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Carlos Munoz Makes Appalachian League Top 20 Prospects List

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Baseball America posted their list of the top 20 prospects in the Appalachian League and Carlos Munoz was the only player from the Bristol Pirates to make the list. He was ranked 20th overall. It should be pointed out that Mitch Keller fell a couple innings short of qualifying for their list, so that explains why he couldn’t have been included.

Munoz had an amazing July, which led to him being named the Player of the Year for the Appalachian League. He has great plate patience and pitch recognition, which has led to him posting more walks than strikeouts each year of the last four years. He also showed more power than in the past, hitting 12 homers this year and then another in the NYPL playoffs. His 1.014 OPS was the best in the league.

His problem has always been conditioning, which BA overlooked when they praised his work ethic. Just like every season, Munoz got tired during the second half of this season and that likely won’t translate well to full-season ball. He batted .167 during his last 24 regular season games this year, some of that time spent with Morgantown. He was also 21 years old and a fifth year pro in rookie ball, so as a bat-only first baseman, he is going to have to prove he can hit at higher levels and get into better shape before he should be considered a legit prospect. He’s going to play winter ball this year in Mexico, so that should help him with his off-season training.

Our Bristol recap will be posted later today. Munoz will not be the top prospect.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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