Skye Bolt, OF (OAK)- Bolt generated significant buzz after an electric freshman year in Chapel Hill as he hit .321/.418/.491 while stealing 10 bags and walking more than he struck out in 54 games for the University of North Carolina. Lightning didn’t strike twice though as Bolt couldn’t regain that spark the rest of the time on campus posting batting averages under .260 and diminishing power numbers in his sophomore and junior seasons. The A’s thought highly enough of him to give him $650,000 to sign after selecting him in the fourth round of the 2015 draft due to the tools and despite the lack of consistency.
Bolt has always flashed above-average tools but it’s just a matter of getting them to play in game. In 2018 he did just that, as the switch-hitting outfielder hit .260/.347/.474, just falling short of the 20-20 club with 19 homers and 19 stolen bases while splitting time between High-A and Double-A. The overall power is above average, but concerns with the hit tool limit the offensive ceiling. I envision strikeouts being an issue for him early on, but he should hit for enough power and provide enough defensive value to at least become a fourth outfielder on a competitive club or second division regular. He’s a strong defender with a plus throwing arm and above average speed, but until last season the stolen base success rate was below 70 percent. So far if you combine 2018 and 2019 he’s at 81 percent, but it’s difficult to forecast a scenario where he steals more than 15 bags in a season in the big leagues. Bolt is likely to return to Las Vegas soon but in 20-team leagues I’d take a chance at perhaps catching some lightning in a bottle here. The A’s are heading back to American League parks this week so there’s a decent chance he draws a start or two. Coming into the season Bolt was ranked ninth on our Oakland Top 30 Prospects list.
Josh VanMeter, MI (CIN)- Baseball is a really funny game. VanMeter was available to every team this winter, but nobody deemed him worthy of a Rule Five selection. You can even make an argument that the Reds overlooked him a bit since they didn’t see it necessary to put him on the 40-man roster. VanMeter put together a .260/.337/.454 slash line with 53 extra-base hits and ten stolen bags in Double-A and Triple-A in 2018, and continued to post strong plate skills with a 19 K% and a near 11 BB%. He’s been going off so far in 2019 as he’s slashing .336/.431/.736 with a minor league leading 13 homers at the time of his call-up. The plate skills continue to be an asset, but an adjustment to his lower half seems to be the biggest explanation for the strong power numbers the last two seasons. The introduction of the major league ball is partly responsible for his fast start as well.
Defensively the former fifth round pick of the Padres is proficient at many positions but a master of none, and he fits the mold of an offensive minded utility guy for the Reds. The Reds have a wealth of middle infield options in the big leagues and in Triple-A Louisville, so it’s hard to see consistent playing time for VanMeter at the big league level but you can’t blame them for calling upon the hot hand. He’s already done enough to put himself in the Reds plans going forward, but with the return of Scooter Gennett looming it’s that much more difficult to get excited about VanMeter in any re-draft formats of 20 teams or less. He needs to be owned in nearly all dynasty formats though because of what he’s doing with the big league ball in Triple-A. VanMeter was ranked 24th on our preseason Reds Top 30 Prospects list.