Baseball America recently released their midseason top-50 prospect list. In addition to that, they also released a list of 10 minor leaguers who didn’t make that top-50, but are having breakout years for the respective organizations. This list includes both Rafael Montero and Cesar Puello.
J.J. Cooper did a great job compiling this list on BA, and had some nice things to say about Montero and Puello. Here’s what was said about Triple-A pitcher, Rafael Montero:
In the summer of 2011, Montero was pitching in the Dominican Summer League, hoping to get promoted to the U.S. Just two years later, he’s one step away from pitching in the big leagues. Montero combines very solid stuff—a 91-93 mph fastball that gears up to 95-96 mph when he needs it and two potentially average pitches (breaking ball and changeup)—with exceptional control. Montero fills the zone with strikes and walks almost no one, which explains his career sub-1.00 WHIP.
Montero’s rise through the organization’s pipeline has been pretty incredible when we remember it was only a couple of years ago he was on a DSL roster. How did he get to Triple-A so quickly? For all the reasons Cooper outlined above: he’s a strike-thrower that doesn’t walk anyone. He’s struggled a bit with Las Vegas since his promotion, but his career WHIP is still just 1.01, while his career ERA is 2.57 through 290.2 innings pitched in the minors. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so it’s unlikely he’ll see time in the majors this season. If he continues to bounce back in Vegas and get acclimated to the PCL the rest of the season, he could be making some noise next spring.
Immediately following Montero was his former Double-A teammate, Cesar Puello. Here’s what Cooper had to say about the slugging outfielder:
Puello’s combination of plus tools has made him one of the highest ceiling prospects in the Mets’ farm system for years. He showed flashes of his potential with an excellent 19-year-old season in low Class A Savannah in 2010, but he then seemed to stagnate in the Florida State League for the past two years. This year, he’s been able to untap his power more in games, making him the power-speed prospect the Mets had dreamed of him becoming (15 homers, 18 steals). Puello’s biggest obstacle remains his modest plate discipline (14 BB, 55 SO).
There isn’t enough that can be said about Puello’s breakout season in Binghamton. Like Cooper stated, he’s finally put both his power and speed together for one deadly combination. His .323/.384/.575 line with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs are among the league leaders in the Eastern League. Obviously, the biggest knock on Puello’s game is his inability to draw walks. He’s only drawn 14 free passes in 254 at-bats this season, and hasn’t done so in a month.
Will this be the reason he doesn’t keep moving through the system? I don’t think so. A lot has been said about his plate discipline, but the B-Mets coaching staff have done nothing but praised what he’s done with his approach. He won’t all of a sudden start drawing walks at a high rate; it will take some time. Looking at his walk rate from 2012, it has increased from 2.8% to 5.1%. Now, that’s progress.
At the end of the day, I don’t think the Mets will hold Puello in Double-A and tell him he needs to walk more first. He’ll learn as he goes, and he deserves a September call-up to the majors, at the very least.
(photo credit: Gordon Donovan)