Brayan Rocchio: The Next Big Thing

On January 13th, Brayan Rocchio turned 18, but he has already made huge strides on his way to stardom. Signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2017, he started the 2018 season in the Dominican Summer League, but played only 25 games before being promoted to Arizona, still only 17 years old.

While he was considered the third biggest name of the Indians 2017 international free agent class, injuries to Aaron Bracho and George Valera pushed him into the spot light and his performance as a starter for AZL Indians White kept him there.

I initially saw Rocchio during minor league spring training in Goodyear, Arizona where he impressed defensively in practices and on the bases during extended spring training games. At the time, he was almost exclusively used at second base with Bracho at short. Starting out the official season with an otherwise lackluster DSL Indians team, Rocchio quickly became the team’s top hitter, batting .323/.391/.434 with a home run, three triples and eight steals before his promotion. With no other major names on the DSL team, Rocchio was able to move around the diamond more, playing extensively at second and short with one game at third. His defensive numbers there meshed well with my personal observations earlier in the year as he committed just three errors and was especially adept at second base.

Promoted on July 8th, Rocchio was finally able to show what he could do against the much deeper talent of the Arizona League. He quickly took off with three multi-hit games in his first seven. This was a trend that would continue all season as he hit safely multiple times in 17 of his 35 AZL games on his way to a .343/.389/.434 line that surpassed his earlier effort in the DSL.

As a whole, the AZL Indians White team was the more athletic of the Indians two AZL squads (Indians Blue featured a more power heavy line-up with better pitching) and Rocchio fit in perfectly. Extremely aggressive on the bases, he was safe stealing on 14 of 22 attempts and would regularly test the limits of outfielders’ arms, helping him reach ten doubles and to score 21 runs. As a duo, he and Gionti Turner (since traded to Tampa Bay) were incredibly stress inducing for any defense due to their great speed.

Defensively, Rocchio is the definition of a high flying infielder. He has great range due to his aforementioned speed and isn’t afraid to get dirty, often reaching balls that most could not. While this does lead to a few errors in trying to do too much and doesn’t always turn into outs, he kept runners from advancing on many occasions by keeping ground balls in the infield. Essentially, this protected his team from the kind of threat that he would become himself on the bases as the Major League sized Goodyear Ballpark forces outfielders to cover more ground than a typical minor league stadium.

While Rocchio continued to mostly play short stop in the AZL, he was able to get significant time in at third base as well as a little second. Versatility was a big part of the AZL Indians White (at one point they played DH/1B Henderson De Oleo at third and speedy center fielder Billy Wilson at first) and this allowed Rocchio to show his stuff. Based on personal observation, I believe he is wasted at third, where reaction time is more important than foot speed. As with most infielders, he is most efficient at second, but he is more than capable of sticking at short stop for his entire career. At the moment, his familiarity with all three positions can only help him in the future, however, as he can fit in wherever he is needed. This could be a big deal in the future as he runs into another Indians top prospect in Tyler Freeman (SS) and stays near Bracho (SS) and Raynel Delgado (3B).

Coming into 2019, Rocchio will likely stay in Goodyear for his second run of extended spring before playing short season ball, either in Goodyear or Mahoning Valley. He has done well for himself to show that he can both hit and field at the level of players a few years older than himself and this could set him apart when the decisions are made about who will move up to short season A ball. The likelihood of Bracho staying back to get his first season in the AZL also helps Rocchio’s argument for advancement. Even if the Indians decide to baby him due to his age, he could still reach Lake County by the end of the year.

While there were many outstanding performers on both AZL Indians teams last year, Rocchio’s skill set may be the most projectable as he did everything well. This is not to take away from others like league MVP Miguel Jerez, but Rocchio’s abilities in the field, on the bases and at the plate show no weaknesses at this point that could be exposed at higher levels. There are no guarantees at this level, but if I were to pick one player to be a future Major Leaguer from the AZL class of 2018, it would be Rocchio.