Top Prospect Profile: Ben Revere

November 29, 2008

Top Prospect Profile: Ben Revere

3 Comments

By EJ Fagan

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Ben Revere / flickr.com, gcl_twins

Ben Revere - Twins Outfielder

Age: 20
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 166
Bats: Left
Position: Centerfield

Relevent Statistics: .379/.433/.497 in 83 games for the Beloit Snappers in the Single-A Midwest League in 2008. 44 stolen bases and 13 CS. 31 strikeouts, 27 walks.

Scouting Report: He's fast. Revere doesn't grade out as an 80 foot speed prospect on the 20-80 scouting scale, but he's close. He is not a slap hitter - Revere hit a solid 15% of his balls in play for line drives, and managed to hit 28 extra base hits in his half-season. Revere's hitting ability compares favorably to Jacoby Ellsbury on a good day. He was stopped by a minor knee injury in the late summer, which shortened his season, but is considered healthy. He has superb control of the strike zone, with a career K/BB ratio of 1.275.His defense is comparable to Juan Pierre's - with a lot of speed but a poor arm.

Resume: The Twins surprised the heck out of everyone when they drafted Revere with their first round draft pick in 2007, 28th overall. I immediately chastized the Twins for an overdraft for a player that I called, "Brett Gardner with a bigger paycheck." at the time. I figured that they were a little strapped for cash, and therefore picked a player that they could sign for below slot. Revere was projected as a 2nd round pick. He signed immediately and hit the ground running in the short-season Gulf Coast League, batting .325/.388/.461 with 21 stolen bases and 9 caught stealing, plus 10 triples, in 50 games. Pushed to the Midwest League in 2008, Revere put up the stellar line pictured above, and was named the league's MVP.

Outlook: Revere's age number is a year higher than you would expect for a high school player a year and a half removed from the draft, but that is just an illusion created by his late finish to high school. Revere will enter the 2009 season as one of the more inexperienced prospects in the Florida State League, even though he will turn 21 in May. The Twins are notoriously patient with their high school prospects, but I think that Revere will see some Double-A action next season. He could see major league time as soon as very late 2010 if everything goes right, but its more likely that he'll get more serious consideration in spring training 2011.

Ranking: I am eating my words on Revere. He's proven that he has the ability to be more than a Luis Castillo-style slap hitter by hitting 20 triples in 133 games. His important tools all grade out reliably average or above average across the board. He has the speed to be one of the few MLB base stealers for whom that skill is a significant weapon. And really, he was pretty darn good in 2008. While Revere is small, Dustin Pedroia has proven that we shouldn't immediately write off small prospect any more. I love his control of the strike zone, and his overall projection. He probably won't be a star, but Revere is a very good bet to be pretty good, especially for a player so soon removed from high school. I couldn't justify ranking him much higher than 30th because of ceiling concerns, but that's less of an inditement of Revere and more of an endorsement of the guys ahead of him.

Bottom Line: A reliable prospect whose career could resemble that of Jose Reyes if everything goes right.

Tags: Milb, Minnesota Twins, MLB, MLB Prospect Profiles, Prospects

Discussion

3 Comments on "Top Prospect Profile: Ben Revere"

Posted by Brian Cartwright, December 2, 2008 12:19 PM

Still with a small sample size, I project Revere at 314/361/422. A very high BABIP (356) with little HR power and below avg walks.

Baseball America rates him the best in the Twins system at hitting for average and fastest baserunner, but Aaron Hicks as the best athlete and best defensive outfielder. They forecast Revere in lf and Hicks in cf. Revere's type of offense is better suited for cf, where he projects to be above average, but if he can also play good defense (I don't know) and steal bases (65 sb and 22 cs in 133 games is good) he can be a good cf, but his bat will be harder to carry in lf.

Posted by EJ Fagan, December 2, 2008 3:55 PM

A couple of things,

High BABIP - You're right that Revere hit .400+ on balls in play, and that's very lucky. That said, at this minor league level its not entirely unusual for a top prospect to post a BABIP like that. He's got all the skills that you would expect a high BABIP-player to have at this level.

On Hicks - BA projects Revere at left field simply because they project Hicks to be better all-around than Revere. That's less a statement about Revere as it is one about Hicks - in their mind at least.

I do agree with you that if Revere ends up in the corner outfield spots, he won't be all that useful. An all-star caliber center fielder has an averge RF-quality bat.

Posted by Brian Cartwright, December 3, 2008 10:05 AM

That's what I meant - Revere fits better in cf, but with the Twins mught be crowded out by Hicks. Proejction wide, looks a lot like Alex Sanchez 2005-06.