Welcome to the BSN Denver Colorado Rockies Top 25 Under 25 where we will rank the organization’s best players who will be 25 years-old or younger on Opening Day 2017.
Our parameters for this list may be different than others it resembles so let us be clear about them:
- The list was created entirely by the BSN Rockies staff and had no other input from any outside sources.
- While giving credit for overall (or trade) value, we prioritized an ability to help the MLB club win immediately.
- In accordance with this, we also prioritized players with fewer question marks but potentially lower ceilings.
- Statistics were considered on equal level with scouting reports in addition to our own field reporting.
Our observations come through a combination of spending parts of each of the past four (going on five) seasons on the ground on the backfields at spring training and through our regular reporting from Rookie Level Grand Junction, talking to coaches, scouts, and journalists both on and off the record. Of course, countless hours are spent on MiLB.tv and combing over public reports from other credible sources.
We are going to do something a little different with Raimel Tapia than we have with the other young players on this list. Having already covered his minor league career in detail, we thought we would drop this link, cover a little bit about what he has done since we last wrote about him, and then break down our five favorite Tapia statistics.
First, it’s important to note that since being called to MLB, Tapia has been moved mostly into a bench role. After just eight starts when he looked like his normal self — tallying more hits than games played in — Tapia was moved back to the bench and has yet to find success given one at-bat per game as opposed to the three or four he is used to.
This is why one should not get carried away by looking at his numbers from the end of last season or even so far this spring. It is unlikely that Tapia is ever seriously asked to work primarily as a pinch-hitter. His game has always been suited to grind and wear down the opposition. Jon Gray once described Tapia to BSN Denver as “the most annoying guy in the world to pitch to.” Seeing him once instead of three times amounts to a third of the frustration.
5. His batting average against elite pitchers
Tapia’s career .325 average is a pretty impressive stat all by itself, but there are all kinds of interesting tidbits hidden inside of that one number. We will get into a few more when we get to splits later on, but a fascinating stat kept by MLBFarm.com shows that Tapia, unlike a lot of singles hitters in the minors, excels against the best pitchers he faces. In 420 plate appearances against pitchers who were considered Top 20 prospects, Tapia’s average actually goes up a few ticks to .327. His career strikeout rate of 14.9 percent goes down to 14.5 percent against the best competition and the six home runs, seven triples, and 12 doubles all stand right in line with his normal rate.
4. Hits/Games Played ratio
Another way to look at Tapia’s incredible hit tool is to note that he has, with remarkable consistency, gotten more hits than games played in. This was even true, as we mentioned above, when he was starting through eight games at MLB. After he moved to the bench, given just one at-bat per game, this was no longer the case. The only other exception to this rule? 2011, when Tapia got 65 hits in 67 games at a 17-year-old.
The Hits/Games Played Ratio for each of the following seasons is as such: 75/63, 92/66, 157/122, 166/131, 173/128, 36/24.
3. Runs Scored
What point is there in being such a consistent table setter if you don’t come around and finish the thought by scoring the run?
Tapia’s stealing ability has always been a work in progress, though he has a respectable 120 stolen bases to 71 caught stealing in his career. But the overall speed has never been in question and it shows up in rounding the bases with regularity and that has kept him on the runs scored leaderboards throughout his career as well.
In Runs, he was 5th in the Pioneer League in 2013, 2nd in the SAL in 2014, 12th in Modesto in 2015, and 4th in the Easter League last season despite spending the last month of the year between Triple-A and MLB. His season total would have been good for third overall.
Either way, Tapia doesn’t just annoy the crap out of the pitcher on his way to getting on base, he keeps doing so once he gets there, one way or another. This also reminds us.
2. Eastern League Hit Leader … a month after call-up.
Raimel Tapia isn’t just a slap hitter. He is the slap hitter. Remember in Major League when the Indians manager decides Willy Mays Hays has to do pushups every time he hits a pop up? That would be a great rule for Tapia. You can use the term as a critique all you like, but we at BSN Denver, as usual, believe that context is king and perhaps the best way to understand the advanced level of Tapia’s hit tool is this; he was leading the Eastern League in hits 28 days after he had been promoted.
He wasn’t just the best hitter there, he was nearly a month ahead of everyone else.
1. No Splits
There is still a way to accomplish everything talked about in this article while taking advantage of certain splits that are more advantageous to your profile. Tapia has no discernable splits. Throughout his career, he has had seasons where he hit better on the road than at home, like he did in 2015. He has had years where he hit better against left-handed (same-handed) pitching as he has each of the past two seasons. He hit .370 against lefties last year and .309 against righties.
He had slow April’s in 2014 and 2016 but beyond that is consistent from month-to-month. Day or night? You guessed it, doesn’t really matter.
There are .300 hitters out there who are so because sometimes they get hot and hit .410 for a month and other times they can’t find it and hit .230. Looking over Tapia’s splits is a veritable buffet of numbers between .270-.390. That’s what he hits on Mondays and Sundays, it’s what he hits in good weather and bad weather, it’s what he hits against the dregs and against the elites. Lefties or righties, April or August, midseason callup or no, that’s what he hits. He doesn’t discriminate about which field to hit the ball to either:
Raimel Tapia just hits.
