This site, www.sportspsychologyprograms.
Over the past several days, the Twins have promoted a handful of pitchers -- including Liam Hendriks, who will start tonight -- along with Matt Tolbert, Brian Dinkelman, Chris Parmelee and Joe Benson. The latter two would have to be considered the organization's top two position player prospects that are anywhere near major-league ready.
Parmelee, a former first-round pick, hit .287/.366/.435 in his second turn at Class-AA New Britain this season. Early in his career, the first baseman struggled to hit for average, batting .239 in two straight seasons at Beloit, but over the past couple years he's raised his hit rate while sacrificing his power, which was never overwhelming in the first place.
Given his struggles against left-handed pitchers since graduating to Double-A and his lack of speed, the best realistic projection for Parmelee is a poor man's Jason Kubel who can play first base along with the corner outfield spots. He doesn't seem to have the tools to become a big-league starter.
Benson, who I ranked as the organization's fifth-best prospect before the season, has put together a more impressive campaign in New Britain, batting .287/.389/.499 while blasting 16 homers and excelling defensively in center field.
The gaudy on-base percentage appears to be a big bonus, but one wonders how well Benson's penchant for getting hit by pitches -- he's been plunked 13 times -- will translate to the bigs.
It's going to be hard for him to keep his batting average afloat in the majors due to a strikeout rate that has teetered between 22 and 26 percent over the past few years. The hope is that his power can offset the inevitable low average, and 16 homers would be nice from a slick-gloved center fielder, but that figure represents a significant drop-off from his total of 27 last year, and it's worth noting that he'd never hit more than five in a pro season before 2010.
Like fellow young outfielders Ben Revere and Aaron Hicks, it appears at this point that Benson's best (or at least most reliable) asset might be his defense. That's troubling news for an organization that has become increasingly starved for offense.
Let's put the performances of Parmelee and Benson at age 23 in New Britain into perspective: When Revere toured the Eastern League as a 22-year-old last year, he hit .305/.371/.363. This year, with the Twins, he's hitting .251/.298/.288.
I think Revere has a solid future in front of him, and both Benson and Parmelee have a chance to be impact players at some point, but I doubt that point is near, and both have enough flaws that they can't be penciled into the club's plans yet. Maybe we'll know more in a month, though.
13 comments:
Uhh, you do realize Benson's HR drop off was significantly related to missing over a month of the season for KNEE SURGERY, right?
In 54 games since the All-Star Break, Benson has hit 11 home runs and has a .917 OPS.
Uhh, you do realize Benson's HR drop off was significantly related to missing over a month of the season for KNEE SURGERY, right?
He's played more games in NB this year than he did last year and hit seven fewer homers there. When you're repeating a level, that's not the most promising sign. But I am a believer in his power, which many expected to manifest at some point. And as the second commenter notes, he was very good in the second half.
Agree with the anonymous'. In 2010 when he hit 27 HR's, his slugging percentage was .527 with New Britain. Slugging .495 in a season where he had knee surgery isn't a dropoff to me. Plus he slugged .516 from August to the end of the year after getting back to full strength. The 13 HBP to bolster his OBP I also don't find to be that significant - .388 to .370 - especially when drawing a walk has been one of his best assets his entire career. Of course, like you, I don't see things translating right away, but we also shouldn't expect them to. At any rate, Benson is hands down the best position prospect we've had come up in 5+ years, looking forward to seeing him tonight.
I don't get the fascination with Revere, Nick, coupled with the dismissal of Benson.
Benson has a higher ceiling than Revere, and it isn't particularly close. Revere's inability to produce even a modest rate of XBHs and his weak arm are going to prevent him from ever being even an average MLB outfielder.
Benson obviously has some development left, but it wouldn't surprise me if he outproduces Revere immediately.
I don't get the fascination with Revere, Nick, coupled with the dismissal of Benson.
I don't see how saying he's got a "solid future in front of him" qualifies as fascination, but my opinion on Revere is -- I think -- pretty well established. Outstanding defense, in spite of the weak arm, and disruptive speed that will hopefully make him enough of an offensive threat to hold his own in the lineup.
I agree that Benson has significantly higher upside. If he could repeat his 2010 numbers as an MLB center fielder, he'd be a stud. I just really worry about the strikeouts. Guys who whiff in a quarter of their PAs in the minors tend to have an extremely tough time staying afloat in the majors, especially if they don't have overwhelming skills in other areas.
As for the walks, which were noted by Steve as one of Benson's best assets, those can be tough to come by in the big leagues when you're not getting hits.
I personally think Ben Revere's career ceiling is somewhere between Jason Tyner and Juan Pierre. Would you guys agree with this?
I personally think Ben Revere's career ceiling is somewhere between Jason Tyner and Juan Pierre. Would you guys agree with this?
I think that's fair, yes. Pierre was a pretty valuable player early in his career.
Damn! Someone grabbed up the 49 cent seats to tonight's game on Stubhub --- now I'm going to have to 70 cents to see a Twins game today.
As for the walks, which were noted by Steve as one of Benson's best assets, those can be tough to come by in the big leagues when you're not getting hits.
Just ask Revere.
Let's put the performances of Parmelee and Benson at age 23 in New Britain into perspective: When Revere toured the Eastern League as a 22-year-old last year, he hit .305/.371/.363. This year, with the Twins, he's hitting .251/.298/.288./
Comparing Revere's MiL hitting line to Benson's is truly apple
to oranges. Benson's line
of .287/.388/.499/.879 gives him an OPS that is 163 points higher than Revere's OPS of 724. Having a CF with the potential to hit 15-20 HR/yr, while possesing a cannon
rather than Revere's popgun for an arm. The proof of his enormously higher potential than Revere can be seen in OBP, higher than Revere's (whose only asset is speed), even with all of those Ks. If he could be flanked by Span in left and another power hitter in right (Kubel/Plouffe?), it would make for a pretty decent outfield. Revere as the 4th OF or how about taking a look at him at 2B? Revere needs Carew to coach up his hitting, Benson needs a little Brunansky for his power stroke and a lot of Paul Molitor to teach him better plate discipline.
Fast track him now!
Benson's OPS was .887, not .879, my math was correct, thus the 163 point difference, but my typing was less than perfect, sorry.
I agree that Benson has significantly higher upside. If he could repeat his 2010 numbers as an MLB center fielder, he'd be a stud. I just really worry about the strikeouts. Guys who whiff in a quarter of their PAs in the minors tend to have an extremely tough time staying afloat in the majors, especially if they don't have overwhelming skills in other areas.
He did make some year-over-year improvement in his strikeout rate (about 10% less) at NB, while raising his BA and OBP by 27 and 52 points, respectively. And, as Steve L pointed out, he really mashed the ball the last 5 weeks of the season with 516 SLG and nearly 1000 OPS. Most importantly, he appears to be very hungry and more than willing to play hurt, to get hit by a pitch to get on base, and he heals Albert Pujols-AJ Przynski-like quickly, a trait that is obviously severely lacking at the major league club.
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