Prospect Profile #25: Damon Sublett CF/2B

Damon Sublett

Bats-Left Throws- Right 6’2”, 190 LBS

Damon Sublett was a 7th round selection of the 2007 draft for the Yankees. Sublett was born and raised in Wichita Kansas, attending Northwest High School where he drew early attention for his outstanding play. After graduation, Sublett attended Wichita State where he was a two way player and drew accolades and praise for his role as an infielder as well as a closer (2006 line- 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 12.2 IP, 27K). Sublett drew the Yankees attention for his offense however and the junior signed with the Yankees for a 120,000 dollar bonus.

2007- On the Map

Sublett debuted for the Staten Island Yankees and hit- a lot. He was their third hitter throughout the season, compiling a .326/.426/.521 line with 15 2Bs, 4 3Bs, and 8 HRs. The stand out 2nd baseman was an all-star and raked throughout the season, hitting .393 over his last 30 games. He also flashed a little speed, swiping 10 bases. The power development was very surprising due to the fact that Sublett is not a very large guy and had not shown a ton of power in the past. The one stand out missing element to his game was defense. His strong arm helped to make up for some bad reads but Total Zone had him at -15 runs below average in the GCL.

2008- Injuries strike back

The Yankees were so impressed with Sublett that they jumped him straight over Charleston and started the 2nd basemen in A+ Tampa. After a relatively mediocre start, disaster struck when Sublett tore 2 tendons in his ankle a month into the season. The troubling injury bug had come back again.

Sublett through his career in high school, college and the pros has had to overcome a strange confluence of minor injuries. Some of them follow- strained hamstring, back and knee, Mono, shoulder tenderness and a broken hamate bone. All of that in addition to the ankle is a cause for concern. Since few of them are major (aside from the ankle) there are no huge red flags with Sublett.

In the month or so he did play, Sublett managed a .263/.364/.375 line with 2 HRs and 3 triples in about 160 ABs.

In order to rehab him the Yankees sent him to the now defunct Hawaii league.

Hawaii was an interesting time for Sublett. One of his biggest strengths as a hitter is his natural patience and strike zone judgment. It seems that when he went to Hawaii, his coach there had him completely ignore his instincts and swing at everything that moves (23 Ks/3 BBs). After winter ball Sublett admitted it was not his natural way of hitting but reverting back to his old approach would have a carry over effect into 2009.

2009-Working Back

Sublett started over again in Tampa and got off to the same slow start as he did in 2008. He really made a nice push after a sluggish first two months. Sublett’s 2009 was very encouraging as many of his positive attributes bounced back a bit including the return of his very good BB/K ratio and his OBP. While his SLG was down (.417) I think that's more in line with what is to be expected of Sublett- he doesn’t have a lot of power but his OBP skills more than make up for it at this point.

Another interesting development for Sublett was the move to CF. The long time infielder was asked to switch in 2009 and while he did have some growing pains (-7 RAA according to Total Zone). This move was predicated on giving Sublett the best chance to advance in the system and with infielders like Nunez, Corona and Russo above him, it was probably the smartest idea.

Scouting:

Hitting- Sublett is a classic contact hitter with a little bit of a funky swing but has great contact ability. His biggest tool is his strike zone judgment and uses it extremely well to post good OBPs. While he doesn’t have a lot of power, Sublett does line quite a few balls in the gap and if he fills out he might be a guy who could reach double digits in HRs. His speed on the base paths is another great asset. In 2009 he had 11 triples and has also had double digits twice, in both his full years so far. The word is that Sublett needs to be more aggressive and a little smarter in terms of stealing bases (11 SB, 7 CS in 2009). He also needs to learn to hit for power against lefties. All but one of his professional HRs have come against right handed pitchers. His minor league career SLG% is nearly 100 points higher against righties than lefties (.454 vs .366).

Fielding- Obviously a great weakness for Sublett. Learning CF is not an easy task and it most likely will take him a while to get the hang of it. He does have a plus arm though (former pitcher remember) and his speed can help to make up for some bad reads, but he’s making an awful lot of them right now.

Future

I would guess Sublett starts in AA. Trenton will be a tough test for him but he’s an aggressive guy and really takes well to challenges so it’ll be interesting to see how he does. Sublett to me is ultimately a utility infielder type and I think at the height of his projection he would be an average/below average CF. He has a long way to go in terms of his defensive ability but the plate discipline is advanced enough where he could, hypothetically speaking, really put a nice 2010 together in Trenton.