The de facto second baseman of the future, Alex Yarbrough still has a lot of proving to do and now has a huge logjam in front of him that he needs to find a way to climb over.
Alex Yarbrough
In 10 words or less: Our second baseman of the future, blocked everyway to Saturday.
Position: 2B Born: 8/3/91
Bats: S Throws: R
Height: 5’11” Weight: 180
Last Year Rank: #7
2014 Season Stats
[table id=60 /]
OFFENSE
Contact – C+. Up until this year, Alex Yarbrough really never struggled at all with contact. His strikeout numbers were up in Double-A, but not so bad that it’s an issue, just that it’s not necessarily a strength of his anymore. To Yarbrough’s credit, in the second half of the season, he cut down on his number of strikeouts by 20.
Power – B-. Yarbrough’s particular blend of power shows up in the number of doubles he hits, not in the number of home runs. This doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t a home run hitter, Yarbrough just happened to be playing in possibly the most pitcher friendly park in all of minor league baseball last season. In 68 games at home, Yarbrough hit at a pretty league average rate (.244 13 DB 3 HR). On the road in more neutral settings, Yarbrough hit .320 with 25 DB’s and 2 HR’s.
Discipline – C-. It was hoped that given his collegiate background, that Yarbrough would be able to develop into a better on-base threat as he climbed the ladder. This is partly true, as Alex walked more in AA than he did in Advanced A Ball, but he’s still nowhere near being a true on-base threat. He hit mostly out of the #2 spot in Double-A, but without the ability to reach base via walk, he will likely remain at the bottom of the lineup.
Speed – C+. Yarbrough is a very smart base runner, which helps his average speed play up. He shouldn’t have a problem stealing around 10 bases per year.
DEFENSE
Arm – B. Yarbrough has more than enough arm to play second base. Maybe even enough to play a passable LF. Not elite, but good.
Fielding – B. Despite coming in needing to make considerable adjustments to become anything more than an adequate second baseman, Yarbrough has worked his tail off to improve his craft. Alex has now turned into a halfway decent middle infielder. A consistent fielding percentage above .980 is nothing to sneeze at.
Range – C. Something most people don’t realize it that Alex Yarbrough has huge feet. The Angels saw this and the slower first step and realized Alex may never have the necessary speed to play in the infield. Yarbrough worked with the Angels infield instructors diligently and has emerged as “good enough” in the range department. He’s not bad anymore, but he’ll likely be a half step behind Kendrick on most balls. But then again, Kendrick was a half step quicker than most second baseman, so Yarbrough will be fine.
OVERALL
Performance – B. Another year, another good performance out of Alex Yarbrough. When he was drafted as a 20-year old, he was sent straight to A Ball and was one of the most dangerous hitters in the league. But it was thought moving from college to A Ball, he needed to hit like that. So he went to the Cal League last year and was again one of the best players in the league, but it was thought that perhaps his numbers were inflated by the hitter friendly environment. He headed to the Texas League at age 22, and there were no excuses left. If he hits here, it would remove any doubt about his offensive ability. Well he did, he hit .285/.321 with 38 doubles and 5 home runs. He was awarded the Texas League player of the year honors. The one thing that did emerge this season may be the only thing that holds him back, he hit .244 from the right-side of the play. We’ll have to see how he does in Triple-A to find out if this is really a weakness with advanced pitching or simply a byproduct of the non-advantageous environment.
Projection – B. Alex should be a league average second baseman with offensive upside. Defensively, he’ll probably be slightly below average, but definitely not hut them at all as is the case with Grant Green. Offensively, Yarbrough should actually be VERY similar to Howie Kendrick. Chances are he’ll hit around .280 or .290 at the major league level, but his OBP should be poor, but he’ll also collect 30+ doubles on a yearly basis and hit 5-10 homeruns as well as stolen bases. One thing that should illustrate the Angels faith in Yarbrough, not only did they trade the man in front of him Taylor Lindsey, they also dealt Howie Kendrick. They must feel that long term, second base shouldn’t be a problem at all.
Grade as a Prospect – B. Yarbrough heads into this season with an outside shot at claiming the everyday 2B role for the Angels. Can’t ask for more than that from a 23 year old only drafted two years ago. Chances are the Angels will opt to send him to the hitter friendly PCL, where the hype machine be kicked into gear for Yarbrough. Still, he’s produced good numbers at every stop. Definitely an above average, though not elite prospect.
Estimated Time of Arrival – 2016. I expect Yarbrough to give it a year in Triple-A Salt Lake in 2015, and given the friendly environment, chances are we’ll see some flashy numbers from him. At some point in the year, Yarbrough should get some at bats for the Angels at second base, but I think it will be a year or two before he’s allowed to claim the full time role.
2014 in Review*
In one way, 2014 was a very good year for Alex Yarbrough. The Halos seemingly cleared a path for his ascension to the starting second base job by trading away Taylor Lindsey and then Howie Kendrick. This seemed like a huge endorsement of their faith in him. Then they went and acquired Josh Rutledge, Taylor Featherston and Johnny Giavotella while retaining Grant Green. That was whatever the opposite of an endorsement was.
Perhaps the ambiguity comes from Yarbrough’s weird season. One could argue that he held his own in jumping to Double-A for the full season by hitting .285 and improving his defense. But he also didn’t show much power and saw his strikeout rate spike. He did this while once again posting a very high BABIP and a significant platoon split.
It was the kind of season where he did just enough to continue climbing, but still carry a number of red flags.
Looking Ahead*
Alex Yarbrough will presumably be on his way to Triple-A Salt Lake in 2015, though he might find himself in a weird situation of having to share his position a little bit with whichever players competing for the starting job in Anaheim end up losing out. That will be just one challenge for Yarbrough who will also be tasked with cutting down on the whiffs and improving from the right side of the plate.
If his development were to stall right now, Yarbrough isn’t a total loss. He could very well end up as one half of a platoon at second base for the Angels. The fact that he’s the only guy in the second base mix that can swing from the left side is actually a pretty big point in his favor. He also might be one of the better fielders of the bunch, though that is less a compliment to him and more a criticism to the rest of the depth chart.
If Yarbough can clean up some of his issues, he has the chops to hold down the starting job for a few years. He has enough shortcomings so that nobody will forget Howie Kendrick anytime soon, but still good enough so that the Angels won’t be constantly trying to find an upgrade. Of course, he needs Rutledge, Green and Featherston to all fail first to even get a chance at that possible outcome.
*As we do every year, the scouting reports and grades are provided by Scotty Allen while Garrett Wilson provides the 2014 in Review and Looking Ahead sections.
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