New Hampshire Fisher Cats Prospect Review
The Fisher Cats are off to a 23-13 start and feature quite a few exciting prospects.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is tearing up the Eastern League and has a slash line of 1.000/1.000/4.000 or something close to it. The dude is a beast.
Through 34 games Bo Bichette is hitting .273/.348/.413, good for a 116 wrc+. A 116 wrc+ from a 20 year old at AA is definitely very good, yet after his dominant season last year it's hard not to be disappointed. His power is a bit low with a .140 ISO. He has slumped a bit in May, but is starting to come out of his funk with 5 hits in his past 3 games, including his first home run of the season. More importantly, reports of his defence suggest he is much improved and could stick at shortstop long term. This is very exciting because his bat is good enough to make him a true star should he stick at shortstop.
Cavan Biggio has been hitting nearly as well as Vladimir Guerrero Jr and, as a result, he has turned into a legitimate prospect worth watching. Much of his success has to do with upping his FB% to 58.8 while simultaneously increasing his hr/fb to 25.5%. How much of these gains are sustainable will determine whether he will become a legitimate hitter in the major leagues. He has a low swinging strike % of 8.4 which bodes well for him. He has a lot of deep counts that lead to plenty of walks which will keep his OBP high despite a flyball and pull heavy profile that will likely lead to a lower BABIP in the majors. If he can stick at second base defensively he could be a very valuable player for the Blue Jays. He may hit enough if he's forced to move to first base, but is obviously far more valuable if he can stick at second and it would also put less pressure on his bat.
Harold Ramirez got off to an awful start in April and looked like a busted prospect. He has stormed back in May and is looking more like the high batting average player the Blue Jays thought they were getting as part of the Liriano trade with the Pirates. In 14 May games he has slashed .340/.375/.460and has brought his season totals up to .286/.333/.375. Those numbers are good for a 102 wrc+. He will have to be more than a league average hitter at AA to become a major league prospect again, but the improvements are promising. Among his 17 May hits, 6 have been doubles. The ability to drive the ball consistently will be key for him because he doesn't offer much offensively other than a strong batting average.
Jon Harris is continuing to disappoint. The former first round pick has a 6.75 ERA through 7 starts. He is having trouble striking batters out and is giving up a lot of home runs.
Zack Jackson has a 0.55 ERA and has struck out 12.67 batters per 9 innings. He continues to walk far too many batters with 7.71 BB/9.He clearly has excellent stuff, but will need to harness it better. He has allowed just 2 home runs in 86 career minor league innings and has given up just 5.4 H/9 in that time. He is a very difficult pitcher for hitters to square up. He could reach the majors quickly, especially if he starts to control his pitches better.
Sean Reid-Foley has been fantastic through 7 starts. His 1.88 ERA ranks 5th in the Eastern League and his 46 strikeouts are second. His biggest issue in the past has been giving up too many walks and that issue remains. He has walked 11% of the batters he has faced this year. He has been dominant, but still has work to do before he is ready to face major league hitters. He isn't on the 40 man roster and there are still a few starters ahead of him on the depth charts so I don't expect to see him in the majors this year unless he continues to flat out dominate AA hitters. I expect him to spend the rest of this season in the minors before being added to the 40 man roster for the 2019 season and to make his debut sometime next year.
