The Orioles and Phillies swapped minor leaguers today. The Orioles shipped out OF Ronnie Welty for RHP Julio Rodriguez. While this is mostly an organizational depth move for both sides, I think it works well for all parties involved. I have seen both players before and below are some reports on them.

OF Ronnie Welty

Welty has a nice frame for an OF. He is tall and looks to have room to bulk up down the road. He is already 25, but has missed time due to injury the past few years.

Offense – Welty is more of a free-swinger, whom has always been aggressive at the plate. He has trouble on solid secondary offerings, primarily plus change ups. I watched him on various occasions miss on change ups that were low and away. His bat speed is average at best, with his swing being a little long sometimes. His stance is mostly upright, with a little bend Welty-THUMB-300x168at the knees. Welty is more of a gap-to-gap type hitter, although he does have some pop in the bat.

Defense -Welty has mostly played RF for the Orioles since they drafted him. He moves well in the OF, but sometimes will take bad routes to balls. I will give him credit, as he seemed to improve last year on this, but still does not have the true speed to make up for these mistakes. Overall, Welty is not a problem in RF, besides the inconsistency in his routes to the ball. His arm strength is above-average.

Overall – Welty has essentially stalled at AA. While he was never a highly touted prospect, there were times when I saw flashed of success and thought he could possibly prove to be a solid 4th OF type. He will get a chance to start new with the Phillies, presumably at AA.

RHP Julio Rodriguez

Rodriguez is a player whom has seen his stock fallen the past few years. He was labeled as a “sleeper” prospect from quite a few publications, but struggled at AA Reading last year.

Rodriguez has a big frame at 6’4” ~200 lbs. From the people within the industry that I talked to, they are still waiting for him to fill this frame out. In return, they hope that this would add on some velocity to his pitches.

Fastball – His fastball tops out around 92, but mostly sits at 88-90. There is simply not enough movement on this pitch for it to be successful without a tick or two in velocity. This is where the growth into his frame would be ideal, but this simply has not happened. He also works a mid-80’s cutter, which is average at best. It’s a good pitch in the minors, but I do not see it being of much use any further up.

Change – His change up is average at best. From the reports given, he is inconsistent with the release point, often leading to poor command of it and erratic velocity jumps.

Curve – Rodriguez throws what I like to call a “looper”. It’s a slow rotating curve that can catch a batter off-guard. It can be productive, but usually ends up bouncing or bombed if the batter is prepared.

Command/Control – This is where Rodriguez needs to tighten his game. From the reports given, and what I have seen, he is inconsistent in many of his offerings. His command is wavering and it shows in his minor league numbers.

Overall – Rodriguez has shown flashes in the past, but at this point is mostly viewed as an organizational arm. Maybe a move to the bullpen could help re-spark his career, but the lack of velocity and fringe secondary offerings really hurt his stock.

Tucker Blair
Tucker Blair

Tucker Blair was born and raised in the Baltimore area and currently lives in Elkridge, Maryland. He graduated from York College of Pennsylvania with a B.S in Entrepreneurial Studies and is currently a Project Analyst for a Management Consulting Firm in Federal Hill, Baltimore. Tucker was previously the Managing Editor at Orioles Nation, where he worked on prospect lists, reports, and analysis on the Orioles minor league system. He also previously wrote his personal blog, The EntreprenOriole.

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