Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The future of the Yankees: Cito Culver

If you're a Yankees fan who's reading this, chances are that you've googled Cito Culver and read like 5 different articles or blogs on him. I want to unique with my take on Culver. You've heard the scouting report on all that, but do you actually know what kind of player he is?

Christopher "Cito" Culver is a SS/RHP drafted by the Yankees out of West Irondequoit High School in Rochester New York. The Yankees have first-hand experience with him because he's a local kid so although other teams had him as a 4th or 5th round pick, the Yankees know what they're doing. According to this website (http://www.eteamz.com/eaglesbb/stats/), Culver (referred to as Chris Culver) hit .561 with 10 doubles, 9 homes, 38 RBI, 7 SB, and a .633 OBP in 22 games. Those high school stats mean nothing, but it at least gives us an idea of what kind of player Culver is. Culver led his team in homers, RBI, BA, SB, and OBP. He sounds like more of a young A-rod-type player with much less hype, rather than a Jeter-type player.

What's interesting about Culver is that back in February, he was still a work-in-progress in terms of hitting. He looks very unbalanced in this scouting video http://baseballbeginnings.com/2010/02/15/cito-culver-video/. But now, he's become a great hitter, or so the stats say.

Culver is still a work-in-progress defensively at SS. He made 8 errors in 22 games '10, good for a below average a .933 Fld%. To put that in perspective, Derek Jeter made 8 errors in 150 games in '09.

So, now that we've talked about Cito Culver the shortstop, let's talk about Cito Culver the pitcher. According to the first website I mentioned, Culver made 8 relief appearances, going 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 2 saves. He allowed 9 hits and 7 walks, and he struck out 23. He seems like a good potential relief pitcher.

It will be interesting to see what the Yankees do with Culver and what ends up happening to him. Is he really the shortstop of the future for the Yanks?

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