Posts belonging to Category Daniel “Dee” Clark

#32 Starling Marte

Pittsburgh Pirates

DOB: 10/9/1988

Previous Rank: N/R

ETA: 2012

Marte has four plus tools and an average one, but he lacks the discipline in the box to be ranked as high as other elite hitters with similar skill sets.  We at The Sombrero treat strike-zone judgment about as seriously as we treat the hit tool itself, and Marte appears to have very little of it.  That said, he posted a tremendously impressive .332/.370/.500 slash line with 24 stolen bases and nearly 60 hits for extra bases in the Eastern League.  He only worked 22 walks in over 560 plate appearances, and, while his ability to lay off secondary stuff improved as the year progressed, he still has a long way to go before he is able to differentiate balls and strikes or square strikes up with secondary offerings.

He is a terrific runner who will eventually move Andrew McCutchen to a corner spot.  His arm will be plus in center and is quite accurate with good carry.  He squares fastballs up as well as anyone in the Minors today and has the legs to beat out several grounders per year.  His power is behind his other tools, but it is at least in the “gap” category now with likely more to come as he matures.

Considering that Marte had a terrific season in Double-A as a 22-year-old, the future is looking very bright in the Pirate outfield.  Marte plays the game very hard and gets great marks for his makeup too.  We expect to see Marte at PNC in 2012, but it hopefully comes after several hundred at-bats in Triple-A first.

#33 Randall Delgado

Atlanta Braves

DOB: 2/9/1090

Previous Rank: N/R

ETA: 2012

Delgado was the Braves’ strongest pitcher down the stretch, posting a 2.83 ERA in seven starts.  His ratios in Atlanta were trash, but they were far better in Double-A and Triple-A.  His ERA across two stops was under four and he nearly struck out a guy an inning over 139 innings pitched.  He walked too many guys, but for a 21-year-old who already has seven Big League starts under his belt, who really cares?

He has three average or better pitches including a fastball that can reach 97 mph and consistently sits in the 92-94 mph range.  His curveball is an easy 60, and his changeup shows the promise of being an adequate to average third pitch.  Delgado never really has to be more than a No. 3 starter in Atlanta, but he profiles as a No. 2 or even a No. 1 contingent upon how far he is able to come in terms of command and development of his changeup.

There is really nothing left for Delgado to prove in the Minors, but given the fact that he walked 14 guys in his 35 innings for Atlanta, the Panamanian might start several games for Gwinnett to open 2012.

#34 Gary Brown

San Francisco Giants

DOB: 9/28/1988

Previous Rank: N/R

ETA: 2013

After a brilliant career at Fullerton, the Giants wisely selected Brown with the 24^th overall pick in 2010.  In his first full season of professional baseball, Brown slashed an absurd .336/.407/.519 with over 60 hits for extra bases and 53 stolen bases for San Jose.  I guess you could say that he could have walked more (47 walks in around 600 plate appearances), but there is very little to knock in his 2011 stats.

He is about as easy an 80-grade runner as exists in the game today, and might actually improve as he matures on the basepaths.  He is a double-plus defender with an arm that plays at average to plus with excellent accuracy.  His mechanics to contact are very compact and sound, but there is a lot of reason to believe there is more thump to be gained before he reaches San Francisco.

The Giants are a truly awful team at the plate and in the field and certainly will be tempted to rush Brown up, but the prudent move here is to let him gain several hundred at-bats in Double-A and Triple-A to improve his discipline at the plate.  Brown has a chance to be a very special player so long as the Giants are patient with him.

#35 Carlos Martinez

St. Louis Cardinals

DOB: 9/21/1991

Previous Rank: N/R

ETA: 2014

The Cardinals have a very solid system, and starting pitching is probably where it shines the brightest.  As a 19-year-old across two stops including 10 starts in the FSL, Martinez finished the year with a sub-4.00 ERA and 98 strikeouts in only 84.2 innings pitched.  He also managed to hand out 44 free passes, but there is always reason to be optimistic about a 19-year-old with that kind of strikeout ability.

Martinez throws blazing hard, hitting triple digits on occasion and sitting in the mid- to high-90s.  He is only 6-foot and 165-pounds, but there actually might be an inch or two left in him if his Dominican birth certificate is accurate.  Martinez secondary stuff has a ways to go, but at times he flashes 60s with both his change and breaker.  The changeup has a little fade to it, and the breaking ball is the downer type with good pace and shape.  He slows his arm a lot at times with both offerings, and both flatten out when he does, but the Cardinals are magicians when it comes to young righties and their secondary stuff.

Considering that Martinez only will only need to fill the role of a third starter in St. Louis given the presence of Adam Wainwright already atop the rotation and Shelby Miller knocking at the Busch gates, the St. Louis pitching staff should be elite for much of the decade.  If his command can improve during the next couple of years, Martinez could find himself within the top-10 here at The Sombrero as early as 2013.

#36 Brett Jackson

Chicago Cubs

DOB: 8/2/1988

Previous Rank: 43

ETA: 2012

Jackson is hands-down the top player in the Cubs system, even after they drafted what some think was the highest upside bat in the 2011 draft in Javier Baez.  Jackson slashed .274/.379/.490 beginning the year in the Southern League and finishing up with a little over 200 plate appearances for Des Moines (Triple-A).

Jackson is a phenomenal athlete at 6-foot-2 and 210-pounds.  He posted a 20 home run/21 stolen base season in 2011 while walking 73 times in just over 500 plate appearances.  He strikes out too much, but the power numbers justify it to some extent.  As a 60-speed guy, Jackson has plenty to stay in center and challenge for 20 stolen bases in The Show.  With a 50 to 55 arm, he has a chance to be an above-average CF for years.

His speed plays well on the bases and should for at least a few years as he was successful in over 75% of his stolen base opportunities.  Jackson, despite having no obvious barrier in the way of playing time at the Big League level, still might end up starting 2012 in Triple-A.  The Cubs have once again managed to load up their outfield with overpaid trash in the form of Alfonso Soriano and Marlon Byrd and, if they decide to give a guy like Tyler Colvin or one of these two old-timers a starting job, Jackson will return to Des Moines and destroy Minor League pitchers until Theo decides to get serious.  As it is, he has nothing left to prove in our eyes and is more than ready to take his talent to Wrigley.