Prospect Focus: Nick Evans

Splits courtesy www.minorleaguesplits.com

Evans was drafted in the 5th round out of St. Mary's High in Phoenix, in 2004. He signed and went to the Gulf Coast League, where he hit .258/.311/.462 in 50 games. He opened 2005 with Kingsport in the Appalachian League, and hit .344/.382/.734 in 15 games, before being promoted to Brooklyn, where he hit .252/.302/.407/.709 (57 for 226, 30 runs, 11 2b, 3 3b, 6 HR, 33 RBI, 17/34 BB/K) in 57 games, for a 0.50 BB/K ratio, and a very good .150 K rate. Evans hit pretty evenly against both lefties and righties, in terms of average, but performed better in the OBP and SLG departments against LHP. He hit .260/.373/.440/.813 (13 for 50, 5 2b, 2 3b, 9/9 BB/K) against LHP, a 1.00 BB/K ratio, and an equally good .180 K rate. Against RHP, he hit .250/.280/.398/.678 (44 for 176, 6 2b, 3b, 6 HR, 8/25 BB/K), with a 0.32 BB/K ratio, not so good, but with a very good .142 K rate.

Overall in 2005, Nick hit .272/.319/.479/.798 (79 for 290, 41 runs, 18 2b, 3 3b, 12 HR, 55 RBI, 21/51 BB/K), for a .4118 BB/K ratio, and an excellent .176 K rate. Nick hit .269/.355/.493/.848 against LHP (18 for 67, 5 2b, 2 3b, 2 HR, 9/13 BB/K), with a BB/K ratio of 0.6923, and a K rate of .194. Against RHP, he hit .274/.308/.475/.783 (61 for 223, 13 2b, 3b, 10 HR, 12/38 BB/K) with a BB/K ratio of .3158, and a K rate of .170. Extremely good K rates for a 19 year old playing the majority of his games in the pitching friendly confines of Keyspan Park, not to mention against kids 2-3 years older then he was.

2006 saw Nick promoted to full season A ball, in Hagerstown of the Sally League, where he hit .254/.320/.419/.739 (130 for 511, 55 runs, 33 2b, 3 3b, 15 HR, 67 RBI, 45/99 BB/K), for a .4545 BB/K ratio, and a still very good .193 K rate.

His L/R splits were very evenly distributed in 2006, with a .739 OPS against LHP and a .740 against RHP. He hit .254/.307/.432/.739 (30 for 118, 8 2b, 2 3b, 3 HR, 9/20 BB/K), with a 0.45 BB/K ratio, and a .169 K rate. Against RHP, he hit .258/.321/.419/.740 (99 for 384, 24 2b, 3b, 12 HR, 31/77 BB/K), with a .4026 BB/K ratio, and a still very low .201 K rate. Evans started off very slowly in full season ball, hitting just .226 over the first two months (43 for 190), with a woeful 7/46 BB/K ratio, but picked it up tremendously over the 2nd half of the season, hitting .278 from June 1st on (84 for 302, including a .364/.430/.705 clip in June), with a very good 33/51 BB/K ratio.

And now we come to Evans' breakout 2007 campaign in St. Lucie (high A, FSL). Evans hit .286/.374/.476/.850 (108 for 378, 65 runs, 25 2b, 3b, 15 HR, 54 RBI, 53/64 BB/K), setting career highs in virtually every major offensive category (AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, tying in HR, BBs, and least Ks). Most impressivee about Evans 2007 season was his vastly improved plate discipline. He had a sterling .8281 BB/K ratio, easily the highest of his career, while his K rate of .169 was the second lowest of his career (Brooklyn 05).

Evans obliterated LHP to the tune of .343/.431/.581/1.012 (36 for 105, 13 2b, 4 HR, 17/12 BB/K), a great 1.4167 BB/K ratio, and an equally great .114 K rate. Against RHP, he hit a still very solid .271/.361/.454/.815 (77 for 284, 17 2b, 3b, 11 HR, 38/54 BB/K), for a BB/K ratio of .7037, and a K rate of .190.

Evans began the 2008 season in Binghamton, and he was mashing from the season opener, ending April with a .904 OPS. Evans received a surprise callup in May, and went 3 for 4 with 3 2b in his first major league game, before a deep slump, concluding with him being sent back down, where he mashed in June to the tune of a .999 OPS. Evans played 7 games in July before being recalled for a second time, and is right now the righthanded platoon partner of Daniel Murphy in LF.

Evans hit .311/.365/.561/.926 in AA over 75 games (92 for 296, 52 runs, 18 2b, 7 3b, 14 HR, 53 RBI, 26/64 BB/K), and if he had enough ABs, he would've finished in the top 5 in AVG, SLG and OPS in the Eastern League. Evans did regress slightly in his plate discipline, with a .4063 BB/K ratio in AA, and a .216 K rate. However, when he was getting consistent playing time in the minors, he put up a 17/32 BB/K ratio (.5313 BB/K, .189 K rate), and his BB/K was 1.00 in May (10/10), his K rate was .133.

Evans crushed LHP in AA, hitting an absurd .366/.438/.699/1.137 (34 for 93, 22 runs, 4 2b, 3 3b, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 12/20 BB/K), a 0.600 BB/K ratio, and a .215 K rate. Against RHP, Evans improved significantly, hitting .286/.330/.498/.828 (58 for 203, 30 runs, 14 2b, 4 3b, 7 HR, 34 RBI, 14/44 BB/K), with a .3182 BB/K ratio and a .217 K rate.

THE FUTURE: The future very much is up in the air for Evans, depending on where he fits in with the future plans of the Mets. His surprise call up, and his continued mashing of LHP in the majors (23 for 70, 15 runs, 8 2b, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6/15 BB/K, .329/.390/.529/.919) could make him a very attractive platoon partner in some sort of OF combination in 2009, but the Mets may want him in Buffalo to become more proficient against RHP (5 for 37, 3 runs, 2 2b, 4 RBI, 1/9 BB/K, .135/.150/.189/.349). Of course, he hasn't exactly been given a prolonged chance to hit RHP in the majors. My best guess would be Evans is either traded, or in Buffalo for the 2009 season.