Feb 12 2009
WHO WILL SURPRISE YOU, AND WHO WILL NOT
So if you had to pick one guy to give you a surprisingly solid year (much like Moose of 2008), who would it be? My choice is the same player that I’ve felt strongly about for a while, and that’s former #1 prospect, Phil Hughes. I think this kid has really got major league stuff, and he’s flashed moments of brilliance on the mound (remember the no-no he was throwing against a stacked Texas line-up). Many people have given up on him, since he hasn’t blossomed overnight - listen, this doesn’t always happen people. Joba Chamberlain is a very, very, very rare scenario. You have to give players time to develop, and for God’s sake, Hughes is still 22 (23 in June). He was pretty impressive in the Arizona Fall League, and reports were saying that he was hitting 95 mph again on the gun.
My opinion is that he wasn’t the same after that hamstring injury, and that he could just now be getting back the strength in his legs in order to drive off the rubber effectively. We’ve all seen his curve that drops off the earth, and as long as he masters a change-up, he’ll have a money arsenal. My final prediction for Hughes: he starts out as the 6th starter/long-man, and then emerges as the 4th/5th starter, going 14-7 with a 3.75 ERA.
Now, we move on to who WILL NOT surprise you this year, and that’s Eric Duncan. What the heck happened to this kid? Is he even conscious? The once highly-coveted 2003 first-round pick has really fallen off since then, and has very little relevance in the Yankee system at the moment. He was made available in the Rule 5 draft, but wasn’t taken - the Eric Duncan stock has crumbled like an oreo cookie. According to sources, Duncan was taking balls in the outfield on Friday, attempting to expand his versatility on his quest to the major league roster. This will not matter one little bit if he can’t hit on a consistent basis, bottom line. Final prediction for Duncan: withers away in the minors, hitting .240 with 10 dingers and 45 RBI.
Finally, there’s an interesting 19-year-old prospect that you may want to focus on, since he could be taking over as the Bombers’ back-stop in a few years. His name is Jesus Montero, and he arguably could be the top position-player in the system right now. He’s a pretty big kid, standing at 6′3″ and 230 lbs, so I’d imagine that he’s got major league power at the plate. No one really knew how much Posada was going to contribute when he first came up, but let’s hope that Montero could have half the career in pinstripes as he did.
