Cristian Pache, CF
6’2″, 185 lbs.
Age: 19 (11/19/98)
Bats R, Throws R
Body: Very athletic, strong. Slender build with chance to grow without losing speed, athleticism. Strong hands/wrists.
Hit: Quick, loose hands. Lunges a bit, especially on off-speed. Big swings early in the count. Eye at the plate is mature for age. Will expand zone on sliders away. Struggles a bit with premium velocity, especially up in the zone. Swing has tendency to get long. Swings early and often and is fooled by spin. Does not look to work count. With 2 strikes, will keep hands back and tones down swing in order to make contact. Has the speed to leg out infield hits, boosting batting average.
Pache is still learning to translate his athleticism and bat speed into games. Pitchers take advantage of his aggressiveness at the plate throwing offspeed early in the account and staying away from him. Needs to shorten up and use RCF more consistently in order to maximize potential. 30/55
Power: Utilizes leg kick in order to maximize torque through hips and core. Has improved since 2017 when he was more spread out and did not utilize lower half for power. Gets to front foot too quick and sells out. May have some trouble picking up spin as he tends to overswing and pull breaking stuff away. Bat speed is plus and can project to premium. 30/50
Speed: 4.1 home to first. Long strides. Able to get to top speed within 2-3 steps. Aggressive on basepaths and can easily go first-to-third on singles. 70/70
Arm: Plus arm from CF. Has struggled with accuracy at times this season and held back in order to avoid errors. Throws maintain velocity with good life. 70/70
Defense: Gold Glove calibre CF right now. Excellent jumps on balls in front and over his head. Plays shallow and uses quickness and speed in addition to reads to make every play look easy. 80/80
Overall: Pache’s main tools are his Gold Glove defense and plus arm and speed. He has the bat speed and athleticism to become an everyday CF with potential for 20 HR 30 SB, which would make him a perennial All-Star. At the plate, Pache will need to temper his aggressiveness and shorten his swing, utilizing RCF, to maximize his potential. He is able to shorten up with two strikes and avoid high K rates but he lacks consistent hard contact overall. Batting average is boosted by elite speed as he tends to hit more soft ground balls with two strikes. Due to his aggressiveness, Pache tends to get out on to his front foot too quickly, causing his swing to lengthen. Moderate Risk due to defense and speed.
Future Value: 60
Featured image of Cristian Pache – via Bryan Green on Flickr
Jason Woodell has written about prospects for numerous sites. He got his start with Prospects1500 and has provided reports on prospects for Baseball Prospectus, 2080 Baseball, and Pinstriped Prospects. Jason is a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant and former model in Jordan. He lives in Tampa, likes dogs, craft beer, and his wife…not necessarily in that order.
Follow him on Twitter @JasonAtTheGame.
There is some commentary a bit after a minute in the video probably needs to be edited out.