Prospect opening eyes with big season in Greensboro
SAN FRANCISCO — James Nelson didn’t think muchof it at the time, andhe still doesn’t give it a ton of thought now, but the most significant date of his season might have beenMay13.
In the10gamesprior, Nelson had at least one hit (with an average of nearly two per game) for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Miami Marlins’ Low-A affiliate. And the 24 games that followed, he had at least one hit. Two double-digit hit streaks, separated by one 0-fer, keeping him from a longer run that almost certainly would have gathered more widespread notoriety.
“I was just playing baseball, honestly,” Nelson said via phone recently. “I didn’t keep up with it. It comes to an end sometime. I’m just playing baseballandit’s fun.”
As it were, Nelson, a 19-year-old third baseman, settled for the more mild stretches amid what has been an eye-opening year in Greensboro in his first full professional season.
Entering play Saturday, Nelson owned a .314 average with a .365 OBP and .465 slugging mark, plus 39 RBI and 26 extra-base hits (18 doubles), numbers plenty impressive enough to garner a spot in the South Atlantic League All-Star Game last month.
A year removed from being the Marlins’ 15th-round draft pick out of junior college, Nelson has turned into a prospectworth keeping an eye on.
A promotion to High-A Jupiter before season’s end is an option, though the organization seems more inclined to let him stay in Greensboro and potentially compete for a playoff spot— the experience in that environment being more valuable to his development than a handful of at-bats against marginally better pitching.
“He’s a young player for the league, but he shows an outstanding ability to hit,” said Marc DelPiano, the Marlins’ farm director. “He can manage an at-bat. He’s got power. He can drive the ball to all fields. For his age and where he’s at, it’s an advanced bat.”
Said Todd Pratt, the former big leaguer and Greensboro’s first-year manager: “He has an idea— most guys are straight pull hitters at this age, and he knows how to use all parts of the field and hit multiple types of pitches.”
Offense has beenNelson’s calling card through this early stage of his career, but his defense has lagged behind — though the tools are there, DelPiano said.
Nelson has been a third baseman exclusively as apro after playing the hot corner a bit in college. As a shortstop by trade, still learning his new position, Nelson said he has a tendency to rush throws when he doesn’t have to, leading to 14 errors in 61games.
The arm strength is there. For Nelson, it’s a matter of knowing when to use it.
Marlins get a Shiner
Spending time with the Marlins thisweekend is former coach Pat Shine, who will reprise his role as Giancarlo Stanton’s Home Run Derby pitcher Monday at Marlins Park, much to the excitement of both.
“It’s definitely good to have him here,” Stanton
said. “He has great energy. Everyone loves him here. And he knows how to groove them.”
Said Shine of his visit: “[Stanton] is not real emotional. He’s like, ‘You getting ready to go? You ready to go?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to go.’ ”
Notable
Here’s Dan Straily from Friday night summing up Stanton in one quote: “There’s a lot of balls that guy hits, even some of them for outs, and you’re just like, ‘That’s the hardest ball I’ve ever seen hit.’ And then he hits the next one and you’re like, ‘No, that’s the hardest ball I’ve ever seen hit.’ ”