bat wasn't overly high either. However, Delmon
keeps pushing the envelope and he too is on a scorching pace. .360/.402/1.146. The .400 OBP is purely a result of the high BABIP and batting average of .360. Delmon swings at everything. However, he's cut the strikeouts WAY down which has scoutthestatline thinking the breakout may be more than just smoke and mirrors. He's got 6 doubles and 9 homers
already, and while Matt Lawton and Terrell Lowry have been serviceable as a platoon in LF, one has to think that those two aren't going to be enough to keep Young in AAA if he
keeps hitting.
In a minor league system that seems top heavy with pitching prospects, the Marlins could really use a few of their lesser known hitting prospects to pan out. Both Guzman and Young figure to get looks this year, so we'll see if the Marlins have a couple of hidden gems here, or if they end up being like all of the other players who dominated the minors only to end
up as AAAA all stars.
down a bit, however both are putting up eye popping numbers that has prospect nerds asking "who are these guys"? Oh, some know who Delmon is, after all, his brother Dmitri
signed one of the largest, if not most ridiculous contracts in all of baseball. He's also a pretty damn good baseball player currently tearing the cover off of the ball in Chicago for
the Cubs. Is there a little Dmitri in Delmon? Most scouts didn't see it, and he wasn't certainly wasn't in ESPN's green room on draft day in 2003, getting picked in the 3rd round
by Florida. However, there is a little known website, scoutthestatline.com, ran by Ross Jensen, which lends a little more weight to player performance rather than just pure
scouting numbers, and Jensen is starting to take notice. Snapper fans would tell you Jensen is just now figuring out what they've known for a while. These kids can play, and
what better situation to figure out what they do or don't have than a year where the sole focus of the Marlins should be to see what they have in some of these lesser known prospects.
Guzman is a big bodied, left handed hitting first baseman that was also drafted in the 3rd round in 2003. Guzman was a soft bodied 18 year old out of Venezuela, who had
earned the nickname "pudding pop" in rookie ball. However, all pudding pop has done since joining the Marlins organization is hit, getting promoted aggressively all the way
to AAA in his first full season of professional baseball. The scouts see a good hit tool and little else. Average power, average defense, average average average. However, Guzman
showed glimpses in his first full season at AAA as a 19 year old when he had 28 doubles, 26 homers and slugged nearly .500. However, last year the power pulled back and
Guzman only had 11 homers, however, the OBP went up and the doubles stayed strong, and it looked as if he was settling in to the projections, a guy who could maybe be a
.275 hitter with doubles power that could provide a good left handed bat off the bench. However, 2006 has been something else. Guzman is hitting .422/.475/1.275 with seven
doubles, nine homers and 34 rbi already. That puts Guzman on a 40+ double, 50+ homer and 180+ rbi pace. Did the scouts miss something? Pudding pop is now 225 lbs of
muscle and seems to be forcing his way in to the picture on the big league squad. With Rico Brogna off to a slow start, the Marlins seem to be giving thought to bringing Guzman
up to let him DH and see what he can do in the bigs. He's clearly got nothing more to prove at AAA.
Delmon Young was also a 3rd round draft pick in 2003, as a 17 year old out of Adolfo Camarillo high school in Camarillo, CA. Unlike his brother, the Meat Hook, Dmitri, Delmon was, and
still is, a taller, lanky player, not thick bodied like Dmitri. Like Guzman, Young also has done nothing but hit in the minors. He was the youngest player at AA in his first season as a professional, at 17 years old, and was promoted to AAA the following season. Like Guzman, while Young showed glimpses, he did hit 35 doubles and 18 homers last year, at the end
of the day, he projected to have not enough power to man a corner OF spot full time in the bigs, and as a righty, his value as a bench bat wasn't overly high either. However, Delmon
keeps pushing the envelope and he too is on a scorching pace. .360/.402/1.146. The .400 OBP is purely a result of the high BABIP and batting average of .360. Delmon swings at everything. However, he's cut the strikeouts WAY down which has scoutthestatline thinking the breakout may be more than just smoke and mirrors. He's got 6 doubles and 9 homers
already, and while Matt Lawton and Terrell Lowry have been serviceable as a platoon in LF, one has to think that those two aren't going to be enough to keep Young in AAA if he
keeps hitting.
In a minor league system that seems top heavy with pitching prospects, the Marlins could really use a few of their lesser known hitting prospects to pan out. Both Guzman and Young figure to get looks this year, so we'll see if the Marlins have a couple of hidden gems here, or if they end up being like all of the other players who dominated the minors only to end
up as AAAA all stars.
