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After the 2011 season, the Chicago Cubs will have to make a choice: keep third baseman Aramis Ramirez and purchase his club option for $16 million, or let him hit the market and buy the remainder of the contract for $2 million.
Josh Vitters, the Cub’s 2007 first-round draft pick and indisputable No. 1 prospect, might be making that decision a little easier.
In his first bout with full-season baseball in 2009, 19-year-old Vitters paced the low Class A Midwest League, compiling 15 home runs and 46 RBI along with a .316 batting average in 70 games.
His dominant handling of the league’s pitching soon led to a promotion to high Class A Daytona in the Florida State League. He struggled mightily after the call, however, hitting just .238 with three home runs and 20 RBI in 50 games.
In the short-season Arizona Fall League, Vitters has shown signs of recovery; enough signs, in fact, to warrant a selection to the league’s Rising Stars Showcase. Vitters, batting .360 through 12 games, is sixth in the Winter League in batting average.
His power statistics, however, are down; in 50 at-bats, he’s yet to record a home run, but has rapped a triple and three doubles.
According to reports, Vitters will not participate in the Showcase after straining a pectoral muscle in batting practice last Wednesday.
Despite his inconsistency, Vitters stock has risen considerably. When 2010 prospect lists roll out, he’s certain to be among the top 20 (last year he was in the 40’s).
The 19-year-old prodigy still has a lot of developing to do, however.
Scouts love Vitters’ smooth stroke from the right-hand side, but are equally suspicious of his extremely low walk rate.
In 458 at-bats between Peoria and Daytona, Vitters induced a walk just 12 times, or in just 2.5 percent of his plate appearances.
To maintain such an unsustainable level of aggression would equate him with MLB contemporaries such as San Francisco Giants catcher Bengie Molina and New York Mets outfielder Jeff Francoeur.
Baseball America asserts that asking Vitters to change his approach “may border on heresy,” but Scouts, Inc. ’s Keith Law maintains that patience has to come in order for Vitters to become a “potential No. 3 hitter who’ll hit plenty of doubles and 25-plus home runs with a high average.”
It appears as though Vitters is content working with his current approach. In a recent Arizona Fall League article , Vitters stated:
"I’m not going up there looking for a walk. If I see a good pitch and I can drive it, I’m going to swing. It’s not a problem at all because I don’t strike out a lot."
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