This Week in Prospects (6/10/10)–Michael Taylor, Thomas Diamond, Adam Loewen (Yeah, THAT Adam Loewen), and More!

Well, that was a long title.

Welcome to the June 10, 2010 edition of This Week in Prospects! Quite the interesting group this week, with some familiar names from the past and some unfamiliar names (even to me, before this week) worth knowing.

As always, I’m here to answer questions about these players or any other minor leaguers you may be wondering about.

Hot Shots

Devin Mesoraco, C, Reds (AA)—Mesoraco, like the two prospects who follow him on “Hot Shots” this week, is a former top prospect who fell on hard times early in his career.

The 21-year-old catcher was the 15^th overall selection in the 2007 draft, but posted .580, .710, and .692 OPS marks in his first three seasons, as scouts questioned his conditioning and injuries kept him from realizing his potential.

Still, he opened 2010 in High-A while many his age were still in college, and it’s tough to write a prospect off that soon.

And, after 2 ½ years of flailing, Mesoraco finally started hitting.

Even though he was in the Carolina League, a notorious pitcher’s environment, the stocky catcher batted .335/.414/.620 in 43 games, bashing 10 homers and serving as the best hitter in the league.

That earned him a recent promotion to Double-A, where he’s struggled to hit for average but is slugging .400 in 10 games, with two more homers already.

Does he project as a superstar? Probably not. But you have to remember, we’re talking about a future NL catcher here, so the bar isn’t exactly raised all that high—the Astros are starting Humberto Quintero and Kevin Cash, after all. Mesoraco boasts a plus arm behind the plate, and clearly has some offensive skills, so it looks like he may not be a draft bust, but rather a solid but unspectacular catcher in the David Ross mold.

(Other nine prospects after the jump)

Thomas Diamond, RHP, Cubs (AAA)—You might have forgotten about Diamond, 27, but there was a time not too long ago when he, John Danks, and Edinson Volquez made up the Rangers’ vaunted “DVD” trio of top pitching prospects.

Like Volquez and Danks, it seems that Diamond has needed to venture out of the Texas organization to spread his wings. The 10^th overall selection back in 2004, he reached Double-A just a year later, but spent the better part of four years there, dealing with nagging arm injuries and ultimately moving to the bullpen with little success.

And then the Cubs claimed him late last season, and now he’s leading the PCL in strikeouts.

Huh?

With 65 K in 64 1/3 innings, not to mention a 2.24 ERA, Diamond certainly looks like he’s finally reaching the potential once projected for him.

A classic three-pitch pitcher with good velocity, Diamond also uses a slider to righties and changeup to lefties. Neither one is a classic out pitch, but both are effective enough to get the job done.

With his good fastball, Diamond might ultimately be a solid MLB reliever, but he also could be a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter if his arm holds up. That’s more than most would have thought coming into this year.

Adam Loewen, OF, Blue Jays (AA)—You might remember Loewen, former Baltimore Orioles lefthander and fourth overall draft pick in 2002, giving up on pitching after 2007 following a long string of injuries and deciding to become an outfielder.

Like fellow former lefty Rick Ankiel, few expected to hear from Loewen again. And nobody really has until now, because Loewen’s 2009 statline merited zero attention.

At age 25, he hit .236/.340/.355 in High-A. Yeah. Nothing to see there.

The Blue Jays hung on with him, though, sending him to Double-A this year, and all of a sudden, like Ankiel, Loewen looks smart for making the transition.

The 26-year-old is hitting .299/.393/.495 with Double-A New Hampshire. He’s also stolen eight bases and homered seven times, nearly double last year’s total of four already.

It looks like Loewen could wind up as a solid outfielder with 15-20 HR power and a solid approach at the plate, and of course, he’ll contribute a good arm defensively. That could ultimately put him on a career path to be a solid platoon player.

Slumping Stars

Brandon Snyder, 1B, Orioles (AAA)—It’s been an up-and-down career for the former thirteenth overall pick. Injuries ended his career as a catcher, moving him to first base, where the offensive bar is set tremendously high (especially compared to catcher).

Snyder didn’t even hit much in 2006 or 2007, further clouding his future, but he showed some signs of life in 2008 (.315/.358/.490 in High-A) before ripping Double-A apart in 2009 (.343/.421/.597).

The transition from Double-A to Triple-A is considered much smoother than that from High-A to Double-A, but while Snyder made the latter jump easily, the former has given him fits for a year now. He only mustered .248/.316/.355 last year in the International League, and is hitting .245/.319/.370 this season, showing no statistical improvement.

The 23-year-old  desperately needs to show his 2009 Double-A form. The Orioles are in tremendous need of a first baseman, and if Snyder were producing in Triple-A, he’d have been recalled by now. At 23 and with little to no defensive value, he has to hit to have a career, and right now, he’s not hitting.

Michael Taylor, OF, Athletics (AAA)—I was a big proponent of the A’s swapping out Brett Wallace for Taylor this offseason, but while Wallace is fourth in the PCL in homers, Taylor is fifth from the bottom in batting average (.229/.291/.370), and has dealt with injuries.

At 24, he isn’t exactly the youngest of prospects, and that line is propped up by a .754 OPS in April; he’s actually getting worse as the season progresses.

Taylor has a few more months to figure out how to hit or risk being labeled a “Quad-A” player (rightly or wrongly) by most baseball insiders.

Beau Mills, 1B, Indians (AA)—Like Snyder, Mills is a first baseman who isn’t hitting. But Mills’ situation is even more dire: he’s a bit older than Snyder, a level below him, struggled in 2009 as well, and is actually hitting worse than Snyder is.

Mills is hitting an awful .208/.284/.307 after a poor .267/.308/.417 showing in Double-A last year. His 21-HR, .880 OPS 2008 is getting pretty far in the rearview mirror.

A burly, unathletic defender, Mills is rough around the first base bag as well, so he might even have to DH in the majors.

Not that he’s on a path to the majors at this point.

Sleeper Alert!

Nate Tenbrink, 3B, Mariners (AA)—The prospects are grouped into “themes” this week. The Hot Shots are former top guys who fell down and have picked themselves back up; the Slumping Stars are older upper-level corner guys who are struggling at the plate, and this week’s Sleeper Alert! focuses on three guys putting up insane offensive numbers…with the caveat that they’re in the best offensive league in baseball.

Tenbrink was second in the Cal League with a whopping 1.101 OPS, behind Kyle Russell (1.140) of the Dodgers, who I’d profile here if I hadn’t already done so in a previous week. He was promoted to Double-A in late May, but was hit in the head with a pitch and put on the DL.

Tenbrink, 23, hit a ridiculous .379/.452/.649 in High Desert, and even chipped in 14 steals in 15 attempts, so he’s not just a one-dimensional power guy.

Tenbrink is a fine defender at third, and also has experience doing some utility work, playing everywhere on the infield and also seeing some time in left.

You never know what to do with guys who kill the ball in the Cal League, particularly in a place like High Desert, but Tenbrink did hit a solid .282/.357/.431 in Low-A last year (at 22, he was old for the level though).

He’s clearly too good for the Cal League, so it’ll be interesting to see how he handles upper-minors pitching when he returns from the DL.

Brandon Belt, 1B, Giants (High-A)—Belt’s huge year is even more interesting than Tenbrink’s, for a few reasons.

First, he’s a 2009 draftee (fifth round) making his pro debut, so he’s started his career by hitting .378/.486/.587.

Second, he’s just 22, so he isn’t as old for his level as Tenbrink.

Third, Belt isn’t a guy who projects to be a power-reliant guy, as he has more walks (41) than strikeouts (34) and just five homers. He also has 12 steals (albeit in 19 attempts).

The flip side of that third plus is, of course, that Belt is a first baseman showing just middling power in a tremendous hitting environment, so one has to wonder if he’ll turn into more of a Doug Mientkiewicz low-power first baseman in more neutral environments.

The lack of present power but surprising speed makes me wonder if Belt could play an outfield corner, where the pressure to be a run producing sort of bat would be slightly lowered and he could be more of a pure OBP/doubles guy.

Thomas Field, SS, Rockies (High-A)—Field, Belt, Tenbrink, and the aforementioned Kyle Russell are the only four Cal League hitters with OPS figures above 1.000.

An obscure 24^th round pick in 2008, Field hit just .257/.335/.332 last year, so nobody saw this coming.

He’s hit .326/.437/.537 with 9 homers, a 42/32 K/BB ratio, and eight steals in ten attempts.

Field, 23, is off to a particularly hot start in June, with a slugging percentage of 1.120.

A small player with decent actions and a playable arm, Field is in the mold of “non-flashy-but-just-effective-enough” shortstops like Ryan Theriot and David Eckstein. Obviously, neither Theriot nor Eckstein ever showed this sort of power, though.

It’s very tempting to dismiss Field’s breakout as a fluke, but it’s worth noting he showed well in 2008 (.247/.403/.396), so overall good hitting isn’t completely foreign to him. Between the four players with 1.000+ OPS marks in the Cal League this year, I’d give him the lowest chance of being an offensive force in the majors, but given his position, he doesn’t have to be.

The Quadruple-A Special

Brian Mazone, LHP, Phillies—Imagine being called up to the majors after eight long years toiling in the minors…and having your spot start rained out.

That happened to Mazone in 2006, and he never got to make his major league debut.

Now 33 going on 34, the crafty lefthander continues to chase his dream. He posted ERAs of 2.03 and 2.21 in 2006 and 2007 before posting marks in the fours the next two seasons.

He’s 3-6 with a 3.91 ERA this year, showing a good 41/13 K/BB ratio in 69 innings.

Mazone is sort of the Jamie Moyer of the minor leagues, attacking hitters with a variety of unspectacular pitches, but utilizing a plus changeup and good command to keep guys off balance.

Like Moyer, Mazone will occasionally allow homers—9 in 69 innings this year—but he’s got the smarts to be someone’s fifth starter or long reliever. If Livan Hernandez can do it, so can this guy.

And come on, you have to root for him to make it back. Getting your one shot rained out—that’s bad, on the same level as Armando Galarraga recently losing his perfect game on the bad call, if not worse. Hey, at least Galarraga got to stay in the bigs…

Tags: Adam Loewen, Beau Mills, Brandon Belt, Brandon Snyder, Brian Mazone, Devin Mesoraco, Michael Taylor, Nate Tenbrink, Thomas Diamond, Thomas Field