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Baseball Factory Alumni On Baseball America’s 2016 Top 10 Prospects List: N.L. West

In our last look at Baseball America’s 2016 Top 10 Prospects Index and where our Baseball Factory alumni rank by division, we check in with Baseball Factory alumni from the National League West.

Players from across the country have attended Baseball Factory player events, ranging from Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryouts to the Under Armour All-America Game. A total of 82 Baseball Factory alumni across all 30 baseball teams make up the list in 2016.

Rankings are prioritized by Baseball America and numbered 1 through 10 for each team. We take a look at Baseball Factory’s alumni from the National League West, where a total of 11 players land on this week’s list.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Brandon Drury

Brandon Drury – 3B/2B (BA’s Rank: #3)

Drury followed up a stellar 2014 season where he hit .299 with 42 doubles, 23 home runs and 95 RBI between High-A Visalia and Double-A Mobile with a 2015 where he continued to hit for average (.303) and though the home run numbers were down (just five last season) he still hit 40 doubles, so the power is there as Drury’s swing is geared for gap-to-gap production. Drury received his first major league action late last season, hitting .254 with two homers and eight RBI in 20 games. He’s factoring to be a huge part of the Diamondbacks every day lineup in ’16 as he’s hit .369 with four homers and 12 RBI so far this spring.

Defensively, he’s played all over the infield (SS, second base and third), but is capable of playing all positions with above-average foot work and arm strength, qualities we first saw as a two-time Under Armour Pre-Season All-American in 2009 and ’10. The Grants Pass, Oregon native also attended an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout and Premium Video Program in Monmouth, OR in November 2008.

Peter O’Brien

Peter O’Brien – C/OF (BA’s Rank: #7)

The 2007 Under Armour All-American has moved step for step in the minors with Drury and is also enjoying a big spring as the youth movement continues for Arizona. O’Brien’s raw power was in full display last season at Triple-A Reno as the right-hander smacked 26 home runs and drove in 107 runs, hitting for a high average (.284) in 131 games. He was promoted to the majors on September 11th and hit his first major league homer on October 2nd against the Houston Astros.

O’Brien played first base in the Yankees organization but is now a converted outfielder, seeing action in left field late last season for the Diamondbacks, but also saw a little time behind the plate and at first in addition to his outfield duties in the minors at Triple-A Reno last season.

He’s battled hard for a roster spot this spring and has hit the cover off the baseball yet again, hitting .276 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 26 spring games, including a monster homer he hit late last week against the San Francisco Giants that, according to MLB’s Advanced Metrics “Stat Cast”, was the hardest home run ever hit, clocking in with an exit velocity of 119.5 MPH.

Colorado Rockies

Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers – SS (BA’s Rank: #3)

Taken third overall in last June’s Draft by the Rockies out of Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, FL, Rodgers saw action in 37 games with Grand Junction, rookie-level ball in the Pioneer League hitting .273 with three homers, 20 RBI and drew 15 walks in 159 plate appearances.

Brendan was a highly-touted national prospect when we saw him at Wrigley Field for the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game where he showed as a plus, all-around defender at short stop. In his first event with the Factory at the 2013 Futures Series East event, Rodgers ran a 6.84 60-yard and made it look easy both in the field and at the plate.

He’s a toolsy-player who will make big contributions to the big league club very soon with his raw power and quick bat speed that results in consistent barrel action that will play out to big-time power, even at spacious Coors Field. Defensively, he’s very good at short as the the organization is grooming yet another terrific short stop in the pipeline, much like former Factory alum, Troy Tulowitzki.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Grant Holmes

Grant Holmes – RHP (BA’s Rank: #6)

The L.A. Dodgers selected the big righty 22nd overall in the ’14 Draft out of Conway High School in Conway, SC and was a 2013 Under Armour All-American Game Participant where he flashed his big potential with a mid-90s fastball and posted a scoreless inning of work during the game. He also attended the 2012 Team One Futures Series East event.

Holmes jumped to Single-A Great Lakes in 2015 after pitching in 11 games in rookie ball in 2014 and posted a 6-4 record with a 3.14 ERA with 117 strikeouts in 103 1/3 innings. Holmes is a work horse and has the frame, pitch selection and mental makeup to quickly climb the Dodgers organizational ladder in 2016.

Alex Verdugo

Alex Verdugo – OF (BA’s Rank: #7)

Verdugo, the Dodgers second round pick in 2014 out of Sahuaro High School in Tucson, AZ, tore up the California League last season after beginning the year at Great Lakes. In 23 games, the left-handed hitting outfielder hit .385 with nine doubles, four homers and 19 RBI for High-A Rancho Cucamonga. Overall, he hit .311 with 32 doubles, nine homers and 61 RBI in 124 games.

Verdugo took home MVP honors at the 2013 Under Armour All-American Game as one of the top two-way players in the country. It’s clear he has tools to play across the board, showing off a plus arm in the outfield and surprising speed on a 6’0″ 205 pound frame, stealing 14 bases last season. His bat is toolsy as well; during his events, showing as a patient hitter at the plate and made good extension through the ball at contact and continues that today with the ability to make solid contact.

This spring, Verdugo has collected three hits in eight at-bats and will most certainly begin 2016 at Double-A Tulsa as he continues his development.

Austin Barnes – C (BA’s Rank: #8)

Barnes was a ninth round pick – formerly of the Florida Marlins – in the 2011 Draft and is the nephew of former major league infielder, Mike Gallego. The Marlins traded Barnes to the Dodgers in the huge December 2014 deal that also sent Chris Hatcher and Andrew Heaney to L.A. for Dee Gordon, Dan Haren and Miguel Rojas.

The Riverside, CA native first came to the Baseball Factory in 2007 as a junior at a National Tryout in Irvine, CA and later went to Arizona State University to play collegiately. Barnes saw time with the Dodgers last season, playing at second, third and used as a catcher, hitting .207 in 20 games and the rookie could be part of the 25-man roster when the team breaks camp because of how well he’s playing. So far this spring, Barnes has hit four homers and driven in 10, also walking 10 times in 24 games, good for a .356 on-base percentage.

His defensive skill set is his calling card, according to Baseball Prospectus, he is rated very highly as an outstanding catcher, ranking second on this list.

San Diego Padres

Austin Smith – RHP (BA’s Rank: #9)

Smith was taken in the second round last June by the Pads out of Park Vista Community High School in Lake Worth, FL and has the size and pitch selection to be a big-time prospect in San Diego’s system.

Smith has a fastball that sits low-90s, something we saw at the 2014 Under Armour Memorial Day Classic as a junior where he threw an easy 91 on the mound and a good breaking ball with depth in the upper-70s. Scouts raved about his easy delivery and motion on the mound which should bode well for stress on his arm.

Starting out at rookie-level ball with the Padres in the Arizona League, Smith made nine starts last season and has big-time upside continuing to learn to throw his secondary pitches consistently for strikes.

Michael Gettys

Michael Gettys – OF (BA’s Rank: #10)

Gettys was a second round pick in 2014 out of Gainesville High School in Gainesville, GA. His talent was off the charts at the 2013 Under Armour All-American Game, where he showed off a plus-plus arm, rated the top arm at the event, grading above-average on the ML scale. Plus bat speed with the ability to drive the ball all over the park with raw power he put on display during the home run derby at Wrigley Field, depositing numerous baseball onto Waveland Avenue.

He has the tools that the Padres hope will turn into major league talent very soon, despite only hitting .231 in a full-season at Single-A Fort Wayne but did hit 27 doubles and six homers. He’ll need to lower the strikeout rate and make more contact to begin climbing the ranks, so he’ll likely begin 2016 at “A” ball to iron out the kinks.

San Francisco Giants

Tyler Beede

Tyler Beede – RHP (BA’s Rank: #2)

Beede signed with the Giants 14th overall in the 2014 Draft out of Vanderbilt University and attended Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout events in Marlborough, MA (10/26/08) and Providence, RI (3/22/09). He initially was selected by the Blue Jays a first-round selection in 2011 out of high school, but did not sign.

The Worcester, Mass native split time between High-A San Jose and Double-A Richmond last season, going a combined 5-10 with a 3.97 ERA, striking out 86 batters in 124 2/3 innings. He has the size you want in a pitcher who can log a lot of innings, but the Giants will need him to work on his control and secondary pitches, after being promoted to Double-A, his walk-to-strikeout-ratio soared to 4.35 per nine innings.

Lucius Fox

Lucius Fox – SS (BA’s Rank: #4)

The Bahama-born short stop signed a $6M signing bonus last July, the highest for a non-Cuban International signee. We saw Fox while he lived in the United States, first at an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout in Delray Beach, FL in 2012 and then at Baseball Factory’s Team One Florida event in Jupiter, FL in 2014 and the talent potential jumped out immediately to our scouts and coaches at the plate and in the field.

Not having yet played a professional game, scouts rate his bat speed (switch-hitter) very high and plus-plus speed (ran a 6.46-60 during his last event) to get on base at a high rate and do damage. He’s still quite a bit of time away from being major league-ready, but his skills are exciting and he should be a fun player to watch adjust to the pro ranks in 2016.

Jarrett Parker – OF (BA’s Rank: #9)

Parker was the Giants second round selection in 2010 out of the University of Virginia and finally broke onto the scene at 26 with the Giants last season, hitting .347 with six homers and 14 RBI in 21 games after being called to the majors on June 13th. Despite a solid spring where he battled for a spot on the 25-man roster, Parker batted .232 but hit three homers with 11 RBI in 24 games. With options already at the major league level and options to be used, Parker was one of the last cuts this spring and will report to Triple-A Sacramento to get at-bats every day and will factor into San Francisco’s plans at some point in 2016.

Parker, from Stafford, VA, attended Colonial Forge High School and was a Team One BWI World Series participant in June of 2006.

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