Baseball America released their top 20 prospects for the Florida State League today, and Kevin Newman ended up number three on the list. He was the only Pirate to make the list. The top five prospects were all shortstops, with Newman sandwiched between Gleyber Torres (2nd) and Nick Gordon (4th). Amed Rosario took the top spot and Jorge Mateo was fifth.
BA gave Newman an Alan Trammell comp, although without Trammell’s power. They noted his all-fields, line-drive approach was too advanced for FSL pitchers, which I can attest to, as he made hitting look easy at this level in the first half. He hit for a .369/.432/.481 line in 160 at-bats in his time at the level. A lot of his work at the level was spent on his defense, which is why he stayed in the FSL until mid-June, despite hitting well enough for a promotion up until that point.
I reported during the first half that Newman was working on an earlier set position so that he could get a better jump on balls. He was also working on his routes to the ball. BA noted that he makes all of the routine plays and showed the arm strength and range to make plays deep in the hole, with scouts confident he could stick at shortstop. This time last year, a lot of the reports were split on whether he would stick at short, or become a utility player. That could be due to the improved defensive work that made him a more reliable option at the position, and the hitting might have helped a bit as well.
