It's Time For Dodger Baseball

i differ just a bit on what i project for this guy. Kyle Russell is a very good athlete that at present can play all 3 OF positions. Think of a possible Adam Dunn, but one that can actually play defense. We'll know more about this player after this year, especially if he starts At AA. My thots, he's already played against better pitching in the Midwest league than the Cal league has to offer..One just has to take into consideration, that he was one of the older and more mature players in the MW league...

but from memoriesofkevinmalone.

"Performance-Russell has dominated his competition as a professional, posting an OPS of .900 in 2008 and .916 in 2009. In both those years, his power was in full effect, posting an ISO of .256 and .272, respectively. Furthermore, his 2009 walk rate (12.8%) reflects a patient hitter, and he has even been successful on 92.3% (24/26) of his stolen base attempts as a pro.

Overview-Russell was the third round selection of the Dodgers in the 2008 draft, and he made an immediate impact as a professional, sharing the Midwest League's Most Valuable Player Award with fellow prospect Dee Gordon. Despite this, there's skepticism abound about Russell's eventual potential at the major league level. For all the positive tools that he possesses, his continuing inability to make contact leaves Russell with a lot to prove going into 2010.

Hitting-Russell has the strength to hit the ball out of any park, but perhaps the most impressive part about his power is that he can use it to all fields. The natural lift in his swing is created by dipping his left shoulder, and while that helps him put the ball in the air frequently, it also keeps his bat head out of the contact zone for extended periods of time. He has tried to rectify the uppercutting problem in his swing, but there hasn't been a significant improvement yet.
continued..
http://www.memoriesofkevinmalone.com/20 ... ssell.html

Well, he sounds close to Dave Kingman as well. He sounds like he might be a sleeper.

Since Josh Bell is gone, I've been looking for a position player I can keep an eye on.

This guy as talent, but at his age needs to really concentrate on plate discipline. He'll be 24 yrs old on June 27, hopefully killing pitchers at AA
train

Hitting with power to all fields is a great sign. Even more so for a guy that relies more on timing than bat lag. Big year for him. Look forward to his season.

Hey Train, I had a lot of time to look up number 1 picks in baseball and am amazed at how bad a lot of these number 1's have done. Looking at prospects the Dodgers picked like Ben Diggins, and Brian Pilkington(Joel Guzman also comes to mind). I remember a guy who was picked by the D-backs over 12 years ago and he was suppose to be the next big superstar. You may remember his name, Travis Lee. He spent a half a season at Single A, up in Victorville. I went to games and this guy was a beast. He quickly made his way up to the big club in 1998 and hit 22 homeruns and drove in 72 runs. He came in 3rd in the ROY in 1998. He hit 19 and 20 homeruns a season in 2 of his 9 years in the big leagues, but dropped out of baseball without really making an impact.

There's no big point to this story except that it baffles me to why some of these "can't miss" prospects just don't make an impact?

?
heart and mind...
train