Jantzen Witte

[tonyarmasjr]

 
Hometown: Arlington, TX
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 195
Bats/Throws: R/R
Position: 1B/3B
DOB: 1/4/1990
College: TCU
Drafted: 2013 - 24th Round
 
College Highlights: Four-year starter; 4-time conference All-Academic team; 2010 - Hit .400 with a HR in the CWS; 2011 - Mountain West First Team; 2012 - Mountain West Second team; 2013 - Big 12 Second Team, Big 12 Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year
TCU Career: .327/.393/.470/.863, 14 HR, 13 SB, .856 BB/K in 211 G
http://www.gofrogs.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/jantzen_witte_372181.html
 
SoxProspects Scouting Report:  Third baseman with a solid arm and good glove work but below-average range. Loopy swing. Intelligent and hardworking. Great teammate.
Interview following 2013: http://baseballhistorian.blogspot.com/2013/10/boston-red-sox-prospect-jantzen-witte.html
 
Professional Career:
2013 - Split between GCL and Lowell - 33 G, 120 PA, .168/.258/.234/.492 - Season ended early when he was hit by a pitch on the hand.  25 of 28 games were at 3B.
2014 - Greenville - 65 G, 282 PA, .330/.418/.554/.972, 8 HR, .643 BB/K - 57 of 67 G at 3B.
         - Salem - 65 G, 282 PA, .296/.340/.451/.792, 4 HR, .439 BB/K - SAL All Star.  42 of 59 G at 1B.
2015 - Portland - 47 G, 202 PA, .326/.393/.491/.884, 3 HR, .769 BB/K
 
 
 
 
I realize Witte isn't on anyone's prospect radar.  He's a 25 year old in AA, but has put up some decent numbers the last two years.  I've seen him mentioned here and there as having an above-average hit tool, and he's a solid fielder, particularly at 1B, where his range isn't a negative.  His power is lacking, which is something he'll have to develop to ever become more than an organizational guy.  At the least, though, he appears to be a nice high-character organizational piece, and I wanted to put him on the map since he's having such a nice season.  He's one of the lone bright spots on a pretty rough Portland roster.  Travis Shaw is ahead of him in Pawtucket, but has been disappointing so far this season.  And Sam Travis and Nick Longhi are behind him, so I'll be interested to see how he fits in over the next couple years.

 

[Stan Papi Was Framed]

I know nothing about him other than his stats, but have noticed he is off to a good start this year at Portland.  given his age, seems like it could be useful to see what he can do at Pawtucket...will be interesting to see if he is promoted

 

[tonyarmasjr]

Most of 2015 was a solid year for Witte in Portland, where he put up a .283/.363/.414/.777 line in 85 games. It was cut short, though, with a broken wrist in July.

He's off to another good start this year, boasting a pretty .359/.458/.538/.997 line though the first 11 games, including 2 HR (he only hit 4 last year). With the addition of Hernandez and Rutledge to the ML roster, he's been called up to AAA.

 

[tonyarmasjr]

Witte has acquitted himself fairly well to AAA early on, with a .296/.321/.481/.803 slash line. He'll never be a sexy prospect (he's 26 now), but he's looking more and more like a useful corner IF utility piece.

 

[tonyarmasjr]

I've been remiss in updating the travails of my adopted prospect, but Jantzen's name surfaced recently when he was optioned down to Portland when Sam Travis came off the DL on 5/12.

He split 2017 fairly equitably among 1B, 2B, and 3B in Pawtucket, finishing with a line of .242/.342/.328 with 3 HR in 283 PA.
His AAA line in 2018 stands at .217/.321/.370 with a big fat K% of 30.2% in 53 PA.
He's been a monster through his first 35 PA in Portland, though: .516/.529./.871 with 2(!) HR, besting even Mookie with a 287 wRC+.

Witte's prospect days (if ever there were any) are behind him at 28, and it's hard to see any path for him to get to the bigs with the Sox - one thing they have is a wealth of utility players down through the AAAA ranks. He was Rule 5 eligible pre-2017, coming off a solid age 26 season, but no takers.