Skip to main content

Prospect Nation 2016: #20 SS Malquin Canelo

M Canelo4
Malquin Canelo, image- Jay Floyd
Shortstop Malquin Canelo had a breakout season in 2015, proving himself worthy of being in consideration to rank among the Phillies' top prospects, coming a long way as a hitter from previous seasons as he continued to shine with his glove.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2012, the talented youngster made his professional debut that year with the Phils' Dominican Summer League team. In 54 games, Canelo sported a .167 average with five doubles, two triples and nine RBI.

The following season, he split time at two levels, producing a .221/.287/.296 slash line in 61 total games for the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies and the short-season A level Williamsport Crosscutters.

In 2014, Canelo displayed improvements with the bat posting a .249/.302/.324 slash line in 66 combined games with Williamsport, Class A Lakewood and Class A Advanced Clearwater.

As a 20-year-old, Canelo would open the 2015 campaign back at Lakewood, where he would earn a nod as a South Atlantic League All-Star.

As the lead-off man for Lakewood, the righty hitting Canelo displayed a very good head for his role, doing his best to put the ball in play and often taking till the pitcher threw two strikes, giving his own teammates the best opportunity to see the hurler's offerings as much as possible.


In 63 games with the BlueClaws, he batted .311 with five home runs and 23 RBI adding 22 doubles, which were tops in the league at the All-Star break.

After going 2-for-3 with a fitting double as well as a walk and being named player of the game in the SAL All-Star Game, Canelo was promoted to Clearwater, where he continued his outstanding efforts. In 63 games in the Florida State League, at a level where much of the competition is plenty older, the youngster posted a .250 average with three homers and 24 RBI.

Canelo packs some surprise strength into his small five-foot-ten 160-pound frame and short, slap-style swing. He has an ability to drive the ball and notched 40 extra-base hits in 126 games last season. He'll almost certainly always be a single-digit home run hitter, but can continue to be a doubles and triples guy at higher levels.

Generally, the righty batting Canelo hits better against right-handed pitchers. All nine of his home runs in 2015 were against righties.

Speed is certainly a part of Canelo's offensive game as well. He was successful in 17 of 25 (68%) attempts at two levels last season and has a 71% success rate for his career thus far. With a potential plus tool here, access to more coaches at higher levels of the developmental ranks and learning to read pitchers better will result in this weapon become more significant.

Defensively, Canelo has the tools to be a top-notch fielder. He displays smooth movement, quick hands and a very strong arm. His coaches praise his efforts and improvement on this side of the game. Despite 25 errors committed last season, he's consistent in the field at a critical position. He has rarely played any other position besides shortstop as a pro.

More time at High A should be in store for Canelo before he'll make it to Double-A. He'll be 21-years-old until Labor Day (last day of minor league season), so there's certainly no rush to move him up anyway.



Follow this year's full prospect countdown by clicking this link.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...