#45 Wendell Fairley, OF. BD: 3.17/1988. 6'2", 195 lbs. B-L, T-R.
A+: .292/.362/.343, 1 HR, 10 SB, 6 CS.
Wendell Fairley had a nice BA and showed good plate discipline at San Jose, but almost no power. He didn't hit his first and only HR of the regular season until August 30 with only 6 games to go. I saw him early in the season at Lake Elsinore and he took very tentative, defensive swings looking like he was just trying to make contact. When I saw him again in the Cal League championship series in Rancho Cucamonga, he showed a more aggressive approach. He turned smartly on one ball and pulled it out of the park over the RF fence. Fairley looks like too good an athlete to give up on just yet, but his progress has been painfully slow and the Giants OF situation is a lot more crowded than it was when he was drafted in 2007. I would think he moves up to AA which will either make or break him. With the way Giants hitting prospects react to AA, the latter seems much more likely, but that's what I thought about John Bowker too, not that Bowker has exactly made it in the majors yet.
#46 Leonardo Fuentes, OF. BD: 11/29/1992. 6'4", 215 lb. B-R, T-R.
DSL: .240/.340/.380, 14 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR in 200 AB.
I usually don't put DSL prospects in my top 50 list reserving them for a separate category that I call "Dominican Dandies." Fuentes is an exception because he was one of two international prospects the Giants signed to mid 6 figure bonuses last offseason. Fuentes has tremendous size, showed a good patience at the plate with decent power, but had trouble making consistent contact as you would expect from a 17 year old power hitter. If he ever reaches his ceiling he will be a monster. I expect to see him in Arizona this summer.
#47 Marvin Barrios, RHP. BD: 9/23/1992. 6'3", 145 lbs. B-R, T-R.
DSL: 2-2, 1.87, 33.2 IP, 9 BB, 30 K.
Barrios was the other mid 6 figure international bonus baby from 2009. I was 6'3", 145 lbs once upon a time, and let me tell you THAT is skinny! I'm talking concentration camp skinny! The kid put up fine numbers in his pro debut for the DSL Giants though. Look for him in Arizona this summer. Hopefully he'll fill out that frame pretty soon!
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I have a feeling that Fairley will play better and have a good year in AA. He seems like a guy that has a pretty good eye at the plate and the power is definitely there (I was at that Rancho Cucamonga game too where he hit that absolute tape measure shot to right field in the playoffs.) The thing that I like about him is that he is different than most of our prospects in being that he prefers to let the game come to him as he gets comfortable by taking pitches as opposed to hacking away at slop. Most prospects usually can hit at lower levels, but then struggle to gain patience and strike zone judgement when the pitchers get better and dont make as many mistakes in the hit zone.
ReplyDeleteDr. B, I continue to love this blog because I consider myself a bit of a Giants Minor League and draft freak, but you still can bring to light things that I haven't seen elsewhere. The name Leonardo Fuentes was one that I saw in a box score, but was excited to see that he is a huge kid with power potential that I wasn't aware of. Lastly, I had no idea that Barrios was that skinny. In the Giants press release they highlighted that he was a tall pitcher, but it is nice to see that he can put some weight and hopefully some MPH on that frame of his.
Thanks again and keep up the good work
Thank you! Good to hear you were as impressed by that HR by Fairley as much as I was. We'll see if it's a harbinger of good things to come.
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