Baseball America Top 20 Pioneer League

I’m def going to ask that question in the chat

Is there a link to the list?

we’ll have a vote to see who the real best prospect is according to TBLA readers

Q: How did Jonathan Garcia not make the list? I know his season wasn’t quite as good as the Raptors’ Landry or Lemmerman, and that he did most of his hitting at home, but Garcia is 18 years old and put up very solid stats

A: File Ogden RF Jonathan Garcia in the just-missed folder. But keep in mind that just because we don’t rank a player in the Top 20 (an arbitrary stopping point), it doesn’t mean he’s not a prospect. After whiffing last year on Jerry Sands and Brian Cavazos-Galvez, a pair of ‘09 Raptors who I didn’t rank and who had nice ‘10 seasons, I looked more closely at Ogden players this year. But three factors conspired against Garcia, an eighth-round pick from Puerto Rico in ’09. As you mentioned, he did not hit well on the road at all, batting .267/.313/.390 in 105 at-bats. He collected nine of 10 homers at home in cozy Lindquist Field. That wouldn’t be enough to torpedo Garcia’s Top 20 chances if he got overwhelming support from league observers—but he didn’t. One scout wondered if Garcia’s hitting approach would continue to work. He has a lot of moving parts, and his hips tend to drift to his front foot, making it almost impossible to hit anything offspeed with authority. Perhaps Garcia could thrive as a classic plays-above-his-tools type, because he throws very well and plays with an excess of energy. But keep in mind that he’s a righty-hitting corner outfielder who offers fringy power potential, speed and defensive value.