Thursday, February 6, 2014

Meet A Prospect: Peter O'Brien


Peter Robert O'Brien was born on July, 15 1990 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Peter spent his High School years at Braddock High School in Miami and split his college years between the Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida and the University of Miami. Peter was drafted in 2011 by the Colorado Rockies while with the Bethune Cookman College baseball team but decided to go back to school with the University of Miami.The New York Yankees, with their third round pick (94th overall) in 2012, selected O'Brien as a catcher in the MLB First Year Player's Draft after signing for $460K.

O'Brien drives the ball to all fields and has what is widely considered as plus raw power. He is not going to light up the base paths with his speed but he is no Jesus Montero either. His arm is definitely considered a plus and he has shown great improvements at Miami after transferring from Bethune Cookman. His agility, considering his size, is also somewhat of an amazing thing. The Yankees have since moved O'Brien to third base as a possible Alex Rodriguez replacement in the future and he has flourished since the move.

Here is a look at O'Brien's minor league numbers:

YearAgeTmLgLevGChPOAEDPFld%SBCS
2012212 Teams2 LgsA--RkC362792433151.9824813
201221YankeesGULFRkC319172001.00052
201221Staten IslandNYPLA-C332602262951.9814311
2013222 Teams2 LgsA-A+C656656025677.9897132
201322CharlestonSALLAC535555034666.9896327
201322TampaFLORA+C12110991011.99185
201322TampaFLORA+3B38912152184.802
201322TampaFLORA+DH17
2 Seasons15610358661393012.97111945
C (2 seasons)C10194484587128.98711945
DH (1 season)DH17
3B (1 season)3B38912152184.802
Generated 12/7/2013.

There has been some grumbling, whether substantiated or not, about letting O'Brien come to Spring Training and compete for the third base job if Alex Rodriguez is suspended. I think he is still a little too raw for that and not a better option then Kelly Johnson or Eduardo Nunez but it is what it is, speculation. O'Brien won the inaugural Bowman Hitting Challenge with the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League this year but struggled a little bit at the plate. How final line was .190/.212/.413/.625 with four home runs, 13 RBI's, 12 hits, and 26 strike outs. Sounds like he could benefit from a few more seasons down in the minors before we start wanting O'Brien to fill the big shoes of A Rod.

O'Brien is likely to start this season in Tampa again to work on his fielding and such but he looks like one of the first candidates for a call up to AA Trenton mid season. My current ETA for O'Brien is sometime in late 2015 or early 2016. 

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)