Posted By:
David Vargha
To outward appearances, Hunter Pence may look like a big gangly kid. While he's ranked with a few of the touts, none of the scouts or contacts in-the-know in the Astros organization generated much of the needed buzz that gets players the good FAB50 mojo. Then we got an earful from the Lexington Legends, where Pence spent a good chunk of 2005. We checked again, and we heard enough buzz to fill a hive.
Pence is one of those guys that is really very gifted, but seems to blend in to the crowd well. When we asked around again we heard comments like "Oh, yeah! Pence. Great hitter. I didn't think about him."
There should be moment to give Pence pause. He was the Astros top draft pick, going in the 2nd round of the 2004 Draft (64th OA). He has a swing that's been called "ungainly" by scouts with whom we spoke. He chokes up on the bat too much for a the average big guy. Then again, there may be little average about Pence.
Originally drafted out of high school by the Milwaukee Brewers in the lower rounds (40th/1189OA), Pence elected to go to the University of Texas at Arlington.
He went .395 for UT Arlington and won the Southland Conference batting title. That was the report that interested the Astros enough to take him as a surprising first draft pick.
He was assigned to Tri-City in the New York-Penn League after the draft. He batted .296 with a slugging percentage of .518.
Pence was assigned to the Lexington Legends in the South Atlantic League where he had a breakout season start. Through July 26th, he had a .338 average and an impressive .652 slugging percentage. He hit 14 doubles, three triples, and 25 home runs, with 60 RBIs. He was the home run leader in the SAL until he was promoted to the Salem Avalanche.
With just a few weeks with the High-A Carolina League Avalanche, his numbers reflect adjustment, but are still quite good: .267/.440 put him second overall in performance on the club's roster. He has no errors, a good thing in the error-prone Class-A levels.
Some had predicted, after his performance with the Legends, that he might jump to the Hooks, but the more prudent track was used to give him some growing time.
We understand that he takes instruction well, and that some of his boyish looks and choked up batting may actually help him with pitchers who haven't found out about his hand speed.
On the D side, he has reasonable speed, but he still is having some challeges at reading the ball to make big plays. He was playing center field in short season. A scout who saw him in the NY-Penn league said that he'd be better off in right or left, that he lacks the agility of a major league center fielder.
We were also unable to get a clear read on the organizational sentiment about him post-recruitment. We would assume, given his high draft, that he's someone to watch. He seems to be pushing himself along faster into the spotlight than many had anticipated.
MLN's editors like him to continue his movement through the system. We see him at Class AA with Corpus Christi in the Texas League in 2006. Depending upon the type of year that he had there, he might be able to accelerate into Round Rock or even get a cup of coffee in Houston by some time next season. We don't see permanent opportunities for him to advance into the Astros lineup until 2007, unless he goes on another home run tear.
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