#12 Prospect - Tyler Townsend

[Jordan Tuwiner]

http://orioles-nation.com/?p=9627

When the Orioles drafted Tyler Townsend in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft, they knew they had a guy who could hit for both power and average. After all, he did hit .426 with 24 home runs in a record setting 2009 season with FIU. However, it was unclear how his college stats would translate to the pros. Though it’s a small sample size, his bat hasn’t slowed down one bit since the transition to pro ball and the results have been nothing short of impressive.

Full top 50 list
12. Tyler Townsend
13. Ryan Adams
14. Clayton Schrader
15. Joe Mahoney
16. Brandon Snyder
17. Jesse Beal
18. Wynn Pelzer
19. Caleb Joseph
20. Trent Mummey
21. Brandon Erbe
22. Connor Narron
23. Brandon Cooney
24. Oliver Drake
25. Matt Angle
26. Cameron Coffey
27. Randy Henry
28. Aaron Wirsch
29. Matt Bywater
30. Luis Lebron
31. Luis Noel
32. Tim Berry
33. Jaime Esquivel
34. Michael Ohlman
35. Rick Zagone
36. Ashur Tolliver
37. Wynston Sawyer
38. Brenden Webb
39. Troy Patton
40. Eddie Gamboa
41. Chorye Spoone
42. Brandon Waring
43. Greg Miclat
44. Jake Cowan
45. Ronnie Welty
46. Kyle Hudson
47. Sebastian Vader
48. Jarret Martin
49. Dudley Leonora
50. Justin Dalles

[Don]

In terms of potential, I feel first base is as strong in the organization as shortstop and third base. I think Tyler is a better long term option than Joe, but this is alot closer now than anyone could have antisipated.

Tyler will be as good as his body will allow him to handle. He needs to remain healthy in order to sustain his role in the organization. This will be a good fight in few seasons between Joe and Tyler. I feel both have clearly passed Brandon Snyder in the Orioles long term plans.

[A_K]

Would you say Townsend could find himself in BA's top 100 if he puts up similar numbers to the last two years, but manages to stay healthy while doing so? Or is that still a year or so premature?

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Would you say Townsend could find himself in BA's top 100 if he puts up similar numbers to the last two years, but manages to stay healthy while doing so? Or is that still a year or so premature?

That's definitely a possibility. I think if you are the appropriate age and put up monster numbers at Double-A for an extended period of time, you are a top 100 prospect.

The only thing that may hold him back from becoming a top 100 prospect with good numbers is that he's a first baseman.

[Shorebirdfan]

In terms of potential, I feel first base is as strong in the organization as shortstop and third base. I think Tyler is a better long term option than Joe, but this is alot closer now than anyone could have antisipated.

Tyler will be as good as his body will allow him to handle. He needs to remain healthy in order to sustain his role in the organization. This will be a good fight in few seasons between Joe and Tyler. I feel both have clearly passed Brandon Snyder in the Orioles long term plans.

I think you hit it dead on the nose here. Tyler has lived up to the hype. He has a great smooth level swing. Kind of reminds me of Mark Grace, but with more pop. Everything he hits is a line drive. When he came back to Delmarva after his injury (an injury caused by poor decision making on the par tof the manager) he made every pitcher look over matched. Guessing with Mahoney in front of him he starts at Frederick, but I certainly believe he could push for a mid-season promotion.

[BuckMagic]

In terms of potential, I feel first base is as strong in the organization as shortstop and third base. I think Tyler is a better long term option than Joe, but this is alot closer now than anyone could have antisipated.

Tyler will be as good as his body will allow him to handle. He needs to remain healthy in order to sustain his role in the organization. This will be a good fight in few seasons between Joe and Tyler. I feel both have clearly passed Brandon Snyder in the Orioles long term plans.

I am gonna disagree here:

Townsend, Mahoney, Snyder < Givens, Schoop, Machado

Right side is all legit prospects.

[Don]

The rank is out the window. It is the clear impact that the position can be filled by one of those two players. I think these guys are solid prospects, but they are going to drop because they play off the offensive numbers way too much. The middle is more crucial to fill in terms of depth, but I do not see anyone one of these with the chance to be a less impact if they reach thier full potential. Tyler Townsend could be a steal in the third round, if he can hit for power and keep the strike outs down. Manny, Jonathan, and Givens are highly touted prospects for a reason, but it does not mean that either firstbase takes a back seat to them in terms of produciton, etc... It is why I feel that the Orioles have key prospects at all four infield positions for the first time, in a long time.

[Don]

His swing still needs to find some compacting at times. He loops the bat head through the zone occassionaly when he tries to mash it. He could use a promotion and maybe staying at Frederick has dulled him and a fresh start my see some better production.

The glove and ability to play first is an underrated skill of his in my opinion. He is rather short compared to a landscape of tall firstbasemen, but his atheltic ability and fast twitch reactions should help well in the future.

[ofahn]

Are you worried about his alarming K/B ratio?

He may be the best power prospect we have in the system at a position we need to fill but, right now, I see him as trending more towards Josh Bell than Josh Hamilton.

[Don]

I will be breaking down his swing shortly in a similar fashion to Kipp. There are some nice things, but some things to improve upon. I really think he is tired of being in Frederick. A promotion to Bowie would most likely see an upbeat player that would find his groove. These guys are human and sometimes they go through the motions when stale. A fresh perspective is something he sorely needs at this time.

[Shorebirdfan]

That's an interesting perspective, but with Mahoney clogging 1B in Bowie, they would need to promote him also which would require moving Snyder to 3B or C. I'm not in favor of a platoon of 1B and DH for Joe and Tyler. Need reps in the field also.

[ofahn]

I believe that Snyder's best path to the majors is as a "Ty Wigginton" type of utility player.

At this point Snyder has an MLB bat but not enough power to occupy 1B on a winning team. Why not use his ability to play 1B, 3B, and act as an emergency catcher? Give him some intensive instruction at 2B and LF and you have a real find off the bench.

If the Orioles start that transition at Norfolk now they can move up Mahoney and Tyler. I see Mahoney as the real wild card of this group. He may be a legitimate power 1B but we will need to see at least 150 AAA ABs to make an evaluation.

[A_K]

That's another element of how frustrating it is that Derek Lee hasn't done anything to inflate his trade value. If we could move him, Snyder could get an extended taste of the majors, Mahoney could move to Norfolk and Townsend could move to Bowie.

[ofahn]

That's another element of how frustrating it is that Derek Lee hasn't done anything to inflate his trade value. If we could move him, Snyder could get an extended taste of the majors, Mahoney could move to Norfolk and Townsend could move to Bowie.

But we could make that move NOW if the team were to accept what Snyder's REAL ceiling is and transition him to a super utility player.

[A_K]

I agree. The move wouldn't be made under the assumption that he's more than a super utility player. The problem is, there's still too many bodies and not enough spaces once Scott is healthy. Someone out of Scott/Lee/Vlad/Reimold/Pie needs to go for your scenario to be possible. Someone's gotta be able to play middle infield, and that's not Snyder, and I don't think they'd be comfortable with him as the only backup catcher. Obviously I'd be fine with the team DFA'ing Vlad or Lee, but I don't think Angelos would be.