TD Top Prospects: #6 Stephen Gonsalves

So, whom would you want as a teammate? The guy who snitched on his fellow teammate in high school for smoking pot. Or the guy who took a thirty day suspension and a financial hit in the draft rather than snitch on a teammate. This isn't a "Black Sox" violation, this is a fellow teammate smoking a little weed. If I'm a potential teammate, I like this guy's attitude! Gonsalves can be expected to have the back of his fellow players.

Solid point SD

I'll tell you who I probably WOULDN'T want as a teammate (or even a friend) and that's the guy who did the weed and left me hanging with a 30 day suspension that was almost certainly going to cost me a ton of money due to the drop in draft status instead of stepping up and admitting his culpability, himself.

Are we really advocating cutting people out of your life for smoking pot?  

Gonsalves probably thought about that, and in his estimation, believed his punishment would be less severe than to his friend or more likely refused on principal to speak up.  It's for him decide, not you.   I seriously doubt Gonsalves is some victim of this crazy pothead highschool athlete imposing his pot-smoking on those around him. 

I say good on Gonsalves; it shows self-belief and integrity.   

Are we really advocating cutting people out of your life for smoking pot?  

 

Gonsalves probably thought about that, and in his estimation, believed his punishment would be less severe than to his friend or more likely refused on principal to speak up.  It's for him decide, not you.   I seriously doubt Gonsalves is some victim of this crazy pothead highschool athlete imposing his pot-smoking on those around him. 

 

I say good on Gonsalves; it shows self-belief and integrity.   

Being a stand-up guy cuts both ways. Gonsalves kept his mouth shut while his "friend" let him hang out to dry.

This has nothing to do with smoking pot and everything to do with integrity. Gonsalves appears to have integrity. Pot smoking buddy? I'd say "no."

Severity of punishment has nothing to do with doing the right thing. 

This has nothing to do with smoking pot and everything to do with integrity. Gonsalves appears to have integrity. Pot smoking buddy? I'd say "no."

I hate to quibble, but if it has nothing to do with smoking pot, why would you say that the other person lacks integrity?  

I'm not sure why we need to judge this other person at all, we'll never know what exactly happened, or how much culpability each person acted with.  These were high school kids -- that Gonsalves was ever put the in the position of attesting to another adolescent's actions is what gets my goat. 

So we're basically talking about a Tom Glavine-type guy with a better fastball?  I like it!

I keep hearing about his pitches needing work.  This write-up makes me more of a believer that his best comparison is Brian Duensing.  And that isn't #6 in my book.  With two good pitches, isn't he really destined to be a reliever?

Scott Diamond II.

So we're basically talking about a Tom Glavine-type guy with a better fastball?  I like it!

Respectfully disagree.  I've never seen this kid pitch but, the thing Glavine did best was spin a baseball.  According to the article they do share the ability to command though.  And if this kid can keep from hanging the breaking pitches and hit the corners or run 'em off the plate, maybe he can be something special like Glavine.

Once again we have to be suspect on prospects. I can't remember if Johann Santana had a good breaking pitch, but I do remember it was his changeup/fastball combination that made him one of the best pitchers in baseball. We'd all like to see Gonsalves develop a breaking pitch of equal quality, but no one can argue his success so far at the lower levels. At just 21 he still has plenty of time to add one more quality pitch to his arsenal.

I keep hearing about his pitches needing work.  This write-up makes me more of a believer that his best comparison is Brian Duensing.  And that isn't #6 in my book.  With two good pitches, isn't he really destined to be a reliever?

Part of his high ranking probably has to do with his frame (he's got 5 or 6 inches on Duensing).  With youth, a good makeup, and athletic body it's not unreasonable to expect improvement.  We don't know if that'll happen but I think that's why he still gets high ratings among prospect rankers who look beyond numbers.

A fastball-changeup combo is a little bit rare mix for a reliever, so it makes sense to keep grooming him as a starter, especially with his body.  If he can't put together a breaking ball he might not make the majors but if he does he looks like a pretty solid starter.

I feel like there is always a huge difference of opinion on Gonsalves in the boards here.  Many like him (me) and believe he can continue to develop and become a very good major league pitcher, while others just write him off quickly because 1) he hasn't developed a nasty breaking ball yet or 2) because he didn't match his Cedar Rapids numbers in Fort Myers. 

I really don't get it, or maybe I am just more sensitive to the negative feedback on him compared to others because I do like his future.

He is about 3 years younger than the competition in every stop he has made and in my opinion has been pretty great. 

Is that really what dropped him in the draft, though?  It wasn't just Gonsalves who got suspended, it was at least 5 guys.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/high-school/suspensions-waylay-cathedral-catholic/

 

And even the San Diego newspaper at the time reported it was a team rules violation, not an eligibility issue, and it was largely due to the school's own self-imposed zero tolerance policy, meaning the players would have faced only 1 game suspensions at many other schools:

 

http://hs.utpreps.com/news_article/show/249040

 

I have a hard time believing that MLB scouts were terribly swayed by the incident by draft time in June.

 

Looks like Gonsalves had a drop in K rate and an uptick in BB rate his senior year too.  I'd guess that and further scouting observation is what caused his draft stock to drop a bit, it's not exactly unheard of.  Amateur scouting is more art than science.

 

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/stephen-gonsalves/V10dvPTpEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/baseball-stats.htm

 

Even BA had Gonsalves (#106) ahead of Stuart Turner (#109) in their May 17 ranking of 2013 draft prospects, yet the Twins chose Turner instead of Gonsalves at #78 overall.  If it was just the suspension driving Gonsalves's fall, wouldn't the Twins have been thrilled to land him at #78 instead?

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/2013-top-250-draft-prospects-may-17-jonathan-gray-takes-top-spot/

Or the fact that he missed one full month of pitching in the months before the draft and scouts weren't able to get the looks they would like to get if they are investing a 1st round pick. .  . Add in the whole cloudy reasoning why he was suspended and I think that makes enough sense for me to drop in the draft.

I would love to learn more about the development of the breaking pitches. What is the process? The article states that what he has does not project to be better. Do they work on it or scrap it and start over with new grips, etc? We all know the legend of Johan learning his change up and the rest is history. A solid breaking pitch to go with what Gonsalves already has sound like it would be amazing.