2011 midseason positional rankings: top 15 second basemen

Nick J. Faleris
April 15, 2011
 

Presented below are the DiamondScape Scouting midseason positional rankings for the 2011 draft class. We will be rolling out our top 15 catchers, first basemen, second basemen third basemen and shortstops, our top 30 outfielders, and our top 50 pitchers as of mid-April 2011. This series will culminate with our overall midseason top 300 draft prospects, which will post April 25-27, 2011:

Positional Rankings:  c  |  1b  | 2b  |  3b  |  ss  |  of  | p 
Midseason Top 300:  1 - 100  |  101 - 200  |  201 - 300

Wong still up top...

Even with some slow starts from the college ranks, second base still ranks as a solid "depth" position, particularly when you include a handful of solid middle-infielders that might project a little better at the the four than at the six.  Kolten Wong (Univ. of Hawai'i) was an easy preseason number one at second base, and remains there with a .400/.489/.591 triple-slash through 30 games and 135+ PA.  Joe Panik (St. John's Univ.) debuts on the second base list at #3.  The top collegiate shortstop in the draft class, there is at least some chance that Panik will eventually shift over to second base, and his solid glove could potentially play above-average on the other side of the bag.  Javier Baez (Arlington Country Day School, Jacksonville, Fla.) remains the top prep second baseman, though he has played all over the infield, including behind the plate, over the past year.  He fits well at second, and his bat may profile there a little better than it might at third.  The biggest drop from the preseason rankings is Ryan Wright (Univ. of Louisville), who has followed an impressive freshman and stellar sophomore campaign with a surprisingly ineffective 2011 thus far.  What makes Wright's struggles particularly perplexing is the monster summer he put up with the USA Collegiate National Team, where he finished second in batting and third in both slugging and on-base percentage.  Cory Spangenberg (Indian River St. Coll.) has an arm suited for the right side, hands perhaps suited for the outfield, but a hit tool that should play across the board.  He makes our largest jump on this list, unranked among second basemen preseason and ranked #297 on the DSS preseason top 300 overall.  The April 16 DSS Draft Blog entry explores nine of the below second basemen in more detail via a midseason stock up/stock down/stock hold piece.  The rankings below represent DiamondScape Scouting's midseason positional ranking for 2011 Rule 4 Draft-eligible amateurs only, with their preseason rankings in parentheses (green indicating a rise, red a fall and blue a hold in position):   
  1. Kolten Wong | Univ. of Hawai'i (1)
  2. Javier Baez | Arlington Country Day Sch., Jacksonville, Fla. (2)
  3. Joe Panik | St. John's Univ. (NR)
  4. Brad Miller | Clemson Univ. (4)
  5. Shon Carson | Lake City HS, Lake City, S.C. (5)
  6. Levi Michael | Univ. of North Carolina (6)
  7. Cory Spangenberg | Indian River St. Coll. (Fla.) (NR)
  8. Phillip Evans | La Costa Canyon HS, Carlsbad, Calif. (8)
  9. Joshua Tobias | Southeast Guilford HS, Greensboro, N.C. (7)
  10. Christian Lopes | Edison HS, Huntington Beach, Calif. (12)
  11. Ryan Wright | Univ. of Louisville (3)
  12. T.J. Costen | First Colonial HS, Virginia Beach, Va. (13)
  13. Dan Paolini | Siena College (NR)
  14. Connor Castellano | Evangel Christ. Acad., Shreveport, La. (15)
  15. John Hinson | Clemson Univ. (14)
 Dropped Out: Kevin Medrano | Missouri St. Univ. (9); Joe Terry | California St. Univ. - Fullerton (10); Matt Jensen | California Poly. St. Univ. (Cal Poly) (11)

 Top tools
 Hit: Kolten Wong | Univ. of Hawai'i

 Power:

 Joshua Tobias | S.E. Guilford HS, Greensboro, N.C.
 Speed: Shon Carson | Lake City HS, Lake City, S.C.
 Arm: Levi Michael |Univ. of North Carolina
 Defense: Phillip Evans | La Costa Canyon HS, Carlsbad, Calif.
 

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Rankings/RankingsArticle2BWong.JPG
Kolten Wong (photo by Nick J. Faleris)

Top Prospect:  Kolten Wong | Univ. of Hawi'i
Scouting Report Summary (full scouting report here):  Wong will show-up all over the place on the 30 MLB draft boards this June.  His range and arm strength limit him to second base, and some consider him to be a hit tool and nothing more.  This undersells the strides he has made in the infield (starting with extra work put in during the 2009 summer with the USA Collegiate National Team) as well as the quality of his base-running, which helps his average speed play-up a fair amount.  Additionally, he shows a good feel for the game and an impressive demeanor on the field, both in-game and in-practice.  Ideally, Wong projects to a solid #2 hitter on a first division team with a high contact rate, ability to drive the gaps and enough speed and smarts to grab an extra base when available.  A drafting organization could shift him to catcher during fall instructs to take a quick look at a possible position shift -- if he is too far off, however, it is unlikely he will have his offensive progression slowed at the expense of trying to force him behind home.
 
Preseason Rankings
Positional Rankings: 
c  |  1b  | 2b  |  3b  |  ss  |  of  | p 
Top 300: 


 
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