Now that Sandberg finally got picked I can pick someone else. There’s too much uncertainty with Watson and Morgan with the shoulders. Nobody knows what they’ll look like til they actually pitch. I’ll prob eventually vote for them in the 20s somewhere.
That puts it between Knapp and Encarnarcion for me. I know Knapp has TJ but I think most of us like his chances coming back. Factor in Encarnarcion hasn’t officially played yet, I’ll go will Knapp.
Knapp. I love Morgan – the pre-injury Morgan, that is. I have no idea if he’ll ever recover that lost velocity – reports were that he was not hitting 90 at the end of last year, which would essentially make him Jeremy Horst with better breaking pitches. Maybe he will recover the velocity, maybe he won’t, but it puts a huge damper on his prospect status while we wait to see what he becomes and the fact that it’s a shoulder injury isn’t helping any.
Encarnación – it’s hard to argue against Knapp, just like it was hard to argue against Sandberg yesterday. I just get stuck on reports of Encarnación showing in-game power in prospect leagues, and being very excited about that. This time next year he could be in the top 5 or 6 in the system if he rakes in GCL.
Knapp for me here. Good-hitting catchers are hard to find.
As these national prospect lists roll in, it’s interesting to compare where our consensus differs from that of the professional evaluators. Seems like they are much higher than we are on Knapp, Sandberg and Morgan (despite the injury), and I’ve seen nary a mention so far of Kelly Dugan and Zach Green. That might change though when Law’s rankings come out, I know he said nice things about Dugan during the season.
I’m interested, though, in the lack of talk about Green, considering we saw him as a comparable or better prospect to Cozens, who is getting some love from the nation guys. Makes me wonder if we’re overvaluing his short season numbers.
Andrew Pullin. Looks like he can stick at second. Scouts like his hit tool. Has shown a low strikeout rate and gap power. Main problem is low BB rate and maybe lack of projection, especially power. More of a line drive swing.
I put Encarnacion over Knapp, because Knapp is missing development time, is hurt, and college guys need to move fairly fast through the system. I think our top international bonus guy in almost forever has to rate higher than 19, if we are considering guys yet to play in the pros.
Being at opposite ends of the defensive spectrum makes them pretty close, to me. And it’s not like Knapp comes without some praise from scouts. If you’re going by the size of the signing bonus, Knapp got more.
True, but that’s not an apples to apples comparison. Knapp’s bonus was essentially known when he was drafted – slot in the 2nd round, for a college guy (albeit a junior) with about zero signability concern – it’s the cost of getting the next guy in line. Encarnacion’s was an open market. They’re so very different. Not saying one should be valued more than the other. Just too different to be a great measuring stick, IMO.
Agree with you that Knapp was well-liked coming out of the draft. A very hard-to-rank group of position player we’re getting towards the end of right now. Pujols Knapp and Encarnacion and maybe Pullin and Perkins, though I think they’re the next level down.
I’d go Knapp also, if he weren’t injured last season and now recovering from surgery. As I’ve noted before, I’ve taken fairly serious injury deducts — not as much as for Knapp as for Morgan, Watson, and Quinn, but still deducting, because a catcher has to throw a lot and as a college guy, Knapp has less development time available than a HS draftee.
Matt, can we add Larry Greene Jr. to the list? As I’ve said before, I think he merits some consideration in the 20-30 range, though I’d put him closer to the back end.
He may never fully recover from his injury. If he recovers and pitches well, he will rise in next year’s list. For now, his probability of success seems low.
Went Knapp here. Even if Encarnacion hits for power he is going to have to rake all the way through because he is going to be at 1b. So its hard to say that he is that good of a 1b prospect to put him ahead of knapp. who we are finding more and more people like.
Phuture Phillies 
Now that Sandberg finally got picked I can pick someone else. There’s too much uncertainty with Watson and Morgan with the shoulders. Nobody knows what they’ll look like til they actually pitch. I’ll prob eventually vote for them in the 20s somewhere.
That puts it between Knapp and Encarnarcion for me. I know Knapp has TJ but I think most of us like his chances coming back. Factor in Encarnarcion hasn’t officially played yet, I’ll go will Knapp.
LikeLike
Knapp. I love Morgan – the pre-injury Morgan, that is. I have no idea if he’ll ever recover that lost velocity – reports were that he was not hitting 90 at the end of last year, which would essentially make him Jeremy Horst with better breaking pitches. Maybe he will recover the velocity, maybe he won’t, but it puts a huge damper on his prospect status while we wait to see what he becomes and the fact that it’s a shoulder injury isn’t helping any.
LikeLike
Encarnación – it’s hard to argue against Knapp, just like it was hard to argue against Sandberg yesterday. I just get stuck on reports of Encarnación showing in-game power in prospect leagues, and being very excited about that. This time next year he could be in the top 5 or 6 in the system if he rakes in GCL.
LikeLike
+1 for all of the same reasons.
LikeLike
Knapp for me here. Good-hitting catchers are hard to find.
As these national prospect lists roll in, it’s interesting to compare where our consensus differs from that of the professional evaluators. Seems like they are much higher than we are on Knapp, Sandberg and Morgan (despite the injury), and I’ve seen nary a mention so far of Kelly Dugan and Zach Green. That might change though when Law’s rankings come out, I know he said nice things about Dugan during the season.
I’m interested, though, in the lack of talk about Green, considering we saw him as a comparable or better prospect to Cozens, who is getting some love from the nation guys. Makes me wonder if we’re overvaluing his short season numbers.
LikeLike
Andrew Pullin. Looks like he can stick at second. Scouts like his hit tool. Has shown a low strikeout rate and gap power. Main problem is low BB rate and maybe lack of projection, especially power. More of a line drive swing.
LikeLike
I put Encarnacion over Knapp, because Knapp is missing development time, is hurt, and college guys need to move fairly fast through the system. I think our top international bonus guy in almost forever has to rate higher than 19, if we are considering guys yet to play in the pros.
LikeLike
Being at opposite ends of the defensive spectrum makes them pretty close, to me. And it’s not like Knapp comes without some praise from scouts. If you’re going by the size of the signing bonus, Knapp got more.
LikeLike
True, but that’s not an apples to apples comparison. Knapp’s bonus was essentially known when he was drafted – slot in the 2nd round, for a college guy (albeit a junior) with about zero signability concern – it’s the cost of getting the next guy in line. Encarnacion’s was an open market. They’re so very different. Not saying one should be valued more than the other. Just too different to be a great measuring stick, IMO.
Agree with you that Knapp was well-liked coming out of the draft. A very hard-to-rank group of position player we’re getting towards the end of right now. Pujols Knapp and Encarnacion and maybe Pullin and Perkins, though I think they’re the next level down.
LikeLike
I’d go Knapp also, if he weren’t injured last season and now recovering from surgery. As I’ve noted before, I’ve taken fairly serious injury deducts — not as much as for Knapp as for Morgan, Watson, and Quinn, but still deducting, because a catcher has to throw a lot and as a college guy, Knapp has less development time available than a HS draftee.
LikeLike
Matt, can we add Larry Greene Jr. to the list? As I’ve said before, I think he merits some consideration in the 20-30 range, though I’d put him closer to the back end.
LikeLike
Again, Watson is dropping too far.
LikeLike
He may never fully recover from his injury. If he recovers and pitches well, he will rise in next year’s list. For now, his probability of success seems low.
LikeLike
Went Knapp here. Even if Encarnacion hits for power he is going to have to rake all the way through because he is going to be at 1b. So its hard to say that he is that good of a 1b prospect to put him ahead of knapp. who we are finding more and more people like.
LikeLike
time for knapp here
LikeLike
I went with Luis Encarnacion here. No one has seen him, yet we have opinions. I trust the scouts.
LikeLike
# 20 time for the youngster Drew Anderson to pick up some votes. Kid has a bright future.
LikeLike