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Instructional League Roster Notes – Position Players

A thumbnail sketch on the position players batting in the Florida Instructional League

Player Pos. Age 2010 Team(s) 2009 Invite Notes
David Freitas C 21 VMT N 15th-rd ’10 Col Jr. Pick out of Hawaii,
split time behind the plate and at DH. Solid
triple-slash stats: .307/.408/.450
Sandy Leon C 21 HAG Y His bat starting to approach his
defense, overtook Adrian Nieto in terms
of playing time
Cole Leonida C 21 VMT N 6th-rd Col Jr. pick in ’10 draft that
struggled with hitting: .146/.241/.184
Adrian Nieto C 20 HAG Y Lost playing time to Leon and had a
setback year with his triple-slash stats
all dipping about 30 pts
Roberto Perez C 19 GCL Y Breakout year in repeating GCL,
appears to be a convert from SS in ’09;
solid hitting stats
Andruth Ramirez C 21 DSL N Made the jump from DSL to the GCL
and hit .197/.293/.273 in 22 games
Rick Hague SS 22 GCL, HAG N 3rd-rd ’10 Col Jr. pick that was jumped
from the GCL with good numbers and
continued to improve, finishing with a
.317/.385/.477 line combined
Blake Kelso 3B-SS 21 VMT N 10th-rd ’10 Col Jr. pick that hit for
average (.309) got on base (.362) and
stole a few bags (10 in 61G)
Stephen King 3B-SS 22 VMT, HAG Y HS Pick in ’06, King is an enigma…
flashes of brilliance in nearly every phase
of the game, but just can’t seem to put it
all together at once
Jason Martinson SS 21 VMT N 5th-rd ’10 Col Jr. pick, former two-
sport athlete (football) that may be more
suited to 3B but has the hands, arm, and
range to try to make a go of it as a SS
Russell Moldenhauer IF/DH 22 VMT N 24th-Rd Col Sr. Big, burly, with raw
power but appears to be in search of a
position (LF or 1B most likely)
Tyler Moore 1B 23 POT Y Prodigious power, but still not taking
walks and striking out nearly as often since
heating up in mid-July. Carolina League MVP.
Johan Rodriguez SS 19 GCL N Another IFA from the D.R. Put up
pedestrian numbers (.231/.286/.250) in
limited playing time (32G)
Adrian Sanchez 2B/SS 20 GCL, HAG Y Like Hague, a two-level performer,
though the jump slowed him some. Showed
good contact, speed in HAG
Steven Souza 3B 21 HAG Y Organization still high on him despite
PED use. Was having breakout year before
suspension
Michael Taylor 2B 19 GCL, HAG Y HS pick in ’09 that’s impressing somebody
at some facet without the numbers to show
for it
Jean Valdez 3B 17 DSL N Mid-season All-star in the DSL. Very
good numbers for his age (.249/.309/.354)
Bryce Harper OF/C 17 DNP N The latest can’t-miss prospect of the
decade. Rumored to be getting reps in
preparation for the AFL.
Destin Hood OF 22 HAG Y ’08 HS pick that’s been touted as
having power potential, but hasn’t
realized it yet as a pro
Kevin Keyes LHRP 21 VMT N 7th-rd. Col Jr. pick out of Univ. of
Texas that had a poor showing in his first
season as a pro
Wade Moore OF 22 VMT N 19th-rd Col Jr. pick that put up big
numbers for a small-school standout
(.287/.394/.292, 17SB)
Randolph Oduber OF 21 GCL, HAG N 32-rd JuCo pick that’s been a fan
favorite for the numbers he’s posted in
the GCL (.366/.434/.569) but struggled in
his limited (8G) look-see at HAG
Eury Perez OF 20 HAG Y ’07 IFA that’s another fan favorite,
especially after stealing 41 of his 63
bases in the 2nd half. HAG spies worry
that his defense and contact skills will be
exposed as he progresses upward
J.P. Ramirez OF 20 HAG Y ’08 HS Pick that was quietly consistent
amid the noise of streaks from Souza,
Bloxom and Perez. Concerns about his lack
of range and lack of speed

9 Commments

  1. The hitters were where most of my initial suprise were – 1) shifting Perez from SS to CA, 2) Steven King, really? and, 3) Souza – really? redux. The fact that the Nationals may be considering Harper for a late addition to the AFL is very suprising to me.

  3. @BinM – I’m working off Brian’s list from last year and in the course of compiling this I can certainly see how he may have listed Perez as a SS because that’s how milb.com did when in fact Perez may have played more at 2B, which I understand is not uncommon a maneuver (2B to C).

    @peric – You’d have to think so. Souza and King may be the two beneficiaries of these injuries but I can see the value in sorting them out and giving them some more instruction and a little structure towards their offseasons.

  4. Great stuff, Sue. I’ve been under the impression that both King’s & Souza main character traits were petulance. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t one of your friends in Hagerstown say that Souza’s antics make him unwatchable? The F.O. must see something.

    I live in Virginia but having Oduber, Sanchez, and (maybe) Harper in Hagerstown means multible road next year.

    As for Eury Perez, his numbers jump out at you and he WAS GCL player of the year in 2009. The great news is we’ll all be able to watch him in Potomac next year with Sue’s expert analysis.

    Sue, can we say ‘age appropriate levels’ now finally?

    1. The F.O., I’m told, thinks Souza is a terrific athlete. I would say the same about King, with the caveat that athleticism is to baseball what height is to basketball: great to have, but not as important as skill is in the big picture*. As for petulance… I think the best people to judge that are the coaches, not the fans. What we see on the field is the immediate reaction to the failure on the field, but they (the coaches) get to see how they react to it off the field and in their approach to working out, drills, etc.


      * This is more or less a paraphrase from one of the first coaches I covered as a sportswriter. He was remarking on his high-school basketball team that was full of football and baseball standouts that were all 6′ or taller, but the team went 10-10 that year.

    2. Sue, can we say ‘age appropriate levels’ now finally?

      It’s getting closer, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

  5. Should be interesting in 3-4 years ( or the infamous scouts timetable- 1,500 ABs ) what Rizzo and Co. have out of their NCAA outfield draft haul 2010 especially the Texan kids.

  6. I am glad Souza is not there. I watched him for 2 full season + at the Suns. Erratic throwing, hot head temper. I think the entire Suns team benefited from him not being there. From what I was told he was the “j**k” of the clubhouse.

    I am excited to see a few games in the coming days!!!

  7. Jeff E. — Scouts always say that it takes at least 600 AB’s to get the aluminum out of their swings. That means we should have a lot better idea how the college draftees are doing about halfway through next season.

    I’m a lot more optimistic these days; the Nats have almost doubled their scouts and instructional staff in the last 2 years.

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