• Angels' Reckling proving he's sleeper prospect

  • By Keith Law | March 29, 2009 6:22:39 AM PDT
Trevor Reckling was my 2009 sleeper prospect for the Angels, and he mostly lived up to that billing Saturday. Reckling, a big, physical lefty who won't turn 20 until late May, showed good command of a four-seam fastball, a two-seamer, a slider and a plus changeup, touching 92 with the four-seamer (one of which was clearly thrown in anger after the ump missed a called third strike on a changeup) while getting great deception on the change. His slider was inconsistent; his best ones were fringe-average with some tilt, but he threw several that lacked life and looked more like bad changeups. Reckling's delivery in general has good deception, with a high leg kick and an arm action that keeps his pitching forearm behind his body until shortly before release. He lands on a stiff front leg and has some recoil.The biggest concern on Reckling is his own decision to scrap his curveball, which was plus and perhaps even better than that, in favor of a slider that is neither as consistent nor as effective. If Reckling is willing to use his curve, which the organization supports, he's a potential four-pitch lefty with plus command, a combination that would make him a No. 2 starter for just about any club, even if his velocity never improves. (He doesn't offer a lot of physical projection, so what we see now on his fastball is probably what we'll get.) Without the curve, he's more of a fourth starter because of the lack of a bona-fide out pitch, although he can still succeed by throwing strikes, changing speeds, missing some bats with the changeup and by spotting his fastball.• Angels third baseman Matt Sweeney missed all of 2008 with a major ankle injury that included a fracture and ligament damage, but he's healthy now and he's going to hit. His swing is so good it's hard to describe: He's strong with good hands, sets up in great position to control the bat and yet still hit for power, accelerates his wrists quickly, and makes hard contact. He'll go to Rancho Cucamonga, a good hitter's park, at age 21 this year, and he should hit for a high average and big power. If you're in one of those insane fantasy leagues with deep minor league drafts, he's a great sleeper to target because he didn't play last year and is going to jump onto prospect lists by next winter.• Angels right-hander Ysmael Carmona has a 70 fastball and 35 command (on a scale of 20-80); that's a more common combination than you might think. It's still interesting to me when I get a "98" on my gun, and Carmona did it twice, sitting at 94-98 and only hitting the backstop a modest handful of times. His one off-speed pitch, which could charitably be called a "slider" and might more accurately be called a "nothingball," wasn't much help in keeping hitters from sitting on the heat. He's just above sidearm and slings the ball rather than delivering it, which is going to limit both his command and his ability to throw anything other than fastballs and "nothingballs."• Giants right-hander Edwin Quirarte was one of my favorite late day-one picks last year; San Francisco nabbed him in the fifth round out of Cal State-Northridge, part of the best day-one haul of any team. Quirarte throws a 92-94 mph fastball with plus sink and an average or slightly above-average splitter at 83-86 mph with good bottom, so everything he throws is down. His slider is well below-average -- he threw two, bouncing one -- but if the splitter comes along a little more and he can avoid throwing any 94-mph fastballs that straighten out, he'll be a good late-game option in the majors in a year or two.• Giants prospect Angel Villalona looks bored, taking mostly short at-bats with one hit, a hard line drive to right center on a fastball away. You could also time his run from home to first with a sundial. There's nothing wrong with his bat or his swing -- he can put some balls out in BP and did a great job in that first at bat -- but a little more effort, especially in getting to pitches he can drive, would be great. He shouldn't be rolling over weakly to third twice in a spring A-ball game. … Roger Kieschnick homered to right off Anthony Ortega, but still isn't using his body at all to generate power -- he homered by more or less flinging the bat at the ball. There's power in the body if player development can get him to stay back on the ball and drive it.

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