Tony Wolters: Cleveland Indians prospect profile

Tony Wolters is not the largest guy. Standing at 5'10 165 lb. he does not jump out before watching him play, but anyone who does can certainly see the promise.

His manager this past season, Edwin Rodriguez, thinks highly of him. He told me in an interview in July that he thought Wolters could become a "complete ballplayer."

Physical Bio

Bats: L Throws: R

Height: 5'10 in. Weight: 165 lb.

Scouting Report

Defensively, while the Indians are still trying to work him in at shortstop, I believe his long-term position is going to be second base. While I think Wolters' range would be passable for shortstop, his arm and footwork leave big enough questions that I do not feel comfortable fitting him in at shortstop. He has a tendency to spin around when making tough plays, and had issues with setting his feet to throw when playing shortstop, rushing his throws at times. The arm would be below average for shortstop, with the biggest knock being his struggles with throws on balls hit to his right.

At the plate, Wolters profiles as a guy who could hit .290 with some pop, with more gap power than home run power. His average speed will play up due to good instincts and Pedroia-like hustle, but he should never be a major base stealing threat. He has a quick bat, and a direct path to the ball which couples with a level swing to spray line drives to all fields.

Statistical Analysis

Wolters triple-slashed .260/.320/.404 as a 20-year old in the Carolina League, which is not bad. This is made more impressive when factoring in that Wolters was overwhelmed at first by the Carolina League, batting .130 in the month of April. Much to his credit he hung in there, and was able to bounce back.

A few concerns with Wolters are his K and BB rates, as they were both rather disappointing. He walked in just 6.7% of his PAs, and struck out in 19.4% of them. He was able to post a BABIP of .314, which may be accredited to his line drive approach.