Scouring the entire internet to find out which Rangers prospects are doing well is a daunting task. There are so many rosters and box scores to scavenge through, there’s got to be a better way! Now there is: I’ve sifted through many a box score, stat sheet, and baseball reference page to bring three prospects to your attention who you might not be watching as carefully as you should.
Connor Sadzeck’s solid season in Frisco has flown under the mainstream prospect radar in 2016. The 24-year-old this year has a career-low 1.10 WHIP and two complete games this season (both were of the seven inning variety). His walk rate is a career best 2.96, which is still not good but has been overinflated a bit with his last couple of starts.
Last season was his first after the a Tommy John operation that kept him from pitching in 2014. After eight starts in High Desert, Sadzeck received a promotion to Frisco where he was shellacked in his seven AA games that year.
This year the pitcher who is every bit of his listed 6’7” has been able to consistently go out and pitch instead of throwing without a game plan. Speaking with Connor earlier this year he talked about his increased focus on creating a specific game plan, then following it in games.
To ensure his starts don’t end before the fifth inning, Sadzeck has made a conscious effort to take several ticks off the fastball, which has touched triple digits on multiple occasions, until he finds himself in a place where he needs extra heat. These ideas aren’t rocket science but they are necessary steps in the development of transforming kids who can throw baseballs fast into actual pitchers.
That effort has shown its fruits in the length of Sadzeck’s outings this year. The 2011 11th round pick has pitched 5+ innings in 12 of his 13 starts. Though he may ultimately end up as a bullpen fireballer, there’s no reason to think these adjustments can’t make him a solid back of the rotation starter.
I asked Connor if moving to the pen would upset him. He said he wouldn’t be Connor Madzeck or Sadzeck, he would just be Gladzeck to help the team win however he could (I paraphrased his verbiage but the message is unchanged).
Pedro Payano has pitched exceptionally well this year, heck the last two years! In three DSL starts last year (15.2 innings) Payano had a 0.00 ERA. After a promotion to rookie ball in Arizona, in 89 innings last year, Payano compiled a 1.11 ERA, 101 K’s, and allowed only one homer.
The 21-year-old was born in NYC but raised in the Dominican Republic where the Rangers inked him at 16 during the same International signing period as the much more heralded Nomar Mazara. Payano has pitched 69 innings this year has a .213 opponent’s average, 9.78 K/9 and a 3.00 K/BB ratio. Payano also threw the most dominant start of any Ranger prospect.
In his last start of April, Payano threw a nine inning shutout where he struck out 11 and allowed only one hit. Payano has four solid pitches in his arsenal but uses solid command to dominate rather than possessing overpowering pure stuff.
Because Payano didn’t make it stateside until 2015, he isn’t a household name except in the exclusive Ranger prospect following households. After a dominating first half of the season, and a promotion likely on the horizon, Pedro Payano’s name should be more frequently thrown around among prospect watchers soon.
Outfielder Leody Taveras, also out of the Dominican Republic, is a guy I’ve been anxious to see ever since the Rangers gave him a $2.1 million bonus during last year’s July 2nd International signing period. At the ripe old age of 17, Taveras has only played 15 professional games so far in his career.
The sample size is extremely small but the results have been promising so far. In 72 plate appearances between the DSL and the AZL Taveras has a .901 OPS with ten walks and eight strikeouts. His approach is highly advanced for his age, leading to that 13.9% walk rate this year.
MLB.com rates four of Taveras’ five tools as 55 or better. However Taveras’ best tool is his speed. This season the switch-hitting center fielder is 8-11 on stolen base attempts between the Dominican and Arizona. It’s nice to see the kid being aggressive as long as he’s successful because, as momma said: if you’ve got it, flaunt it. Young Taveras (no relation to the late Oscar Taveras may he rest in peace) has done well this year to keep the ball on the ground and utilize his speed to his offensive advantage.
His swing is short and compact resulting in line drives and most of his power numbers showing up in the way of doubles and triples. It’s too soon to draw any serious conclusions from this sample size, but if he keeps putting up solid offensive numbers, the Rangers will have another top flight prospect on their hands.
Shoot Brice your best Sadzeck puns on Twitter @80gradewhitt.
