Bats: Right, Throws: Right
2011 Stats (A- Lake County/ SSA Mahoning Valley): .203, 13 HR, 52 RBI, .621 OPS, 4.72 K/BB
I have to say that I expected more from Alex in 2011. The St Ed's grad caught the fireballer Stetson Allie in Lakewood and graduated at about 19 and a half years of age. Based on thereon, one would think that Lavisky would come into the pros a bit more seasoned than your your average high school draft pick. He has certainly not shown such maturity thus far. Alex was given every opportunity to be the everyday catcher for the A- Captains and responded with 184 ABs that included 38 hits (.207), 9 walks and 66 punch-outs. Ouch. I mean ouch! When short season Mahoning Valley opened play in June, Lavisky was sent down. The move obviously affected him mentally as he batted just .173 to close out the month. Overall, his numbers in Niles did not show much improvement (K/BB better @ 3.55 vs 7.33, OPS worse @ .604 vs .643). Perhaps most troubling of all was the degradation of his defensive work. At Lake County, he caught an abominable 7% (3/42) of basestealers and allowed 8 passed balls. While his caught stealing percentage improved to a solid 33% for the Scrappers, Alex committed 7 errors and allowed 10 more passed balls. His season numbers (23% CS, 18 PB, .986 FPCT) are pretty freakin' awful. To tie a bow on it all, 2011 was an awful season for the young backstop. Still, the kid is only 21. Given his defensive struggles and the emergence of 2011 pick Jake Lowery, I would expect Lavisky to spend more time at DH in 2012. He took the role for 40 games last season and a more consistent placement would allow him to focus more on delivering consistent contact than getting beaten up behind the dish. Alex still has huge power potential. If he can shorten his stroke a bit and reduce his swinging strikes, Lavisky is a solid offensive prospect, if still 2-3 years away.
Up Next: RHP Kyle Blair
