Chris Curley write up

[witesoxfan]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/prospect-wa...-power-numbers/

 

Chris Curley, 3B, Chicago White Sox (Profile)

Level: Double-A Age: 26 Top-15: N/A Top-100: N/A

Line: 70 PA, .348/.386/.500, 0 HR, 2 BB, 13 K

 

Summary

The 2013 Carolina League MVP has started strong in his transition to the upper levels and isn’t without talent, but at 26, quick movement is imperative.

 

Notes

Chris Curley has spent his entire career far out of the spotlight. He went to college at Campbellsville University, an NAIA school, and went undrafted before signing with the Braves in late 2009. He went 3-for-19 in Rookie ball that season, hit a measly .214/.259/.320 in Low-A the next year, and was summarily released, drifting to the independent Frontier League. He hit .292/.353/.467 there in 2011 before ripping the ball at a .356/.387/.611 clip in a repeat of the circuit in 2012, enough to get him signed by the White Sox and given another shot at the SAL halfway through the season.

 

Since his reentry into the affiliated minors, Curley has quietly compiled numbers against younger competition. He hit .271/.321/.500 with 11 homers in 49 games for Kannapolis in 2012 before going 5-for-12 in a late-season cameo with High-A Winston-Salem. Returned to the High-A level in 2013, he paced the Carolina League with 24 big flies, adding 24 doubles, 14 steals, and 51 walks on the way to a .280/.350/.471 line and league MVP honors…as a 25-year-old.

 

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There's a lot more at the link, but you should read all of Stoltz's article anyways.

 

Really promising to hear those kinds of things, and you do wonder what the Sox think of Curley. Really, if he could be a Ryan Raburn type player, he could turn into an incredibly valuable player for the Sox down the road.

[maggsmaggs]

To me, it's the same fascination some have with Sox minor league relievers who post spectacular numbers at 26 in AA ball (Remenowsky, Kussmaul, etc.). They are non-prospects and have very little chance of becoming Major League contributors.

 

There's generally a reason they are in the mid-20s and in High-A or AA.

Edited April 25, 2014 by maggsmaggs

[witesoxfan]

To me, it's the same fascination some have with Sox minor league relievers who post spectacular numbers at 26 in AA ball (Remenowsky, Kussmaul, etc.). They are non-prospects and have very little chance of becoming Major League contributors.

 

There's generally a reason they are in the mid-20s and in High-A or AA.

 

He went to a small school and got released right away because he struggled to make the initial adjustment as an UDFA (it's easy to see a guy like that struggle and say "OK, we gave you a shot, but you gotta go"), but once comfortable and better in the Frontier League and since signed by the Sox, he's turned it on.

 

 

He's not a guy that's at the top of the prospect list, but if he keeps on hitting, it's going to be hard to deny him a shot at some point.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm not opposed to the idea of a late bloomer, so 26 at AA isn't an automatic dismissal in my eyes. However, look at the rest of the picture here. Curley has some flexibility defensively, but he's not particularly good at any of the positions individually. He's also got a longish swing. He's got a 3% walk rate, which combined with a .434 BABIP suggest that pitchers will adjust soon and his luck will run out.

 

I think Chris is a nice org player. I met him in August and he seems like a good guy, he certainly understands the game well. And yeah, a role as a MLB utility infielder is not out of the question... but the chances are very slim. Let's see how the lague adjusts to him as time goes on.

 

Remember too, he's got Leury Garcia (likely UTIL), Carlos Sanchez (may also only be a UTIL) both playing ahead of him in Charlotte/Chicago, and they are both better defensively, which tends to be valued highly in your bench INF.

 

[Vance Law]

Parallels with Chris Colabello?