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Eric Patterson is BP's #2 2B Prospect

Submitted by cubsnet on Tue, 2007-02-13 13:05.

Baseball Prospectus's Nate Silver uses his PECOTA projection system to take a look at second base prospects. (Sub. req'd.) Cubs' prospect Eric Patterson comes out as one of just three players termed "excellent." He is number 2 overall, behind Boston's Dustin Pedroia and ahead of the Astros' Brooks Conrad. Silver writes:

Quote:
Eric Patterson presents a slightly different challenge, which is that his numbers at Double-A West Tennessee (.263/.330/.408) just don’t look all that impressive. But we need to remember how tough the Southern League played last year--just a 691 collective OPS. Patterson’s numbers crudely translated into the Texas League, for example, would read as .283/.351/.458, which suddenly looks like a pretty bright prospect. What’s more, his stint in Tennessee was the weak point on Patterson’s resume. He went gangbusters in his limited time in Iowa last year, had an outstanding season in his Midwest League debut in 2005, and had a .345/.408/.460 campaign in the Arizona Fall League (not accounted for in his PECOTA). He was once old for his levels, but climbing from the Midwest League to the cusp of the majors in the span of one season has removed that concern.
Earlier I had noted Patterson's very good PECOTA projection and wondered about a Patterson/Felix Pie platoon in CF in 2007. Silver doesn't like the idea of fiddling around with Patterson in the outfield. In my mind, if a player is thrown off track just because he has to learn a new position, he probably wasn't going to stay on track to begin with. In any event, the Cubs could be facing a situation soon where Patterson, Mark DeRosa, and Ryan Theriot are battling for playing time at second base, with DeRosa getting all benefits because of his contract.

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Hardball Times with a different opinion

Submitted by cubsnet on Tue, 2007-02-13 15:39.

And then we have Chris Constancio at The Hardball Times, who rates Patterson as having "average updside". Constancio writes, "The antithesis to brother Corey, Eric Patterson doesn't have the raw tools that inspire dreams of 40/40 seasons in the big leagues, but he can get on base. His speed and plate patience could take him to the top of the Cubs lineup by 2008."

Not as fine of an endorsement, but still good.

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