DOB: 8/30/77, Age: 24, Height: 6’0’’, Weight:
225, Bats: R, Throws: R. Acquired: Phillies - Drafted 10th Round of 1999
Draft (Georgia Perimeter JC). 2000 Stats: (Low A - Piedmont) .309 AVG, 515
AB, 29 2B, 13 3B, 17 HR, 41 SB, 51 BB, 110 K, .379 OBP, .515 SLG. 2001
Stats: (AA - Reading) .316 AVG, 510 AB, 22 2B, 8 3B, 28 HR, 32 SB, 52 BB,
93 K, .386 OBP, .555 SLG.
After opting out of his Georgia
Tech football scholarship, Marlon Byrd has been able to reach the “holy
grail” of prospectdom: conversion of tools to skills. Byrd has the typical
skill set of an “other sport” athlete: speed, power, and athleticism
afield. He also has, on occasion, exhibited the main “other sport”
weakness: strike zone judgment. Byrd made the jump to AA from the Sally
League this season, and increased his BA, OBP, and SLG numbers while
decreasing his strikeouts. When endeavoring to find a ceiling for Byrd,
plate discipline is a major area that will affect it. Comparing Byrd’s
walk totals to those of “other sport” athletes Brian Jordan (29 max.), Bo
Jackson (44 max.), and even HOFer Dave Winfield (69 max.) during their
first six major-league years, and his 51 and 52 look like the foundation
of reasonable plate discipline. More impressive but perhaps less important
than Byrd’s walk/strikeout totals are his stolen base numbers. After
stealing 41 out of 46 in 2000, Byrd followed that up with 32 out of 37
this year. I can’t stress enough the importance of remembering that Byrd
jumped from Low-A ball to AA and still dominated the league. He is a
legitimate top prospect, not an over-hyped conversion case. On defense,
Byrd is very athletic with great speed, but his arm is slightly below
average. He is probably slated for a left field job with the Phils,
although he could play center serviceably if needed.
Marlon Byrd is nearly ready for
a major league position. The Phillies are set in right with Abreu, and
will need to decide between Glanville and Taylor in center and Byrd and
Valent in right. Sooner or later, Byrd will find his way into the outfield
in P-Town. It might be this spring, but I think he’ll end up back in AAA
if he doesn’t win the job outright, which he probably isn’t quite ready to
do just yet. There’s no reason to retard his development by denying him
at-bats at age 24 from the Phillies perspective, so he’ll probably see
some time in Scranton. With converted “other sport” athletes, there are
many Josh Booty’s for every Kenny Lofton. Byrd should be one of the good
ones; probably better than Brian Jordan. He might end up with a career
like Kenny Lofton’s, with power being his primary attribute instead of
speed. I don’t think we’re looking at the next Dave Winfield, but one
could make a case for it.