2015 Modesto Nuts Top Prospect: Raimel Tapia

Jun 24, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; General view of Coors Field fans covered up due to rain falling in the third inning of the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Colorado Rockies. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Today, we hand out the player award for the top prospect for the Modesto Nuts, 2015’s A-Advanced California League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

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The Modesto Nuts’ Raimel Tapia may be one of the more controversial prospects in the Colorado Rockies’ system — it seems different outlets and baseball evaluators have difficulty agreeing on how good he can really be — but one thing is for certain: al he’s done in his career so far is put up numbers.

The 21-year old, who has slashed a career .314/.363/.443 in 449 minor league games, is poised to keep moving up levels in the Rockies’ system after yet another very successful season, this time for the class A-Advanced Modesto Nuts in the California League.

For that, Tapia is our pick for the 2015 Top Prospect Award for the Modesto Nuts.

The numbers to back it up:

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Tapia put up another good year in 2015, though granted it wasn’t quite as strong as his previous years. Nevertheless, it’s now his fourth straight season hitting above .300 and getting on base better than one out of three plate appearances, both of which are certainly more than respectable for a young player who likely now will begin his age-22 season in AA in 2016.

Tapia also developed some power in 2015; in a career high plate appearances, he walked away with 34 doubles, nine triples, and twelve hoe runs in addition to his usual fare in speed (26 stolen bases). On the downside, he did strike out 105 times and walk only 24 times; a speedster like Tapia, who hits for average rather than significant power, will need to develop a more discerning eye at higher levels to set the table for middle-of-the-lineup power hitters.

What 2016 looks like:

I think Tapia would obviously spend 2016 in AA Hartford. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in the pitcher-friendly Eastern League, especially coming off a hitter’s league experience this season in the offensively-minded California League. Nevertheless, at his age and with his minor league history, all eyes will be on Tapia next year, perhaps his first major test in what will soon be a series of tests at higher levels and, hopefully, the big leagues.

Honorable mention: Ryan McMahon, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela.

McMahon hit an even .300/.372/.520 in Modesto, adding 43 doubles and 18 home runs in 496 at-bats. He now has a career .297/.372/.524 slash line in 1196 minor league at-bats, and has shown good power (47 home runs, 107 doubles) and a great eye at the plate (131 walks).

Freeland sat out a good chunk of 2015 with an injury, and only returned to Modesto in time to make seven starts (3-2, 4.76 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, .308 batting average against). But even with the not-so-great and small sample size stats, he’s still one of the Rockies’ top prospects after being drafted in the first round in 2014.

Senzatela came out of relative anonymity this year to have a monster season in the Modesto Nuts’ rotation (9-9, 2.51 ERA, 1.06 WHIp, .229 batting average against in 26 starts/154 innings). We’ll have more on him in a future Nuts’ post coming very soon…

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