• Thoughts on Ben Revere, Kyle McClellan

  • By Jason Grey | May 10, 2011 8:47:04 AM PDT
Injuries have opened up playing time, at least temporarily, for Minnesota Twins outfielder Ben Revere, who is an intriguing speed play. But does he have the other skills to go with it?At least a 70 runner on the 20-to-80 scouting scale, Revere, who turned 23 last week, was the 28th overall pick in the 2007 draft out of a Kentucky high school. While he's never going to hit for power -- he has a total of four homers in 1,649 professional plate appearances -- the left-handed hitting Revere has hit better than .300 in each of his four pro seasons, to go along with stolen-base totals of 44, 45 and 36, respectively, in the past three seasons. Revere has the on-base skills to take advantage of his speed, with excellent bat control and the ability to hit line drives into the gaps to keep outfield defenses honest. Revere also makes a ton of contact, striking out in less than 9 percent of his 1,612 minor league plate appearances. He does a good job of keeping his hands inside the ball, and while he'll occasionally pull his front shoulder out early, leading to rollover grounders, for the most part he has a sound swing.As he puts it, he's "trying to be a little more patient and a little less aggressive" to draw more walks, but his on-base percentage will no doubt be driven by his ability to carry over his minor league batting average to the big leagues. The organization also has him focusing more on his bunting (especially his drag bunting), which is not as good as it should be, given his speed game. "Three bunts a week, and hopefully I get two hits out of them," Revere said.Defensively, Revere is a plus defender in either left or center field, thanks to his range and ability to make up for the occasional bad route, though he does have a poor arm. Still, he will be an asset defensively, which will help keep his bat in the lineup.Revere got one steal attempt (he was caught) in 13 games after being called up late last season, but that's primarily because the Twins as an organization don't give out the green light easily; a player generally must earn it. (Even speedy teammate Denard Span doesn't always get the ability to go when he wants.) But since that's one of the main things Revere brings to the table and he has proven adept at it in the minors, expect the team to let him loose a bit more often this season. He has been working with Paul Molitor on his reads and jumps instead of just using his raw speed to steal bases, as he did earlier in his career.Revere can put up 40-steal seasons in the big leagues, if given a full-time job, with a good batting average to go with it, and he's certainly a better option than another recent Twins call-up, Rene Tosoni. The caveat, of course, is that both players got their summons as a result of injuries to Delmon Young and Jim Thome, who are both due back soon. Revere could be headed back to Triple-A shortly to continue getting regular at-bats.Revere is probably ready to hit in the big leagues right now, but he still needs something major to happen to one of the team's starters to get substantial playing time. If that happens, he can be a worthwhile fantasy add as a pure-steals option. AL-only owners might want to stash him away for potential use later in the season, if they don't already have Desmond Jennings on reserve and are light on speed.

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