We haven’t touched on the consensus top two prospects in baseball recently, so I thought now would be as good a time as any:

Matt Wieters
He had finally been looking like he was getting things together when a hamstring injury sidelined him for a few days.  He returned on April 23 and has since gone 2-10 with 3 R and 3 K.  He has driven in just one run (on a solo home run), which certainly is not all that inspiring for a player who is expected to step into the major leagues and hit in the middle of the order.

The other concern, as we’ve discussed before, is his propensity to strikeout thus far.  He already is up to 12 Ks in just 34 AB.  He didn’t strikeout on 4/17 (only 1 AB, however) and 4/24 and that’s it.  In every other game he’s struckout at least once and has struck out twice in a game four times. 

Hopefully he gets this sorted out soon.  Last season he struck out just 76 times in 437 AB (once every 5.75 AB).  Comparatively, right now he’s striking out once every 2.83 AB.  It obviously is a potential problem, though it is just a small sample size.  The fact is, the less he’s putting the ball in play the less likely it is that he hits for a solid average.

David Price
He’s scheduled to make his fourth start of the season today against Wieters and the Norfolk Tide.  After a shaky first start (which came against Norfolk, coincidentally), Price has settled in, giving up just 2 earned runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, striking out 11 over 10 innings against the Gwinnett Braves (two starts). 

We all know that Price is one of the best pitching prospects to come along in some time.  The lefty is currently sporting a 2.63 ERA with 15 K over 13.2 innings pitched.  It’s a matter of when, not if, he joins the Rays rotation this season, so obviously owners should just sit tight. 

What do you think of these two prospects?  Which is going to be the first to reach the majors in 2009?

To read the previous article, click here.

Picture courtesy of Icon Sports Media, Inc.