Top Prospects #13: Johnny Giavotella

#13 Johnny Giavotella

Age: 22
Pos: 2B
Ht/WT: 5-8/185
B/T: R/R
Drafted: 2nd Round, Pick #409 of 2008 Rule IV Draft
College: University of New Orleans
ETA: 2012





Johnny Giavotella was a somewhat surprising pick for the Royals in the second round of the 2008 draft, and he signed for a bonus $9,000 under slot value. Giavotella represents a prospect that both scouts and stat-heads can get excited about. In his first season he spent the year in Burlington, IA and posted a triple slash of .299/.355/.421. The next year he was promoted to high A, Wilmington and in 2009 he posted a line that many would consider disappointing. But as we have discussed this came at pitcher's paradise Frawley Stadium and so let's use minorleaguesplits.com to take his park factors into consideration. We now arrive at a line of .270/.359/.398 this line is more respectable even though, it still shows a drop in performance from his 2008 numbers. But by taking an even closer look at Giavotella's 2009 numbers and one finds that he suffered through an incredibly unlucky season with a BABIP of .286. So using the same website let's take out the luck factor as well. We now arrive at a triple slash of .329/.410/.478. There is obviously still very much reason to be excited about Giavotella's bat.

Unfortunately, we now have to talk about his questionable glove. According to his total zone rating, Giavotella was 3 runs below average per 150 in 2009. John Sickels of The Baseball Prospect Book 2010, believes that Giavotella has an average throwing arm and range, but his twenty-one errors were the result of stiff hands. But Baseball America feels that Giavotella possesses above average range, especially to his right and that his throwing arm is his only asset on the defensive side of things. I look forward to seeing Giavotella this season in Northwest Arkansas and I hope that his defense can continue to improve and that the promotion to the Texas League can have the same sort of affect on his line as it did David Lough's and Jeff Bianchi's in 2009.