In Pursuit of MLB's Future
                                                      Eric Young Jr.

                                By: Joshua Fischman

 

August 11, 2008 - Week 3: The Future of MLB

Thanks everyone, for continuing to read our Future of MLB feature. Before I begin the profile for Eric Young Jr., I want to extend a gracious thanks to Friend of the Deli, and professional baseball writer extraordinaire, Lisa Winston, for mentioning Davis Sports Deli on her blog under the "Favorite Sports Blogs" section.

Here is what Lisa wrote about DSD: "Ok, so it's a site, not a blog. But despite the name, the coverage is not JUST limited to UC Davis athletics...in particular, be sure to check out the articles by Minor League fanatic Joshua Fischman."

I very much appreciate the compliment, especially coming from a writer whose work I have admired for years. My father has been a subscriber to "Baseball Weekly" ever since I can remember. In fact, he still receives it now, under its new incarnation: "Sports Weekly". Lisa used to write for them. Also, in case you didn't know, Lisa is one of a select few journalists who have been inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

(Ed. note: Read Lisa's blog to find out more about her interesting experiences in the Minor Leagues).

MLB Future Profile: Eric Young Jr.

Background:

Eric Young Jr. is a 23-year-old minor league prospect for the Colorado Rockies. Out of high school he was offered a two-sport scholarship to play baseball and football at Villanova University, but instead he chose to focus on baseball at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Despite his success at the community college level, Young Jr. was not drafted until the 30th round of the 2003 MLB draft by the Colorado Rockies.

Young Jr. is a switch-hitting speedster of a second-baseman who is currently playing ball at the AA level for the Tulsa Drillers. In 2006, Young Jr. swiped an astounding 87 bases -- in just 128 games! -- for the Low-A Asheville Tourists. Later that season he was voted "Most Valuable Tourist" by the Asheville fans.

The following season, the speed demon stole 73 bases.

Currently in his fourth full season of professional baseball, Young Jr. has stolen 237 bases in his minor league career. That's counting the two bases he stole on Saturday, August 9 to bring his 2008 season total to 38.

 

Why I want to see Young Jr. in MLB:

1. I am ready to see a new guy lead the Major Leagues in stolen bags and Eric Young Jr. presents the most likely candidate to do so in the coming years. With the exceptions of Jacoby Ellsbury, Hanley Ramirez, and B.J. Upton, the same speedsters have dominated the stolen bases leaderboard for the last five years. I'm tired of seeing guys like Ichiro, Jose Reyes, Juan Pierre, Carl Crawford, and Willy Taveras lead the league in SB.

2. I love watching switch-hitting second-basemen and the National League is in dire need of one. The American League has Brian Roberts and Jose Vidro (though he doesn't really play 2B anymore). Now the National League needs one to complement often-injured Diamondbacks 2B Orlando Hudson and weak-hitting Reds 2B Felipe Lopez (.236 average this season). Eric Young Jr. needs to get to the Majors quickly, so I can have a solid, switch-hitting 2B to watch in the N.L.

3. Since Eric Young Sr. is currently an analyst for Baseball Tonight -- on ESPN -- Eric Young Jr.'s arrival to the big leagues presents the next best thing to Young Sr. coming out of retirement. As I mentioned in a previous article (ed. note: check out Dodger Memories in our archives) I recall Young Sr.'s time with the Dodgers with nostalgia.

The second generation Eric Young is very similar to his father in many respects. They are both lightning-quick second-basemen and they are both aggressive on the basepaths. In fact, EY Jr. is so aggressive that in 2006 he attempted 118 steals in 128 games. That year he had only 24 more hits than he did stolen base attempts. That's incredible. I want to see that type of aggressiveness again in the Majors.

And even though Eric Jr. is in the farm system for the Rockies -- an N.L. West rival of the Dodgers -- getting to see EY Jr. play in the division may be enough to cure my Eric Young Blues.

 

 

 

 

Accolades:

South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star - June 20, 2006
Hawaii Winter Baseball Player of the Week - October 29, 2006
California League Player of the Week - July 9, 2007
Topps California League Player of the Month - July 31, 2007

 

Obstacles to the Major Leagues:

1. Strikeouts. No one wants a top-of-the-order guy on their big league club if he isn't going to make contact. In 2007, Young Jr. struck out over 100 times (and that was in High-A). Young Jr. needs to stop striking out so often if he is ever to reach the Major Leagues.

2. A number of baseball writers have remarked that Young Jr.'s only exciting traits are his speed and his ability to steal bases. If he is going to make the jump to the Majors, Young Jr. must convince the Rockies organization that he has more going for him than that. Fortunately he has a good place to start because of his ability to switch-hit and consistently hit for average. But in order to make a better impression, Young Jr. needs to hit well from both sides of the plate. As of August 9, he is only hitting .217 from the right side of the plate this season.

3. Stealing aggressiveness is both a gift and a curse. Though I enjoy watching players who can take off at any time, runners who attempt as many steals as Young Jr. are more susceptible to pitch-outs and pick-offs. That type of runner is also going to get caught stealing on occasion, given the amount of opportunities he takes. Consider 2006, when Young Jr. was caught stealing 31 times.

Even though Young Jr.'s base-stealing percentages may look good, each time he gets caught represents an out. 31 times caught-stealing means 31 instances that a rally may have been cut short. In other words, running on almost every on-base opportunity is a clear impediment to Young Jr.'s chance of reaching the Major Leagues. He needs to realize that running as often as he does will often inadvertently take the bat out of the hands of the players hitting behind him.

 

Estimated Time of Arrival:

Though some consider Young Jr.'s progress to be slow, each season he has moved up a level. He has also succeeded every time he has moved up. I predict this trend to continue with Young Jr. playing in AAA next season, then reaching the Majors in 2010.

 

 

 

 

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