That is the second submit in a collection I’m engaged on by which I not solely do a deep dive analyzing shortstop prospects’ protection, but in addition minimize collectively a video package deal in an effort to too. The primary installment might be discovered within the navigation widget above. At the moment, I’m tackling Purple Sox prospect Franklin Arias, Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr., Cardinals prospect JJ Wetherholt, and Reds prospect Edwin Arroyo. Let’s get began.
Franklin Arias, Boston Purple Sox
Arias is an extremely polished defender for his age. He’ll flip 20 in November, and except for struggling to deal with hotshots, he’s already a slightly full shortstop. On the 0:30 mark we get our first instance (and maybe essentially the most spectacular) of Arias’ excellence coming in towards the infield grass. It requires a substantial amount of coordination to bend, accumulate the baseball, and make fast and correct throws on performs like this, and Arias is silky clean on mainly each trial of this selection. Beginning on the 1:25 mark, you possibly can see how comfy he’s altering his arm angle relying on the angle of assault he must tackle the baseball whereas making performs like this. He by no means seems rushed or uncontrolled until the play requires urgency. Observe all through the video what number of occasions Arias is delivering the baseball with precisely one step of the runner to spare. That is indicative of his poise and inner clock.
On the 2:15 mark, the digital camera angle at Bowling Inexperienced offers us a peek at how Arias strikes laterally — discover how his head and eyes keep skilled on the ball at the same time as his hips pivot and his ft chop towards the baseball. From that time on, we get just a few beauty at him making backhand performs to his proper, at which he additionally excels. The most effective instance of this comes on the 3:00 mark, the place you possibly can see Arias deep in his decrease half as he modifies route again towards first base so he could make as robust a throw as doable. He doesn’t have large peak arm energy, however he has plus arm utility due to the best way he units himself as much as throw along with his footwork.
That is spectacular sufficient for me to have rounded my future 55 grade on Arias’ protection as much as a real 60. Although he’s extra of a sleek, balletic athlete than an explosive one, it is a future affect defender at a premium place.
George Lombard Jr., New York Yankees
Stylistically, Lombard is Arias’ reverse. It is a highly effective, explosive, tightly wound athlete who requires extra seen effort to make loads of these performs, although he’s proficient sufficient to take action in pretty spectacular trend. Observe that Lombard’s arm stroke is steadily longer and typically a bit of messier than most shortstops, and there are a few cases the place his throws practically pull the primary baseman off of the bag. However for essentially the most half, Lombard’s arm is powerful and correct from a variety of totally different platforms. You possibly can see him shorten his stroke when he must, and he clearly has the arm energy to make throws from deep within the gap. A few of these performs to his proper are sensational, capped by the final play on this clip assortment, a downright Jeteresque leap throw from Hillsborough Township.
The throw he makes on the 1:20 mark can also be spectacular, each by way of Lombard’s pure arm energy and his really feel for accuracy from that slinger’s arm slot. We get just a few performs of this ilk in the course of the subsequent 20 seconds of the video. He has explosive vary in each instructions and is eager to put out to attempt to make an unbelievable play, which we see a number of occasions over the past third of this assortment. Once more, right here now we have a future plus shortstop defender despite the fact that Lombard doesn’t play with the form of grace and effortlessness that loads of different plus shortstop defenders do.
JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals
Wetherholt isn’t a tough “no” for me at shortstop, however I’d contemplate him one thing like substitute stage there as a result of his blended arm accuracy and fringe athleticism for the place. The opposite shortstops we’ve lined to this point on this collection have been higher capable of place their our bodies to make a powerful throw after corralling the baseball on the excessive ends of their vary, and Wetherholt isn’t as adept at this. As an alternative, he’s making his greatest performs right here due to guile and quickness, eliminating the ball as shortly as doable even when the best way he does so isn’t basically sound or underneath management. The play he makes on the 2:28 mark is nifty, nevertheless it’s not one thing most good shortstops would want to go to the bottom to finish; that’s a fairly normal hip-flipping play for many massive leaguers.
Wetherholt is a heady participant who can carry out when there’s chaos round him (the play at 2:57, when Sebastian Walcott’s bat and the third baseman are each converging on him, is the very best instance right here), and that’s going to be most helpful working across the bag as a second baseman. The presence of Masyn Winn makes it probably Wetherholt performs on daily basis at a non-shortstop place anyway. The Cardinals have experimented with Wetherholt at third base, however a few of his points with throwing accuracy have adopted him over there. It’s an experiment that deserves extra time to unfold, nevertheless it’s not like Wetherholt has taken to 3rd base so naturally that he calls for to be promoted whereas Nolan Arenado is injured. I’ve him projected as a mean second baseman.
Edwin Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds
Arroyo’s case is difficult. He clearly has the vary, athleticism, palms, and max-effort arm energy to play a top quality shortstop, however his arm accuracy has been a large number for the final couple of months. He appears hellbent on utilizing a low arm slot for mainly each throw, and the additional away from first base you get, the much less I discover that sensible. I used to be taught that we wish to see shortstops getting extra on prime of the baseball on these deeper throws, so the ball is much less more likely to both sail or tail on them and power the primary baseman off the bag. Right here we see precisely that occuring repeatedly, although on a few of these, a greater first baseman would simply scoop the throw.
That stated, the bodily instruments to play an excellent shortstop are right here. There are a number of examples the place we see the outskirts of Arroyo’s vary. We additionally see what it seems like when he makes a scientific backhand play on the 2:03 mark, and from the two:30 mark on, we will see him make a number of performs in on the grass (his footwork is a blended bag on these). This season is Arroyo’s 40-man platform yr; he’ll be uncovered to the Rule 5 Draft this winter if the Reds don’t roster him. They’ve given him a few dozen reps at second base this yr, the primary time he’s performed the keystone in any respect in an precise sport since 2021. This man’s athletic sufficient to play in every single place, and it would make sense for the Reds to maneuver him round much more throughout the previous couple of weeks of the Triple-A season (and possibly ship Arroyo again to the Arizona Fall League) to see if he can play a superutility function. His throwing accuracy undoubtedly wants to enhance if a giant league supervisor goes to run him on the market at shortstop on daily basis. Arroyo simply turned 22 and nonetheless tasks as a future common shortstop, however if you happen to’d have requested me a yr in the past, I’d have advised you that Arroyo would already be one.