Written by Greg Fertel
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08 March 2007
Age: 20
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 160 lbs
Position: 2b/SS
Throws: Right
Hits: Switch
Offense: Reegie batted .293/.347/.365 in 105 games in 2006. He was the buzz of the internet over the summer, as he hit .350/.397 /.415 through July 1st. He collapsed after that hot start, hitting .237/.315/.323 in July and .206/.274/.22 in August. What happened? It's hard to tell. Corona suffered a shoulder injury in the latter part of May, and spent some time on the DL, but hit .385/.418/.462 in June. Strangely, he hit .364/.421/.503 at home and .230/.285/.240 on the road. Those are about the craziest splits that I've ever seen. Corona has a lot of things going for him. He puts the bat on the ball (50 K in 105 games in 2006, similar to a Robinson Cano type), and controls the strike zone pretty well (31 walks against those 50k) for such a young player. Still, those post-June lines look very similar to his 2005 batting line at Staten Island, where he hit .227/.302/.271. Corona swiped 26 bases.
Defense: Corona is a very good defensive 2nd baseman, and has the ability to play shortstop. His arm is not very well suited shortstop That's a good thing for Corona, because Eduardo Nunez will occupy shortstop whereever Corona goes in the next few years.
Health: The Yankees and Corona gave no indication that his late-season troubles had anything to do with the shoulder injury, which is both good news and bad news. The good news is that Corona is a healthy guy. The bad news is that the regression by Corona might be something more permanent than an injury.
Comparison: I see a lot of Miguel Cairo in Corona, though he could prove his regression wrong and become more of a Placido Polanco type.
My Take: I'm not very high on Corona, but I do recognize that there are some good signs based on his 2006 performance. I am encouraged by the K/BB ratio, and the absolute dominance that he showed during the first two thirds of the season. Remember those home/road splits? Corona hit 38 line drives at home and 10 line drives on the road. That's not ballpark effect, that's psychological. If Corona can maintain a smooth, line drive stroke, he just may be an effective player. Corona is the kind of guy who turns 24 and gets looked at for a bench spot, and may actually have some value there for his team. He played games at shortstop, 2nd base, third base, and left field in 2006, though he only played 2nd well. If Corona can put up a similar batting line in 2007 within the murderous confines of Tampa, he'll gain some points in my book.
