We are proud to announce The San Diego Padres Top 30 Prospects for 2012.  Peter Friberg has been studying minor league and amateur baseball players for nearly 10 years and has been writing about Padres minor leaguers for approximately eight. Peter has compiled his top 30 prospects in the Padres system for 2012 and this is our second installment featuring prospects 21-25

You can view 26-30 here

2011 San Diego Padres Top 30 Prospects

21. Kevin Quackenbush, RHP, 6’3” 207, Born: Nov. 28, 1988

Brad Brach, meet your more highly regarded counterpart. Brach (a 42^nd round draftee) came onto scene in 2009 after utterly dominating the Low-A Midwest League. Quackenbush, a 5^th round pick this year, has a 14.7 K/9, a sub-1.0 WHIP, and a sub-1.00 ERA. I cannot rank Quackenbush higher than Brach (at least, not yet). But Quackenbush’s first pro season was better than Brach’s… Kevin pitched at a bigger baseball school and was a 5^th round pick. Quackenbush is Brach; version 2.0.

2011 Statistics:

SS (NWL): 1-0, 0.44 ERA, 20.2 IP, 13 H, 6/33 BB/SO ratio, 0 HR allowed

Low-A (MWL): 1-1, 0.84 ERA, 21.1 IP, 12 H, 6/38 BB/SO ratio, 0 HR allowed

22. Jeudy Valdez, SS, 5’10” 185, Born: May 5^th, 1989

Jeudy Valdez leaves a lot to be desired as a prospect. He doesn’t control the strike zone particularly well and doesn’t hit for high enough average for his strike zone deficiencies to not be an issue… However, he does play SS quite well and has some power and speed. He wouldn’t be offensive star but he might play defense well enough that he ends up being the Padres’ “shortstop of the future.”

2011 Statistics:

A+ (Cal. Lg.): .295/.339/.481 in 516 AB with 37 2B, 7 3B, 15 HR, 31/108 BB/SO ratio, 34/11 SB/CS

23. Jace Peterson, SS,  6’0” 200, Born: May 9, 1990

Jace Peterson is one of the premiere athletes in the system. Despite his obvious athleticism Jace does not have a lot of power potential. His hitting ability is a little raw since, as a collegiate football player, he didn’t concentrate on baseball like most prospects. He has the ability to stick at short. If he can improve his hitting ability you may be looking at the Padres long-term answer at shortstop.

2011 Statistics:

SS (NWL): .243/.360/.333 in 276 AB with 9 2B, 5 3B, 2 HR, 50/53 BB/SO ratio, 39/10 SB/CS

24. Jason Hagerty, C, 6’3” 220, Born: Sept. 13, 1987

Jason hits well enough that you want him to win a starting catching job. He doesn’t have a lot of power but he controls the strike zone fairly well and hits for a high average… The problem is he is constantly questioned for his defense. San Antonio is a tough place to hit so he needs to show he can hit this year or his prospect star will dim after a solid 2011 campaign.

2011 Statistics:

A+ (Cal. Lg.): .311/.386/.518 in 293 AB with 25 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 26/62 BB/SO ratio, 3/2 SB/CS

AA (TL): .231/.318/.315 in 150 AB with 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 14/40 BB/SO ratio, 0/1

25. Nick Vincent, RHP, 6’0” 175, Born July 12, 1986

Vincent is another of the Padres brilliant bullpen arms. This system is stacked with guys who should have MLB careers as bullpen pitchers. That may sound like a slap on the quality of arms or lack of upside in the system, but when you consider how much relievers are getting on the free agent market, the Padres are sitting pretty…

2011 Statistics

AA (TL): 8-2, 2.27 ERA, 79.1 IP, 54 H, 20/89 BB/SO ratio, 6 HR allowed

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