New York Mets Scouting Report on SS Amed Rosario
Scouting Report
Size/Build
Rosario is a right-handed hitter and thrower who is listed at 6’2″ and 190 pounds. He could be up to around 200-210 at this point, but it’s all in very good build for certain as he carries minimal excess in the middle of his body.
Hitting
Contact (60) – Even in his times of struggle coming up, Rosario has shown a solid ability to put the bat on the ball, though with a fairly aggressive, contact-oriented approach.
With the added strength he showed before the 2016 season, Rosario was able to make more meaningful impact with the baseball, which turned many bloopers and light line drives into scorching hits that found gaps.
Rosario’s swing is quick through the zone and has minimal load, and his bat path should produce a ton of line drives as he makes solid contact.
Power (45) – While he added strength and added in extra base hits at a rate not seen previously in his career, Rosario does still have a very line-drive oriented bat path.
His swing is not built for loft, and to generate the type of loft that would be required for him to get to 15-20 home runs, he’d have to alter his swing enough that he could end up costing himself in the contact strength he has currently, so he’d probably be better off playing for the gaps rather than changing anything just to generate fantasy stats.
Eye (50) – This really is the key area of improvement that I still see with Rosario. His contact-led approach at the plate has been successful for him, wildly so in 2016.
The problem with that approach, however, is that he has never really developed solid pitch recognition nor zone recognition, though the former is certainly ahead of the latter.
I’d see Rosario needing to do some work in this area for him to have a solid batting average in the major leagues, as MLB pitchers will be able to exploit his aggressiveness more than minor league pitchers have been.
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Base Running/Fielding
Speed (60) – What I found most intriguing of Rosario’s strength increase in 2016 is that it very likely helped his speed, not hindered it.
Rosario has always been a guy with plus speed at the top end, but almost an awkward first few steps in getting there previously, so he struggled in base stealing, and even sometimes in the field, due to some quickness struggles.
The added strength he had coming into 2016 did not diminish the top end speed he had and seemed to allow him to iron out his first few steps and make them more explosive, allowing him to really accelerate out of the box and on the base paths.
While I still would say his base stealing instincts are average or even a touch below, he can run well for sure.
Defense (70) – The carrying tool for Rosario all along has been his absolutely elite defense. While he had some seeming issues with first-step quickness before his strength gain, he had such smooth movements afterward that he easily handled anything hit his way and then some.
He has tremendous range and his hands are incredibly soft as he handles balls and throws. There’s really little not to like about Rosario defensively, and he will very likely jump quickly to the upper levels of defensive shortstops in the league once he gets to New York.
Arm (70) – This is an area where I see some scouting disagreement on. In my views on Rosario, the arm is a definite plus-plus tool.
I’ve seen others grade as low as a 60 on his arm (which is still a plus arm grade, not a bad thing by any means), but when I’ve seen him make deep throws with power and accuracy so consistently, especially this season with his added physical strength, I just cannot see anything but a pure 70 on it.
MLB Player Comp
Before the added strength, I really thought Rosario and Elvis Andrus were almost perfect comps due to their similar plate discipline profiles and defensive skill sets.
As I look at them now, Rosario has physically developed to look very similar to Xander Bogaerts. I do believe their offensive profiles will be different, with Bogaerts being a guy who hits for more power over the fence and Rosario having more speed, but they are similar physical players.
Rosario’s probably best considered as a guy with Andrus’ skills on offense and defense while boasting the physical frame of Bogaerts, which is a pretty impressive thing to consider.
Rosario did play a half-season at AA in 2016, so it could be interesting to see where the Mets place him to open 2017. Asdrubal Cabrera seemingly has shortstop locked down for the near future in New York, but he’s only signed through 2017 for sure, though he does have an affordable team option.
Cabrera could also move to third base to take over for David Wright, whose injuries are likely to end his career early, if Rosario is ready for 2018 and the Mets pick up Cabrera’s option.
Most likely, Rosario will open 2017 in either AA or AAA, but he’ll likely at least see a September call-up this season, if not more extensive playing time, which is impressive for a player who will be 21 for all of the 2017 season.