13 replies to this topic

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Position: 2B/SS
DoB: 1/17/1992
Height and Weight: 5'8, 175
Draft History: 110th overall in 2010

Coyle is a polished hitter with surprising pop for his size. Scouts seem bullish on his defensive actions and his arm, but it seems more likely that his future is at 2B rather than SS. Considered a tough sign last year, the Sox pried him away from a UNC commitment with a $1.3M bonus.

After getting his feet wet very briefly (10 AB) in the GCL last August, Coyle was ambitiously assigned to Greenville this spring, where he has put up the following interesting line in 16 games: .196/.415/.391

Beneath the slash stats we are looking at 46 AB, 16 BB, 15 K, 2 HR, and 3 2B. Clearly he's having some trouble with strikeouts, which is not that surprising since he came right out of high school to low A ball. But there is a lot to like here so far, given the demonstrable on base skills and quite a bit of pop.

A few links:

Soxprospects.com summary.

Interview on espnboston.com.

Edited by Morgan's Magic Snowplow, 27 April 2011 - 08:11 AM.

[OnBaseMachine]

Sean hit a grand slam today... very nice to see him adjusting to pro-ball.

linky goodness from MiLB.com

He may still have problems with stirkeouts, but he is definitely finding pitches to hit.

[Brianish]

"The Irish Pedroia?"

This phrase gave me some serious wood.

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Coyle spent some time on the DL but is now back and doesn't seem to have missed a beat at the plate.

Current slash stats: .245/.388/.518

Underlying those stats are 22 BB, 27 K, and 16 XBH in 110 ABs.

There is no need to rush this kid given his age, but it would be nice to see him get a crack at Salem before the year is out.

[Midre Cum Ingz]

Coyle spent some time on the DL but is now back and doesn't seem to have missed a beat at the plate.

Current slash stats: .245/.388/.518

Underlying those stats are 22 BB, 27 K, and 16 XBH in 110 ABs.

There is no need to rush this kid given his age, but it would be nice to see him get a crack at Salem before the year is out.

As I said in the other thread I have never seen a middle infielder drop a .900 OPS a year out of HS in full-season ball and have it go completely unnoticed.

Maybe it's the sub-.250 average...

The kid has a .143 IsoD and a .273 IsoP using wood for the first time as a teenager.

It's just stupid. Unreal.

[Buzzkill Pauley]

As I said in the other thread I have never seen a middle infielder drop a .900 OPS a year out of HS in full-season ball and have it go completely unnoticed.

Yamaico Navarro, 2008. Sure he had turned 20, but no one really cared about his .901 OPS (181 PA) because Lowrie was the anointed SS-of-the-future, while the lineup was dominated by Anderson, Reddick, and Nava. Similarly, Coyle's setting the table for Head and Jacobs, while Tejeda became the new smexy at 2B after his superb spring training.


I agree Coyle's been great so far, but his line's based on ~100 ABs. Be patient -- if he still looks this good at the end of the season, it won't be unnoticed.

[someoneanywhere]

I agree Coyle's been great so far, but his line's based on ~100 ABs. Be patient -- if he still looks this good at the end of the season, it won't be unnoticed.

If this were AA, and maybe even A+, I'd share that sentiment. But in Low A what you look for is athletic and baseball separation, which may or may not be reflected in slash lines or stat lines. I am not saying promote him -- not by any means. Keep him in Greenville, let him play out the year, let him get used to the grind of pro ball. He actually won't look this good by August, I bet. But what he has shown is that he's a separator, and those are the guys who not only can play the game but can make the adjustments you need to make as you move up.

Take Gibson as a counter-example. If you watched him down here, you saw that some of the frothing about his athleticism was overboiled; you knew he was going to struggle. Slow feet, slow hands, just slow athletically overall. The entire time he was in Low A, I never saw him hit a ball hard, not even an out. (I'm sure he did. But I go to 30ish games a year and I never saw it.) Coyle is better spelled "coil." He's all spring, in all parts. And for my money, he's proven what he needs to prove in Greenville already. Letting him play the game for a year as a pro is in some (not all) ways a different question from the matter of his proving his ability.

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Coyle has had a bizarre run over the last ten games: 42 ABs, 10 Ks, 5 BBs, and 8 hits - every one of them for extra bases. I don't think he's hit a single since coming back from his injury.

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Coyle went on the DL again after getting hit in the head with a pitch and is now back playing regularly in Greenville.

In his four games back, Coyle has maintained an aversion to hitting singles - he's collected two hits, both for extra bases, and now has as many 2B on the year as 1B (hit totals = 12 1B, 12 2B, 5 3B, 6 HR). I really don't have an explanation. Maybe he has an insanely low GB rate? Or maybe he's been really unlucky on ground balls leaking through the infield and short flies falling between infielders and outfielders?

[Bigpupp]

Coyle went on the DL again after getting hit in the head with a pitch and is now back playing regularly in Greenville.

Just to clarify, he didn't get hit in the head with a pitch, but instead had a bunt come up and hit him in the face causing some cuts. Note big difference but I thought it should be noted.

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

While his two injury spells during May and June seemed to throw him off for a bit, Coyle came on strong once again in July, finishing with a .284/.420/.523 slash line for the month. He now has a .244/.362/.480 line for the season and has been showing even more power than during his initial splash in April. He has 20 2Bs, 6 3Bs, and 11 HRs in 76 games.

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

I haven't updated this thread in forever. Coyle's 2012 in Salem was somewhat of a disaster but he's off to a very hot start this year (repeating the level), with a .321/.406/.786 line through seven games.

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Coty missed a week with (I think) a jammed thumb but came back strong tonight, going 2/5 with a dinger. He now has a .333/.391/.738 line. Given that he's repeating the level, I think we see him in Portland by mid season.

[SoxScout]

Speier wrote about Coyle for BA today, in it he said that while the power surprised most, internally the Red Sox project him to be a 20-30 HR player (?!?!).

 

Also said he earned a promotion to Double-A with his play this spring training but in the end they wanted to let him finally dominate a level before promotion.

 

“I guess my power really kind of took off this spring when I stopped swinging with my shoulders and my body and started realizing how to swing with my hands and keeping my head still,” Coyle said. “That’s the cause of the consistency of squaring some balls up, I think: Keeping my head still and using my hands instead of my entire body has made me quicker to the ball and more consistent.”