Neil Ramirez Previous: Spokane Indians.
This time, we consider the Hickory Crawdads.The Good
Jared Prince is panning out as a 34th-round pick in 2009. Hit about everything under the sun until hitting a wall in August and September. For the year, hit .270 with 29 doubles, 75 RBI, 57 walks and just 60 strikeouts. His OBP sat at .370.
A 6-3 record doesn't blow anyone's skirt up. What does a 2.12 ERA? Or perhaps 125 Ks, 17 BBs in 114 innings pitched. That was Robert Erlin's year.
Joseph Ortiz may be small, but he has a big arm. The 5-7 reliever notched a 1.50 ERA in 42 innings while striking out 59 and walking just five (5!).
What's a guy to do to get a call up? Zach Zaneski has one brief stint in Oklahoma City, he hasn't seen any level past Low-A. He hit .310 this season with 27 doubles and nine home runs. His OBP was .380 while playing the toughest position in the game, catcher.
At times, Neil Ramirez looked as good as any prospect in the organization. Improved greatly despite the 10-8 record and 4.43 ERA. He allowed four less walks despite pitching 74 more innings. Averaged a strikeout per inning.
The Bad
Time is running out for Matt West. The former second rounder has never been good and the fact that he missed 50 games for testing positive for steroids doesn't help. Had, arguably, his worst year at the plate hitting .223 despite a career high in home runs (13) and a nice doubles number (25). He was drafted when he was 18. He hasn't been past Low-A and he's almost 22.
Shouldn't be too disappointed in Matt Thompson. He did take a step up. Averaged a strikeout per inning, looked like a nice prospect primed for a bump. Instead, his 3.15 ERA climbed the entire year. He posted a 5.82 ERA in August. Good, but he trailed off.
Johnny Gunter pitched in 2009, his first pro year, with varying success (.212 BAA). Pitched in just 11 games this year, mostly with Hickory. Struck out six and walked 10.
Michael Ortiz hit .223 with six home runs 100 strikeouts and 29 walks. Somehow found a way to commit 18 errors at first. Third year of pro ball.
Cristian Santana is only a disappointment because his year -- a good one -- was cut short due to injury. Still, despite his walks are high, his strikeouts are still alarmingly bad.
