Lorenzo Cain, OF (MIL)

22 Years Old
2004 17th Round Draft Pick Out of High School – Draft and Follow out of Community College

2005 – Arizona League MVP
2006 – Played full season A ball in West Virginia
2007 – Played high A ball in Brevard County
2008 – First half of the season back in high A Brevard County and promoted to AA Huntsville mid-year

REALLY – Extremely young five tool player.  Great defense, good arm, definite wheels.  Cain needs to develop those tools at the plate a bit more – but tons of power potential, especially since he didn’t step foot onto a baseball field until his sophomore year in high school.

SERIOUSLY – While pitch recognition and plate discipline seems to be improving at each level, Cain still slips into his free swinging tendencies.  His K% is around 20% for the year.  Cain needs to develop his frame a bit more so that he can turn that gap double power into homerun power.

C’MON - Brevard County.  As with most Brewer prospects, Brevard County is an extreme pitcher’s park due to the constant inward breeze.  Cain struggled for a year and a half in high A before getting his promotion to AA in the middle of this season.

Cesar Valdez, SP (ARZ)

23 Years Old
2005 Undrafted Free Agent Signing

2006 – Played at short-season Yakima in Low A
2007 – Played full season A ball in South Bend
2008 – First half of the season at high A Visalia and promoted to AA Mobile mid-year

REALLY – Valdez is a quick riser in an Arizona organization full of interesting starting pitcher prospects.  He is probably the ace of the current Mobile staff.  As he moves up levels, his K% and GB% have gotten better at each step.

SERIOUSLY – Spectacular control pitcher with high ground ball tendencies (sounds like a similar profile to a current D’Back ace).  Valdez walked only 33 in 151 innings pitched, and his ground ball percentage is well above average at every level as 55% of his batted balls are on the ground.

C’MON – If only his fastball had a little bit more oomph that comparison to Webb would be spot on. . . . Valdez tops out around 90 for his fastball, but his fastball has a nice downward action which is the cause of his above average ground ball rates.  Combine that with his superb plus pitch, the change-up, and he has a nice 1-2 combo.  But Valdez may be nothing more than a reliever if he cannot further develop his slurvy breaking ball or add some mph to his fastball.