Baseball America California Top 20 Prospect League Chat

1. and #15, respectively. Withrow was the first RHP and the youngest of the first four players on the list.

Witrow is No. 4 and Robinson is No. 15.

1. Buster Posey, c, San Jose (Giants)
2. Christian Friederich, lhp, Modesto (Rockies)
3. Jason Castro, c, Lancaster (Astros)
4. Chris Withrow, rhp, Inland Empire (Dodgers)
5. Phillipe Aumont, rhp, High Desert (Mariners)
6. Alex Liddi, 3b, High Desert (Mariners)
7. Pedro Figueroa, lhp, Stockton (Athletics)
8. Wynn Pelzer, rhp, Lake Elsinore (Padres)
9. Thomas Neal, of, San Jose (Giants)
10. James Darnell, 3b, Lake Elsinore (Padres)
11. Roger Kieschnick, of, San Jose (Giants)
12. Cory Luebke, lhp, Lake Elsinore (Padres)
13. Tyson Gillies, of, High Desert (Mariners)
14. Alexander Torres, lhp, Rancho Cucamonga (Angels)
15. Trayvon Robinson, of, Inland Empire (Dodgers)
16. Grant Desme, of, Stockton (Athletics)
17. Logan Forysthe, 3b, Lake Elsinore (Padres)
18. Jemile Weeks, 2b, Stockton (Athletics)
19. Craig Italiano, rhp, Stockton/Lake Elsinore (Padres/Athletics)
20. Darren Ford, of, San Jose (Giants)

4. Chris Withrow, rhp, Inland Empire 66ers (Dodgers)
Age: 20. B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-3. Wt.: 195. Drafted: Dodgers, 2008 (1).
A first-round pick in 2007, Withrow worked just 13 innings in his first two pro seasons because he had elbow problems. His rust showed this year, but he wowed scouts with his pure stuff.

Withrow averaged 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings with Inland Empire before his promotion to Double-A Chattanooga. His 92-96 mph fastball and curveball are both plus pitches, and his heater was clocked as high as 99. He throws with an easy arm action, which bodes well for his future health.

Withrow needs more command to be a front-line starter, and he’ll have to hone his changeup to give him something to play off his power stuff.

15. Trayvon Robinson, of, Inland Empire (Dodgers)
Age: 22 B-T: B-R. Ht: 5-10. Wt.: 175 Drafted: Dodgers ‘05 (10)
Robinson was a hot topic of conversation among scouts at the Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic at Petco Park in August. When told Robinson would be on our Cal League Top 20, one National League scout said: "He’d better be! And no one was sure he would hit coming out of high school."

A graduate of Los Angeles’ Crenshaw High, Robinson brought remarkable speed, a volatile temper and questionable bat into pro ball. He’s still a plus-plus runner progress and retains some rough edges, but the overall transformation has been remarkable.

A career .266 hitter coming into the year, he batted .306 with Inland Empire and finished one steal behind Gillies with 43. He has some surprising pop, though it gets him into trouble because he gets power-conscious. He’s a fine defender in center fielder with a fringe-average arm.

“Robinson gets better every year,” another scout said. “The ball jumps off his bat, but he strikes out too much. He is way too good an athlete to strike out that much. He should look to go gap to gap more.”

i wanted to see how withrow compared against the likes of bumgarner and jarrod parker. the reports on withrow are very very good but this jarrod parker guy is just sick

any updates on the jarrod parker injury?
They’re rehabbing him very, very slowly right now in an attempt to have him avoid surgery. I hope he doesn’t need an operation because he has the best stuff I saw all year and probably has the best stuff of any prospect in baseball after Stephen Strasburg. It’s a 70 fastball, a 60 to 70 slider and a potential 55/60 changeup on the 20-80 scale.

It was the strangest thing, he said. Parker, an undersized right-hander with a four-pitch array, always has lit up the radar guns, but it was especially so on that day in Alabama, his velocity ranging from 95-99, the highest of the season.

TrueBlueLA (Los Angeles): Scott Van Slyke finally made some progress, was it enough to put him back on the prospect map or simply a Cal League illusion? Was Preston Mattingly the worse high draft pick by Logan White? He doesn’t appear to have any skills offensively or defensively.


Dave Perkin: Van Slyke is a different player than his Dad. Andy was lithe and wiry, an incredible athlete with plus speed and a plus arm—a terrific CF. Scott is much bigger but not quite as athletic. I am going to have to reserve judgement on him as a hitter—let’s see how he does at AA. As for Mattingly, he struggled. He had a hard time recognizing pitches, and had a tendency to get out on his front foot and committed too soon. The Dodgers will be patient with him, but he needs to correct those shortcomings.

That’s what I do. :o

Bad news is that Posey and Bumgartner were studs

Good news is that they may have whiffed on Gillispe.

norm (san diego): Is Conor Gillaspie the biggest disappointment of the 2008 draft? His ridiculous contract is probably the worst of any player from the draft and he hits with no power and cannot field 3B. Any idea what the Giants will do with him?

Dave Perkin: Hey Norm! Cheers! To judge the 2008 draft, I think we have to wait a few more years. That being said, Gillaspie did not impress me at all this year. At third, he doesn’t go after anything that isn’t hit right at him. He gets caught on too many bad or in between hops and doesn’t seem to read the ball well off of the bat. To succeed in pro ball as a hitter, you have to convert a high percentage of pitchers mistakes. If a pro pticher makes a good or great pitch, your chances of converting it into a base hit are very low for anyone, Mauer and Pujols included. Gillaspie struggled to convert pitchers mistakes into hits when I saw him, and was visibly agitated when he fouled the pitch off. Lets’ track him some more before we give up on him, howver.

that whatever you grew up watching is your baseline for evaluation. The writer on this chat says he grew up watching Wills/Davis and thus might be biased towards these type of players. I on the otherhand am not biased towards popeye-like forearms but no walks first baseman and converting 3/4 of your infield from another position type players.

Michael Stern (Rochester NY): How close was OF Trayvon Robinson to making the list. He showed very nice offensive ability – hitting for average, power, and stole 43 bases before being promoted up to AA. Is he a future major leaguer in the Dodgers plans?


Dave Perkin: Actually, Trayvone is on the list, at number 15. Another guy I scouted in HS, he went to Crenshaw—which also produced Daryl Strawberry. Robinson is incredibly fast—one Dodger scout timed him in the 6.2-6.3 range. He has accomplished what we scouts look for in a minor leaguer—work on and improve your weaknesses. Robinson hit very well lefthanded this year, plus he has become an excellent CF, running down balls in the gaps by getting terrific jumps and taking good routes. His base stealing still needs improvement. Base stealing is not so much about speed as it is about the read and the jump. Robinson got caught a lot this year, which tells me he is still struggling reading moves. I think he’ll get it eventually, particularly if the Dodgers have him work with Maury Wills.

on any of the cusp players other then Van Slyke. Dave Perkin who did the chat covers Southern California and the Cal League. The Giants got a lot of questions because they have a slew prospects. Trayvon Robinson continues to gain traction as a prospect. He has plenty of speed and I liked the reports on his defense.