Padres News: San Diego Padres Top 20 Prospects
3) Javier Guerra – SS
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Recently acquired from the Red Sox as part of the Craig Kimbrel deal, Javier Guerra quickly vaulted over all the Padres incumbent minor league shortstops, and most of the other Padre prospects as well. Originally signed out of Panama by Boston during the 2012 signing period, Guerra has had a strong showing in the Sox minor league system. After two seasons spent in rookie ball, Guerra played his entire 2015 season in A ball for the Red Sox. Guerra finished the season with a slash line of .279/.329/.449 with a wRC+ of 119. Guerra also had a K% of over 23%, which was clearly his biggest shortcoming in 2015.
Out of Panama, Guerra had mixed reviews because of questions about his speed and defense, but he has since proved all those critics wrong. Guerra is not fast by any measure, but he does have a strong first step and has developed a stronger throwing arm and more dependable overall defense. At the plate, Guerra’s biggest weakness is still his tendency to strikeout a lot, but he does have some decent power potential. Guerra overall has a strong approach at the plate, but needs to refine his plate discipline in order to fare better against more advanced pitching. Right now, it’s looking like Guerra could be the Padres shortstop of the future, starting as soon as 2018.
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Editorial and Prospect Writer for East Village Times. Twenty-five years young, Patrick has lived in San Diego for his entire life and has been a Padres fan nearly as long. Patrick lives for baseball and is always looking to learn new things about the game he loves through advanced stats.