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Amed Rosario Is A Possible Breakout Candidate For The 2014 Season

By Former Writers

November 1, 2013 3 Comments

Amed Rosario is being deemed as a Teenage Breakout candidate by Nathaniel Sloltz at RotoGraphs.  Sloltz breaks down parts of Rosario’s game that needs work in order for him to be a viable 2014 Breakout Candidate.

“Rosario has an athletic 6’2″ frame–his listing of 170 pounds is probably fairly accurate, though he may be closer to 180 at this point. Either way, he has natural athleticism and fluid actions, and he still has plenty of room to fill out and add strength to his frame. He’s not a burner type, as evidenced by his 2-for-5 showing on the basepaths this year, but there are plenty of guys who stick at shortstop without plus straight-line speed–think of Andrelton SimmonsYunel EscobarJ.J. HardyZack CozartPete KozmaTroy TulowitzkiStephen Drew,Brandon Crawford, or Jhonny Peralta, who all stole single-digit numbers of bases this year but were above-average defensive shortstops per UZR.

I agree with Sloltz that even though Rosario does not have the needed speed that a shortstop usually requires; but if he continues to play well defensively as he showed with his .941 Fld% in his first pro season, he should be a viable option to remain and grow at the position.

What about the other side of the ball, though? Obviously, projecting to be solid or better with the glove is nice, but Rosario’s going to have to hit a whole lot better than .241/.279/.358 to be much of a contributor. A .295 wOBA doesn’t exactly scream “impact player” regardless of position, especially for fantasy purposes.

What holds Rosario back right now is inconsistency in a number of areas. If power is going to be a major force in his game, he’s going to have to turn on the ball more.

Rosario, with 2013 being his first full season in pro ball and at only 17 years old, moving forward he will have some rough spots that he will need to work on, but he still had a decent year.  He pretty much showed that he can be a versatile hitter as he did in 2013 when he posted eight doubles, four triples, three home runs, and 23 RBI’s in 212 at bats.  The key for him is how he performs in 2014 and if he continues to take a step forward. As Sloltz states, Rosario may not be a consistent power threat, but if he sprays the ball around enough, he will see himself grow into a great option in any lineup. I definitely think he is a great candidate for a 2014 breakout season.

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