Prospect: Kent Matthes (Col)

of   |  24 years old  |  4th round pick by COL 2009  |  U. of Alabama

The next Colorado Rockies power-hitting outfielder may be on his way. Though already 24 and still in A+, due to a knee injury that ruined his 2010 season, Kent Matthes has been ripping up the California league in just about all categories.

Matthes is unranked by Baseball America, and really, why should he be. He wasn't drafted until his Senior year at Alabama, where he was named SEC player of the year and didn't do anything spectacular in his first pro season at Tri-City. 2010 was a write-off at Asheville but his 2011 season at Modesto has been terrific. But is it enough to get him a chance at the bigs?

The Orlando native is considered to be a very good outfielder, has excellent power that has developed nicely over the last few year and has driven in over 1 run per game at Modesto. His OPS is 1020 and .334 batting average are indicators that he's ready for the next jump but as Matthes' luck would have it, on August 4th, he broke his hand is done for the year. And at the least, he'll have ended the season strong and ONLY missed 1 month.

There's not a lot written about Matthes on the Interweb but its understandable since he's only now jumped onto the radar. He'll likely start next season in AA and he'll have to tear it up there to get to the next level since he'll be 25 and an old man by prospect standards. But a strong campain in 2012, and maybe a September callup is in the cards and if that happens, a homer in your first at bat will buy you 10 more at bats and then, you just never know.