Would you like to meet an ideal leadoff hitter?
- Born: February 18, 1999
- B/T: R/R
- 5’11”, 225-lbs
- Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2015 out of Mexico
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
While always playing years younger than his competition, Isaac Paredes has always shown an excellent batting eye. The walk rate is double-digit for two years running, but in AA he did something very impressive: he brought his already excellent strikeout rate down to his walk rate. 57 walks and only 61 strikeouts against advanced minor league pitching is truly a great sign of bat control.
His on-base ability has also grown, year by year, level by level.
Sadly, we cannot say that same of his power, and his speed is merely token at best. He isn’t hitting the ball hard enough yet. He’s only 21, so he has time, but he needs to show more than just pull power.
He put up a better BAVG against righties, but his OBP was nearly the same against both types of pitchers. More power against righties though.
Put this in the dictionary under “Pull Power.” He can hit it out to left field all right, and he hits double after double down the left field line, but not enough opposite field power at this stage.
Remember, he’s been quite young here. So as an 18-year-old in A ball he struggled at first and then was off to the races before fading in the second half.
As a 19-year-old in A+ he scuffed a bit and then it was off to the races. He got promoted to AA and faded.
In 2019, as a 20-year-old repeating AA, he scuffed a bit and then settled into his career .800 OPS range before a late season surge up to .900. It was his on-base ability doing it more than his slugging.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: #189 on their Top 400.
- BaseballHQ: Not on their Top 100.
- Fangraphs: #120 on their Top 120.
- Fantasy Six Pack: Not on their dynasty list.
- Prospects365: #112 on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
- Imaginary Brick Wall: #127 on the Top 487.
- Fantrax: #117 on the Top 250.
Warnings
The scouts are mixed on Paredes, but at best they think he is in the 120 range of prospects. Not bad, not a star.
His body type and weight mean he is 3B at best. Don’t think of him as a shortstop in the majors.
Will his power go beyond doubles power?
Conclusion
He has the batting eye and on-base ability to be a good leadoff hitter. Even if he only has doubles power, that would be useful.
As a 3B, you’d like to see the power develop, and the Tigers think he will in time, but there is that risk.
A good player, if not a star player, that’s Isaac Paredes.