Jon Gilmore - Sleeper Potential

by Baseball Handyman on Aug 13, 2008 11:08 PM EDT

originally Posted 8/11

Sleeper Potential - Jon Gilmore, 3B, ATL

Ten years from now, a popular trivia question might be "which player was drafted by the Atlanta Braves between all-stars Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman in the 2007 draft?" As a supplemental 1st round pick, Jon Gilmore would be the correct answer.

Gilmore's reputation coming out of high school was that of a hitter with significant offensive potential, but rough around the edges. From my understanding, he did not participate in many national showcase events, and came on strong his senior season greatly upping his draft stock. However, with the lack of high level competition he faced, his transition to professional baseball was expected to be a little rocky. He didn't disappoint.

Age 18 - .286/.296/.346 in Rk
Age 19 - .173/.193/.173 in A-, .335/.363/.476 in Rk

Gilmore's less than stellar debut was followed by bombing at Rome which was made worse by Heyward and Freeman's explosive debuts in full season ball. However, he has rebounded nicely after his demotion and is currently posting a .455/.490/.614 August line after two, .300+ months.

Going forward, his stock will rise quickly should he continue his end of season surge. With the Braves still recovering from the Teixeira debacle, Gilmore could find himself in the top 10 Braves prospects entering 2009.

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Talking Chop.

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Hard to argue someone is a sleep when they were a second round pick isn’t it? I doubt he’ll make the top 10 though since he couldn’t hit in Rome and we have a bunch of pitchers and guys at Myrtle Beach ahead of him. Maybe top 15

by yondaime4 on Aug 13, 2008 11:34 PM EDT reply actions

That was my thought exactly, how are you a sleeper when you’re a very high draft pick who’s routinely talked about as one of the better players in the organization? I’ve been perfectly happy with Gilmore’s season. The Braves challenged him by starting him out at Rome, he didn’t do very well, so they let him go to Danville, where he’s raked. So he’ll go to Rome next season and still only be twenty, with plenty of time to develop at his own pace, which has nothing to do with Heyward or Freeman or anyone else’s pace.

by cbwilk on Aug 14, 2008 1:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh Man...

I’m getting bored of this! The guy is a year older than Cody Johnson, at a lower level which he is repeating after being demoted, but he’s the “sleeper” and Cody’s a bust. By the way, he K’s five times as often as he walks and once every six AB. Don’t get me wrong, I think both are interesting prospects, but I just don’t see that huge of a difference.

And this whole “Tex debacle” is real old. Salty and Harrison are either fading or flamed out. Beau Jones is apparently a LOOGY in the making (valuable, but not top prospect worthy), so that leaves only Feliz and Andrus as stud prospects. Then again, Elvis is racking up way too many errors, hasn’t harnessed his speed nor developed power. Neftali is the only guy I really wish we had back at the moment, so I wouldn’t call it a “debacle”. Our farm system is strong, my friend.

Here we go again: http://thefulldeck.blogspot.com/

by ejruiz on Aug 14, 2008 12:34 PM EDT reply actions