Arizona Fall League: Mid Season Review

Raimel Tapia – OF – #6 PuRP

Tapia has always been followed by controversy surrounding his hitting approach, but one thing is for sure; he can hit. This past year in Modesto he hit .305/.333/.467 with 12 HR, 77 RBI, and 26 SB, and has a career minors line of .314/.363/.443. The uptick in power is a good sign of development for the 21-year-old, especially against older competition. There’s a wide range of projection on a player like this; he could win a batting title and man center or end up as a fourth outfielder. Tapia is Rule 5 eligible this year, so the Rockies might need to place him on the 40-man roster or risk losing him to another organization.

Tapia has played in most of the games so far with a .239/.250./.370 slash line in 46 AB. The numbers aren’t great, but it’s his first experience against top prospects that are almost assuredly a few years older than he is. The red flag in his stat line is the 11 strikeouts in 46 at bats. That’s around a 20% K-rate and is something I want to see him improve, especially since he changes his stance with two strikes to avoid striking out. For Tapia, this is getting his feet wet against the tougher competition he’ll face at his projected start in AA for the 2016 season.

Jordan Patterson – 1B – #16 PuRP

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Patterson earned himself a promotion to New Britain after tearing up Modesto. He finished the year with a .297/.364/.543 slash line and 17 HR, 75 RBI, and 18 SB, providing the Rockies with another intriguing hitting prospect that could take the reins at first base. He falls in the same mold as Kyle Parker and Ben Paulsen; a 1B/OF build with questionable power numbers.

Patterson hasn’t had a great Arizona Fall League; he has three hits and 11 strikeouts in 32 at bats.  The Rockies were hoping that Patterson could stand out against some excellent competition and he just hasn’t done that. According to Purple Row‘s Jen Mac Ramos, who was down in Arizona last week, Patterson has a loop in his swing, causing soft contact and more missed swings than normal. Hopefully he can improve over the next three weeks.

Chris Rabago – C – Unranked

Rabago was the replacement on the Arizona Fall League roster for Tom Murphy, who made his debut for the big squad in September and played relatively well. Rabago was drafted in the 13th Round of the 2014 Draft and hasn’t played above short season ball, but he played very well with Grand Junction (Rookie), slashing .306/.353/.441. He’s a young catcher and has a lot to improve on, but getting some playing time against better competition will help.

Rabago has played well in limited time with five hits in 17 at bats and only three strikeouts. That’s the key for a young player facing better competition; a low strikeout rate. Young catchers are hard to project, but if the Rockies are sending him to an instructional league he’s someone to keep an eye on.

Be on the lookout for AFL grades at the end of the season.

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