2011 Prospect Preview: 11-20

A quick Key: LYR=Last Year’s Rank, NR=Not Ranked, Draftee=Taken in 2010 Draft, age for 2011 season in parenthesis.

20. Brian Bogusevic, OF, LYR: 17 (27): He’s a bit old but I love his skills. Bogusevic should break camp in 2011 as Houston’s 4th outfielder and could be one of the best in the league at that roll.

19. Koby Clemens, C/DH, LYR: NR (24): He hasn’t shown great plate discipline and as to date is pretty much an all power, nothing else hitter. He doesn’t play good enough defense to stick behind the plate so his best chance to make the majors is to try and get a corner outfield spot and improve his contact and patience.

18. Enrique Hernandez, 2B, LYR: 18 (19): Great contact and strikeout rates and defense at 2B is improving. He’s a good breakout candidate for 2011.

17. Ben Heath, C, LYR: Draftee (22): A 5th rounder in 2010 and maybe the best power bat in the org. Heath has shown great defense at catcher and pretty good plate patience. I see Heath progressing through the minors pretty quickly and he has the skills to be a major league catcher with an above average bat.

16. Matthew Nevarez, RHP, LYR: 11 (24): Showed unbelievable stuff at Single-A in 2009 but had no control in Double-A in 2010. The potential is there but only if his command comes around. He’s 24 so 2011 could be a telling year for Nevarez.

15. Fernando Abad, LHP, LYR: 12 (25): He made his major league debut in 2010 but only pitched 22 innings so I’m still counting him as a prospect for now. His time in the bigs wasn’t as impressive as his 2.84 ERA suggests but his minor league track record is phenomenal. Abad should be in Houston’s bullpen all of 2011.

14. Chia-Jen Lo, RHP, LYR: 5 (25): Lo is a potential late-innings reliever but he’ll need to improve his command a bit. If he does, he could be in Houston late summer 2011.

13.Yuri Perez, RHP, LYR: 13 (20): He’d probably be in my top-10 if he had been able to pitch more than 8.1 innings in 2010. Still, Perez has an extremely high ceiling with great stuff and showed above average control at 18 years old in 2009.

12. Sam Gervacio, RHP, LYR: 4 (26): Struggled in 2010 when healthy but has tremendous stuff. If he can regain his 2009 form, Gervacio is potentially another future late-innings guy.

11. Telvin Nash, OF, LYR: NR (20): Nash broke out in 2010 on his way to being named Greeneville’s MVP. He’ll start 2011 at Single-A and should only continue to get better as a 20 year old with a wide frame. He’s shown good power and as his patience improves, so should his average. He could be a future corner outfielder with above average power in the majors.