Atlanta Braves Mid-Season Prospect Reports, Part 3
Oct. 14, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres outfielder Mallex Smith plays for the Surprise Saguaros during an Arizona Fall League game against the Salt River Rafters at Salt River Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
16. Mallex Smith
The Good:
22-year-old Mallex Smith has been “pushed” throughout his minor league career. In 2014 he split time between A and Advanced-A ball, hitting .305 and .295 respectively in the Padres organization. When traded to the Braves, Mallex was started immediately at AA Mississippi and moved up to AAA Gwinnett in June: 4 levels in 2 seasons. He now has roughly equal games and ABs with both clubs, and has shown that he can handle the pitching at each level… with hardly any loss in offensive performance along the way (we’ll explain more about that later).
On the defensive side, the hope has been that Mallex’s “80” speed would be sufficient to make up for any deficiencies in route-running at the center field position, and that seems to be the case. Once arriving at the ball, he makes the plays more often than not: 6 errors combined at AA and AAA – down from 14 in 2014.
Mallex has 50 steals in 2015. That number was 88 in 2014, but he was also caught 26 times last year. This season, he seems to be picking his spots better, as he’s raised his success rate to 83% despite the higher levels. He has no power to speak of (13 professional homers in 3-1/2 seasons), but will turn singles into doubles, doubles into triples. I frankly wouldn’t be surprised if he someday hit for the cycle… with the homer being of the inside-the-park variety.
The Not So Good:
Whenever you push a prospect through the system, there will be growing pains, though one has to search with some considerable diligence to find them with Mallex. But all of this has to be read in the context that Smith is 5th youngest player in the AAA International League.
By the end of July Mallex was hitting just .220-ish at AAA with a .265 OBP. However, it was roughly at that point that he figured something out and completely turned around his upper-level season.
In fact, his avg/obp splits are rather remarkable:
- June: .154 / .179 (6 games)
- July: .240 / .290 (25 games)
- August: .353 / .389 (23 games)
In other words, he’s now resumed hitting as well as he was at the AA level. That’s pretty impressive.
Mallex has been used as a leadoff hitter most of the time, and that’s certainly the role he’s being groomed for – the Kenny Lofton / Billy Hamilton role. He will continue to improve on his reads of where a ball will end up, and when that happens, he’s likely to be able to make some jaw-dropping, area-code-crossing catches in center field.
The Stats:
- AA: (57 games, 240 PA). .340 / .418 / .413 / .831 with 11% BB, 17% K and 140 wRC+
- AAA: (55 games, 249 PA). .284 / .324 / .371 / .695 with 5.6%/14% BB/K rates; 100 wRC+
Again, a little perspective: if he qualified for a batting title, Smith would be in a 15th place tie in the entire league with Adonis Garcia. If you threw out June all together, he’s hitting .297 at AAA, and that August pace would sit atop the leaderboard for the league.
Additionally, Jose Peraza hit .294 at AAA, but was only on base at a .318 clip. This is where Mallex has typically excelled, and his .389 for August is typical of his minor league performance.
TRENDING
It’s both a bit unfortunate and disappointing to hear that the Braves might not give Smith a cursory call-up in September. Frankly, I think it would be helpful to get him acclimated to the majors, as it seems fairly evident that he could very well break camp next April as the Braves’ starting center fielder and leadoff hitter.
The long-term view is that the Braves are likely thinking ‘arbitration clock’… hopefully that doesn’t extend to the point of keeping him at AAA until mid-May of 2016, but… we’ll see how the off-season progresses and whether Cameron Maybin and Michael Bourn remain behind tomahawks. A “3M” outfield of Maybin/Mallex/Markakis could be a rather formidable trio both offensively and defensively as one of several possible options.
Smith has come a long way in a hurry, and he’s now on the top step of this professional-level dugout. He’s met every challenge to date and continues to demonstrate that he’s ready for the next one.
Next: A Big Swap