BlueClaws Dominate SAL Prospect Rankings
No surprise, since the BlueClaws won the South Atlantic League Championship, but six BlueClaws were ranked among the top 20 prospects in the South Atlantic League by Baseball America, who surveyed the league’s managers and scouts.
1. Jonathan Singleton: Singleton, who was named the best prospect in the SAL as part of the league’s annual awards, topped the list. Playing the year as an 18-year old (he turned 19 on September 18th, the day the BlueClaws clinched the title), he hit .290 with 14 home runs and 77 RBIs. He entered the year as the organization’s 18th ranked prospect, might enter next year as the organization’s top prospect.
4. Brody Colvin: Colvin, who turned 20 on August 14th, went 6-8, 3.39 with Lakewood, but had a 2.00 ERA from May 14th on through the rest of the season. He finished 8th in the league in ERA and gave up one earned run in 10 playoff innings. He was a 7th round pick from Lafayette, Louisiana in 2009 who signed with the Phillies on the August 15th deadline. He entered the year as the 12th ranked prospect in the organization.
7. Jarred Cosart: Cosart, who turned 20 in May, pitched for Lakewood in the first half, where he went 7-3, 3.79. He hurt his shoulder on June 26th and missed the rest of the season, but still pitched well enough to make the list. He struck out 77 hitters in his 71 innings and is now pitching in the Instructional League in Clearwater. He entered the year as the 8th ranked prospect in the organization. Cosart was a 38th round pick in 2008 from League City, Texas.
8. Jonathan Villar: Villar, another whose stock moved up immensely this year, was a key part of the July 29th trade that netted the Phillies Roy Oswalt. Before he left (and he was sent to the Hi-A California League), he hit .272 with 38 stolen bases (and was 4th in the league before the trade). He entered the season in the top 20 in the Phillies system and figures to be among the top ten in the Houston system.
11. Trevor May: May was the SAL Postseason Pitcher of the Year, where he gave up one run in 11.2 innings pitched (and one ER in 22.2 innings in four postseason starts as a BlueClaw). He opened the season with Clearwater (5-5, 5.01) and was sent to Lakewood on the 4th of July, where was 7-3, 2.91. On July 27th in Delmarva, May struck out 14 Shorebirds to tie a BlueClaws single-game franchise record.
19. Sebastian Valle: Valle had a very good year and still was just the sixth BlueClaw ranked, a testament to the strength of the team. The 20 year old hit the game winning home run in the 5th inning of game four of the South Atlantic League Championship Series. On the year, he led the team with 16 home runs (in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the league).
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Loved this quote from Greensboro manager Andy Haines:
I could watch them play every day. They had so much talent, but what I liked was the way they played so hard. (Manager) Mark (Parent) did an outstanding job with that team. Their players had talent, but you could see them getting better and better every time we faced them.
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