Thomas Neal
Position: OF
Opening Day Age: 23
John Sickels' Grade: B-
Fangraphs Estimated Peak WAR: 4.5
ZiPS Projection: .259/.325/.397
Twitter Account: @TdaddyNeal
After an incredible season in 2009 that saw Neal hit .337/.431/.579 in 129 games at high-A, he put up disappointing numbers in 2010 -- a .291/.359/.440 slash line in AA. Don't be discouraged by Neal's AA numbers, though. As When the Giants Come to Town points out, "After Thomas Neal's monster breakout season with San Jose in 2009, it was a good bet that no matter what he did on AA in 2010, it would have been a disappointment."
John Sickels had similar thoughts: "I know his season in the Eastern League may look a bit disappointing, but I think he could put up some huge numbers in the PCL in '11, and I still think he has a chance to be a non-star regular player."
In regards to Neal's "disappointing" season, it seems as though his numbers were a bit suppressed by park factors. His home ISO of .095 was significantly worse than his road ISO of .198, and he hit ten of his 12 home runs on the road.
Although Neal stole 11 bases at AA Richmond, he's not said to be very fast, with a speed rating of just 34. Rather, he's a smart baserunner, much like Brandon Belt. In terms of defense, he's played the vast majority of his games at left field, and probably profiles best there. As Marc Hulet says, "Defensively, Neal doesn’t have great range and his arm strength is just OK. He’s pretty much limited to left field."
Another reason to be excited about Neal: he seems to be a very sociable guy. Check out his Twitter account, where he's quite active.
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