1. Victor Robles, OF
Birthdate: 5/19/97 (19 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: rookie, low A, high A
Stats in 2016: .280/.376/.423, 9 HR, 37 SB
Considering the prices of many Latin America signings and draft bonuses, the fact that Robles was signed for $225K may soon be considered one of the bigger bargains in recent international signings.
Robles has been nothing but impressive at every step since making his debut in 2014 in the DSL. Coming stateside in 2015, he tore through the GCL and even got a promotion to Auburn in the New York-Penn League.
At just 18 on opening day, Robles was one of the youngest players on a full-season roster, but he was also one of the most dynamic, exploding out of the gate with Hagerstown in low-A before being promoted after just 64 games to high-A.
He did catch a bit of injury bug that slowed him down in the Carolina League, but overall his season numbers are incredibly impressive when you consider that he didn’t turn 19 until mid-May of the season. In fact, in all of 2016, he had a total of 12 plate appearances in his 504 against pitchers who were younger than him on the entire season.
Robles will likely be a consensus top 10 prospect in the game this offseason due to his elite blend of contact ability, double-plus speed, and plus defensive ability with a plus arm. The only tool that isn’t currently plus is his power, but he’s even flashed plus raw power in the cage.
The big item left for Robles to check off is his strike zone recognition. He has an aggressive approach, which led to a low number of walks, and while his strikeout rate was not exorbitant by any means, it was still double his walk rate, and he’ll need to keep that in line.
It’s very feasible that Robles opens 2017 in AA as a teenager.
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