http://baseballinstinct.com/2011/08/...ox/#more-13363
The Bat
Bogaerts’ present value comes from his bat. It is starting to look like it might be a pretty impressive bat. So far, he is posting a .256/.325/.521 slash line. That doesn’t look terribly impressive on the surface. However, the first thing that jumps out is a .521 SLG and a .253 IsoP. In fact, that IsoP has only been eclipsed in the Sally League by two guys you might have heard of – Adrian Beltre and Mike Stanton. Look, yes Bogaerts has a low average right now. He doesn’t walk much and he strikes out more than you’d like. He’s also 18 and getting his first taste of stateside ball and full-season ball. Color me unconcerned. Bogaerts does currently exhibit poor pitch recognition and strike zone judgment. Again, those are things that can come with time and experience. But you can’t teach that kind of power. More impressive is that Bogaerts’ numbers are coming with a .289 BABIP and a 12% LD%. Twelve percent! That’s not a typo. It is way early but Bogaerts could be a real run producer in the future.
Our Instinct
Bogaerts is probably too raw to show up on a Top 100 list. But he’ll be a guy after next season that anyone who was brave enough to put him on their Top 100 list will be bragging every chance they get. As I said above, there is still so much time and so many games ahead of Bogaerts. With his kind of toolset, you just have no idea how things could turn out. We don’t know what kind of work ethic he has. We don’t know what his general makeup is like. We don’t know if his body is randomly susceptible to injuries. However, what we do know is that Bogaerts has shown the ability to become a special player. The two players that have put up better IsoP’s in the Sally than he has are Adrian Beltre and Mike Stanton. Beltre has been a big time hitter at times and Stanton is showing that he will likely be a big time hitter for a long time to come. Bogaerts has the raw tools to be a player somewhere between those two guys. Whether he achieves that ceiling is up to him and fate. But he is absolutely a guy to watch going forward.