Ask BA
By Jim Callis, July 27, 2009
Two guys from your preseason Top 100 Prospects list have me plenty stumped:
Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas.(ranked No. 13) and Red Sox first baseman
Lars Anderson (No. 17). Moustakas looks like he has lost control of the strike
zone and seems to be on a treadmill. Anderson not only seems to have forgotten
how to go deep, but how to actually hit. What happened to these guys?
Jay Blaisdell, Cincinnati
I still have a lot of faith in both Moustakas and Anderson. Neither is savaging
pitchers like they did last season—Moustakas is hitting .247/.284/.411 at high
Class A Wilmington, and Anderson is batting .259/.349/.390 in Double-A Portland
—but both are young for their levels and they're still two of the best hitting
prospects in the minors.
Moustakas, 20, has been in a monthlong slump in July that has killed his
numbers, yet ranks fourth in the Carolina League in RBIs (61) and eighth in
homers (11). He has been focusing on working counts and learning which pitches
to attack. At times he has gotten too passive, and at others too aggressive. He
still needs to do a better job of using the whole field and not trying to do
too much. Moustakas also hasn't been helped by playing in one of the most
inhospitable home parks in high Class A: his .182/.234/.325 numbers at
Wilmington's Frawley Stadium are much worse than his .292/.321/.472 numbers on
the road.
Anderson, 21, seemed poised for a big season at Portland after hitting
.316/.436/.526 there in the last six weeks of 2008, but he hasn't homered since
June 28. His walk totals (46 in 89 games, compared to 29 in 41 Double-A games
last year) may not indicate it, but he has been pitched around a lot more in
his second tour of the Eastern League. He too has struggled to find a balance
in between being too aggressive and too passive. Anderson has admitted to
losing his confidence at times. He has plenty of raw power, and he'll show more
of it in games once he turns on pitches more consistently. He also has had a
tough time solving lefthanders since arriving in Double-A.
Moustakas and Anderson are both well ahead of the development curve and have
plenty of time to make the necessary adjustments. My biggest concern about
either of them is that I'm not convinced that Moustakas will have enough range
to stay at third base. But I'm not at the point where I'm worrying about their
bats.
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