Baseball Prospectus

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Statistics For All Levels

Plate Discipline

Comparable Players (Similarity Index 75)

Rank	Score	Name	Year	DRC+	Trend
1	88	L.J. Hoes	2013	84
2	86	Michael Brantley	2010	77
3	85	Desmond Jennings	2010	75
4	84	Ryan Sweeney	2008	98
5	82	Gary Brown	2012	0	DNP
6	80	Dalton Pompey	2016	82
7	80	Ben Revere	2011	80
8	79	Adam Eaton	2012	87
9	79	Boog Powell	2016	0	DNP
10	79	Ramon Flores	2015	76
11	79	Michael Hermosillo	2018	61
12	78	Ryan Kalish	2011	0	DNP
13	78	Andrew McCutchen	2010	118
14	78	Myles Straw	2018	108
15	78	Che-Hsuan Lin	2012	58
16	77	Steven Duggar	2017	0	DNP
17	76	Kevin Newman	2017	0	DNP
18	76	Matt Szczur	2013	0	DNP
19	76	Greg Allen	2016	0	DNP
20	76	Dexter Fowler	2009	81
21	76	Robbie Grossman	2013	89
22	76	J.P. Crawford	2018	78
23	76	Dustin Pedroia	2007	111
24	75	Caleb Gindl	2012	0	DNP
25	75	Kolten Wong	2014	89
26	75	Gavin Cecchini	2017	68
27	75	Alex Romero	2007	0	DNP
28	75	Jesse Winker	2017	112
29	75	Dario Pizzano	2014	0	DNP
30	75	Dwight Smith	2016	0	DNP
31	75	Billy McKinney	2018	99
32	75	Brandon Nimmo	2016	84
33	75	Steve Lombardozzi	2012	85
34	75	Jake Smolinski	2012	0	DNP
35	75	Johnny Giavotella	2011	80
36	75	J.B. Shuck	2010	0	DNP
37	75	Jayce Boyd	2014	0	DNP
38	74	Manuel Margot	2018	84
39	74	Russell Martin	2006	98
40	74	Oscar Taveras	2015	0	DNP
41	74	Daniel Robertson	2017	79
42	74	Casey Kotchman	2006	63
43	74	Rangel Ravelo	2015	0	DNP
44	74	Tyler Collins	2013	0	DNP
45	74	Kevin Plawecki	2014	0	DNP
46	74	Josh Bell	2016	102
47	74	Jordan Henry	2011	0	DNP
48	74	Adrian Cardenas	2011	0	DNP
49	74	Cheslor Cuthbert	2016	94
50	74	Enrique Hernandez	2015	104
51	74	Matt Dominguez	2013	96
52	74	Taylor Lindsey	2015	0	DNP
53	74	Mallex Smith	2016	71
54	73	Willy Aybar	2006	89
55	73	Delino DeShields	2016	64
56	73	Conrad Gregor	2015	0	DNP
57	73	Greg Garcia	2013	0	DNP
58	73	Andrew Aplin	2014	0	DNP
59	73	Gregory Polanco	2015	91
60	73	Aaron Hicks	2013	73
61	73	Jae-Hoon Ha	2014	0	DNP
62	73	Shin-Soo Choo	2006	78
63	73	James Loney	2007	124
64	73	Mike Ford	2016	0	DNP
65	73	Brian Goodwin	2014	0	DNP
66	73	Tony Kemp	2015	0	DNP
67	73	Rob Refsnyder	2014	0	DNP
68	73	Max Schrock	2018	0	DNP
69	73	Jordan Luplow	2017	77
70	73	Preston Tucker	2014	0	DNP
71	73	Eric Sogard	2009	0	DNP
72	73	Matt Thaiss	2018	0	DNP
73	73	Andrelton Simmons	2013	100
74	73	Josh Thole	2010	101
75	72	Garin Cecchini	2014	83
76	72	Luis Valbuena	2009	85
77	72	Harold Ramirez	2018	0	DNP
78	72	Charcer Burks	2018	0	DNP
79	72	Ender Inciarte	2014	91
80	72	Dustin Peterson	2018	91
81	72	Brad Emaus	2009	0	DNP
82	72	Jose Gonzalez	2017	0	DNP
83	72	Ty France	2018	0	DNP
84	72	Jorge Polanco	2017	90
85	72	Jake Marisnick	2014	68
86	72	Carson Kelly	2018	74
87	72	Phil Ervin	2016	0	DNP
88	72	Hank Conger	2011	90
89	72	Zeke DeVoss	2014	0	DNP
90	72	Tyler Wade	2018	55
91	72	Darin Holcomb	2009	0	DNP
92	72	Logan Morrison	2011	115
93	72	Anthony Alford	2018	75
94	72	Evan Frey	2009	0	DNP
95	72	Matt Antonelli	2008	79
96	71	Michael Reed	2016	64
97	71	Cedric Hunter	2011	91
98	71	Wes Rogers	2017	0	DNP
99	71	Tyler Pastornicky	2013	76
100	71	Max Muncy	2014	0	DNP

BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2019		Due to publishing agreements, the 2019 player comments and team essays are only available in the Baseball Prospectus 2019 book (available in hardcopy, and soon e-book and Kindle).
2018		Prospects with multiple 70-grade tools aren't especially common, particularly when one of those tools is the elusive hit. But if Verdugo's bat pans all the way out he might be that guy. His arm will certainly do its part, and judging by his demolition of PCL pitching at age 21, the stick should be favored to follow suit. It remains a mystery in this stimulated era of long-ball offense what Verdugo's power numbers might look like as a modern-day big leaguer, but he's a good enough hitter to grow into an everyday role whether the pop comes or not. He'll try to force the issue of a longer audition on a short timeline in 2018.
2017		Tackling Double-A at age 20 is no small feat, and Verdugo was up to the task. Don't let the numbers fool you—this kid can hit. He has a potential plus-plus hit tool, though it comes with only average expected power. He's played center field for the most part as a pro, but his future belongs in right. Verdugo has added some weight, which will slow him a bit in the field, and his powerful arm (he was a two-way player before turning pro) should be plenty for a corner. He could be a high-end regular if the bat plays to its potential, but falling short of it could leave him as more of a tweener.
2016		Verdugo hit just .213/.254/.274 in April and May as the 2014 second-rounder acclimated to his first full season of professional ball. Look up at his final batting line at Great Lakes for an idea of how he hit from June on. Then consider his brief performance as a 19-year-old in High-A. Then remember that he was a raw, two-way player coming out of high school. Not too shabby, eh? There's a lot to like with Verdugo, who's moving fast and devoid of any glaring flaws as a prospect. He should spend most of the season in the Cal League, where hitter-friendly environments stand to make Verdugo an expensive but effective minor-league DFS play.
2015		Most teams liked Verdugo as a pitcher out of high school, but the Dodgers liked him as a hitter, partly because Verdugo himself wanted to be a hitter. Based on his debut season, that just may have been the right move: Verdugo hit .353/.421/.511 across two levels. What was most impressive is the fact he walked more than he struck out. The last prominent Dodgers draftee to do that was James Loney. Verdugo also played a competent center field. Logan White put a Joc Pederson comparison on him shortly after the draft and so far, that looks quite apt. A better determination will be made once he starts facing advanced competition, possibly as soon as this year.

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