May 18, 2009

Future Shock Blog

May 18

by Kevin Goldstein

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Warming up with the weather

Jeff Clement, C, Mariners (Triple-A Tacoma)
Sunday's stats: 3-for-5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI
Clement got off to a slow start after not making the big league club in spring training, beginning the year in a miserable 1-for-20 slump. The good news is that scouts said he has still hitting the ball hard and just in a run of bad luck. That luck has turned around, as Clement is 13-for-28 in his last six games with six doubles and two home runs - raising his season averages to a solid .269/.358/.521.

Big guy, big arm

Cody Scarpetta, RHP, Brewers (Low-A Wisconsin)
Sunday's stats: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K
An 11th-round pick in 2007, the Brewers signed Scarpetta knowing that he'd need surgery to repair a tendon in his pitching hand. Since getting healthy, the 20-year-old has showcased a 91-94 mph power sinker and plus hard curveball, and he's overpowering Midwest League hitters, limiting them to a .194 batting average on the season while recording 38 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. At six-foot-three and 240 pounds, he's built to last, and if he can harness his control a bit more, he could move way up the prospect charts.

Sleeper alert

Calvin Anderson, 1B, Pirates (Low-A West Virginia)
Sunday's stats: 1-for-3, HR (7), R, 2 RBI
A 12th-round pick last June out of Southern University, Anderson was a big raw power hitter in high school who became even bigger in college. Now at six-foot-seven and roughly 250 pounds, Anderson has plenty of raw power to spare, and is batting an impressive .324/.382/.622 in 31 games this year. His approach, which has led to just seven walks and 32 strikeouts in 111 at-bats could also be described as raw, but it's hard to walk away from guys with this kind of physicality.

Kevin Goldstein is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
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