Our Ryan H. vs. The Other Ryan H.

By Tom Edgar on December 27, 2006 11 Vote 0 Votes

When I look at the Cubs prospects, I see a lot of hope for the future but no matter how much the scouts say and how many rankings you see you can never be sure how a prospect will pan out. One of the Cubs prospects that has been consistently listed in the top 10 lists is Ryan Harvey. When you look at his stats, his obvious power, and his name, you wonder how he might compare to Ryan Howard, the superstar for the Philadelphia Phillies. When you look at the Minor League stats of both players, you don't see a lot that makes you think Ryan Harvey will be anything like Ryan Howard.

You can see that they both have power and strikeout a lot. Ryan Harvey has fewer games in the minors but you can see some similarities but when you look at totals, Harvey doesn't measure up to Howard. Does this mean that Ryan Harvey won't be a star in the big leagues? It doesn't mean much of anything at this point because as you can see from the stats for Ryan Harvey, he is still only 22 years old. He has a lot of time yet to work on his game and to hone the skills he will need to succeed at the Major League level.

Ryan Harvey isn't one of the best prospects we have in our Minor League system but I always like the guys that have the power. Cubs' fans always loved Sammy Sosa because he had the ability to turn a game around with one swing of the bat. Ryan Harvey is the best power-hitting prospect I see in our system but he is one or two years away from showing us what he might be able to do so for now we can only hope he is close to a Ryan Howard.

If you look again at the same stats I showed you above but focus on a different area you see some hope for the future. The totals don't compare well but if you look at a common season when they were the same age it does show that Ryan Harvey isn't far off where Ryan Howard was at that age. Granted, Harvey had more seasons in the minors at that time but he also started younger. Look at the season when both were 22 that are highlighted below. The stats for that year show similar power numbers and the ability to drive in runs. It also shows how both do a lot of whiffing.

Where Howard excels is in his batting average and on-base percentage. Scouting reports for Harvey say that he has holes in his swing and his batting average shows that. If he can work on those weaknesses, he could see Wrigley Field as early as 2009. If he continues to improve, he might be in the future plans of the Cubs but if he continues to struggle, he could be included in a trade that brings a top star to the Cubs instead. No matter what happens, chances are that he will help improve the Cubs.

For more of Thomas' views on the Cubs, visit www.cubsfanhell.com

Aaron

I wasn't saying that we have to get rid of Barrett, but with his contract about up, and Fox emerging, and his inability to call a good game, it seems prudent to trade him while his value is still high as a catcher, before he has to move to another position...I mean, let's face it, unless your name is Carlton Fisk or Pudge Rodriguez, you only have about 7-8 years in you as an effective everyday major league catcher....Piazza's move was long overdue, and as you can see from Lieberthal, Sandy Alomar, among others---is that timeframe is very short before you move to a platoon role, and paying him the 9-10 million---perhaps even more for poor game calling, I think is too much, and we'd be better off trading him for valuable pieces to get a championship.

By the way, I am NOT at all disagreeing with his tremendous ability to hit at a traditionally poor hitting position, but if your manager has to call the game for you, and your life expectancy at the position is about up, doesn't it make sense to move him before you get nothing for him?

Austin, I like your lineup too, and I totally agree with you guys about Murton----I was just referring to what was written about Harvey, and inserting him somewhere if he produces this year big time. But that's pretty much a pipe dream. Jury is still out on Murton whether or not he can put it together for a full year, and I must say---his defense was pretty bad last year, so I hope he does something to improve it this year....if not, and if Harvey has a great year, I think you might see him in '08 if Murton struggles.

Ryan R

Don't know why so many people don't like Barret. With the 9 rookies we threw out there last year I'm not sure how he is supposed to even know what pitches they posses, much less what they can effectively get across the plate. Given a full year with a conssistent staff I think that he can call a good game. Plus, wasn't he like 2nd or 3rd behind Piazza for offensive numbers for catchers last year? Why would you want to get rid of the guy? Besides, we need someone with his fire on the team. Who else is gong to knock out the AJ P's of the league?

As a side note, I knew the '06 season was officially a train wreck when the only guy on the field wearing a cup got his wedding tackle re-arranged. Pretty much summed up the entire year.

Hubert

Uh, just saying, Ryan Harvey is and never will be anything like Ryan Howard lol.

Jim

Dusty has called every game that Barret has caught. Blanco would call his own games. Maybe Blanco should have been calling the games for Barrett. Like I said earlier you can teach a guy to call a game you can't teach a guy how to hit. I see Murton in the outfield for years to come. His first full season he hit .297 and has all the making of a great hitter. I don't think that Patterson is ready to be called up and Harvey has shown nothing to bring him up to the big leagues. Soriano will be patrolling right field not left. 2008 will look like:

Soriano Rf

Murton LF

Lee 1B

Aram 3B

Barrett C

Theriot 2B

Pie CF

Izzy SS (I think he will show everyone why he won a gold glove, although I would love to have Micheal Young playing shortin 08)

Don't think that Veal and Gallager are ready unless they show some huge improvement this season. I would love to have guys come up through the system but you can't count on everyone to make it to the bigs.

Anthony

First of all let me say that I love Barrett. The major concern about him as I, and many professional pundits, see it isn't his defense , it's his inability to call a good game and control the flow of one. If he could become a better game caller and earn the trust of our top pitchers, then I would consider him an All-Star caliber catcher.

Austin

I agree with Jim, Barrett is slowly putting his name in the group of sluggers on the team in ARAM, Lee, and Soriano. I still think a team centered around those four would be better than Aaron's 2008 Cubs. And what happened to Matt Murton!!

C-Barrett

1B- Lee

2B- Patterson

3B- Ramirez

SS-Cedeno/Theriot

LF-Murton

CF-Pie

RF-Soriano

Zambrano

Hill

Lilly

Gallagher

Veal

Pen: Wood, Marmol, Howry, Eyre, Prior (sad but probably true)...

nick

Jim I totally agree with you, I don't see why people want to get rid of Barrett, like I said before, his bat will win us more games than his defense will lose for us.

Jim

If Barrett puts up #'s like he did last year how can you even think of getting rid of his bat? He's not awful defensively he's just not the best defensive catcher. You can teach a guy to catch a good game. You can't teach a guy to hit a 95 mph fastball, or a curveball etc....

Aaron

Thomas.....great blog man...I was wondering when one of you guys would write up something about Harvey. The guy is a tremendous talent if he can put it all together. I think that the Double A coaches will probably be able to work with him a lot on the holes in his swing---they seem to do a great job down there all around at Double A. Or perhaps with Daytona again as Zisk returns as batting coach, so he's familiar with Harvey.

I think what people tend to forget, and Thomas, you hi-lighted this fact----Harvey is only 22!! 22-23 is exactly the same time Howard started putting it all together. The thing is, when you draft someone out of high school, it takes a lot longer to break them in, unless of course, your name is Ken Griffey Jr....some foreign players rise fast too, but only because they've been facing top talent for their whole lives, often playing when they're 16 against 25-35 year old guys that throw really fast. In high school in the states, you might have five guys in your entire conference that can throw high 80's to low 90's, while nearly every guy in their league throws that fast. I say you give the guy one more year to prove it before you write him off. He got off to a terrible start, but finished the season rather well. 20hr and 84 rbi, but a Neifi-esque OBP is cause for concern. I say that in order to be a successful MLB player, he probably needs to see that rise to about .330 if he's going to get a look. But it's interesting to note that aside from the poor showing in OBP, his extra-base and HR potential are roughly the same as Howard, plus Harvey's more of an all-around athlete to boot. I'd love to see him at a corner spot in the next few years. Soriano, Pie, and Harvey would look amazing in the outfield. Both Pie and Harvey are really young, and both struggle with OBP, but with the right instruction, we could be looking at two superstars out there. I'm partial to homegrown talent...but my dream team for the Cubs in 2008 would look like this:

C-Jake Fox

1B-Lee

2B-Patterson

SS-Theriot

3B-ARAM

LF-Soriano

CF-Pie

RF-Harvey

Bench- Chris Robinson (Catcher), DeRosa, Pagan, Ward, and Scott Moore

staff: Zambrano, Hill, Prior, Veal, Gallagher

BP: Cotts, Eyre, Howry, Marmol, Ohman, Ryu, Wood

That would give us 14 out of 25 homegrown guys. The only way this is going to be possible is if we win it all next year. If that happens, I believe you have to trade Lilly, Marquis, and most other veterans for really young prospects, and fill in voids due to injury/FA with 1 yr contracts. Wood should be the closer like Smoltz for 2 years, then see how he does, and try him again as a starter. While I don't think Theriot is a regular, I definitely want him on the roster, but I think you use some young pitching to get a young shortstop in the mold of a Hanley Ramirez.

Jim

I haven't heard a goor rumor, signing in about a week. Need some news getting bored, although I have started to watch the Bulls again and they are fun to watch again.