Indians Top 50: #7 Nick Weglarz

Nick Weglarz - Outfielder
Born: 12/16/1987 - Height: 6'3" - Weight: 245 - Bats: Left - Throws: Left

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	Avg	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	17	Burlington	R	41	147	22	34	11	0	2	13	17	42	2	.231	.313	.347	.660
2006	18	GCL Indians	R	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
2007	19	Lake County	A	125	439	75	121	28	0	23	82	82	129	1	.276	.395	.497	.892
2007	19	Kinston	A+	2	7	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	2	0	.143	.250	.571	.821
2008	20	Kinston	A+	106	375	68	102	20	5	10	41	71	78	9	.272	.396	.432	.828
2009	21	Akron	AA	105	339	69	77	17	2	16	65	75	78	2	.227	.377	.431	.808
		Totals		380	1309	235	335	76	7	52	202	246	331	14	.256	.381	.444	.825

History: Weglarz was selected by the Indians in the 3rd round of the 2005 Draft out of Lakeshore Catholic High School (Ontario, Canada).  In 2006 he only played one game for the rookie level Gulf Coast League (GCL) Indians as he was sidelined for the entire season with a broken hand.  He has had quite the busy travel schedule the past two years as in October/November 2007 he played in the World Cup for Team Canada out in Taiwan and Australia, in March 2008 played for Canada out in Australia in the Olympic qualifiers, in July/August 2008 played for Canada in the Olympics out in Beijing, in March of 2009 played for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, in July 2009 played for the World Team as part of the Futures Game at the All-Star game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and then in October/November 2009 played in the Arizona Fall League where in eight games hit .240 (6-for-25) with 0 HR, 1 RBI, 7 BB, 7 K, and a .704 OPS.

Strengths & Opportunities:  Weglarz is an impressive physical specimen at 250+ pounds who is as strong as an ox and has the most powerful bat in the Indians system.  He has some flaws in his swing that will need to be tinkered along the way, but his long arms and good bat speed generate tremendous power.  He is a developed hitter with above-average hand-eye coordination, and he loves low pitches so he can extend through it either away or down and in.  He understands the value of on-base percentage and has a good understanding of the strike zone.  His plate discipline is off the charts good, and it is not just the walks, it is how smart he is as a hitter where he lays off so many borderline pitches when he is ahead in the count, which shows how mature of a hitter he is and how he stays within himself and sticks to his plan.  He is still a young, unpolished hitter who strikes out a lot, but he also shows excellent patience in waiting for his pitch and rarely swinging at pitches outside of the zone, which is uncommon for a player his age.

Weglarz's batting average may not always impress, but when you factor in his excellent walk percentage, good strikeout to walk ratio, and his on-base ability, there is a lot to like about him besides the power at the plate.  His size is striking and he has thighs the size of tree trunks, but even with all that size he still shows some good athleticism.  He has loads of confidence in his abilities, and is very much a gentle giant as he may be one of the kindest and most level-headed players off the field.  His advanced approach at the plate, discipline, and light tower power is what has made him such an intriguing prospect for the Indians, and why he is often compared to big leaguers like Jim Thome and Adam Dunn.  As with most big sluggers, he has below average speed though he is a very good base-runner.

Weglarz was drafted as a first baseman; however, since joining the Indians he has not played first base as they decided to move him to the outfield.  He is continuing to get bigger and grow into his body as he matures, and some think he will get too big to where he has to go back to first base down the road.  At the moment though the Indians have no plans to move him back to first base, especially with the significant progress and strides he has made as an outfielder.  He makes all the routine plays, moves well, reads the bat off the ball well, and has a strong, accurate arm.  He worked out some in right field last year, and in the limited time he showed good arm strength and kept his throws on a line with good carry.  The Indians have worked hard on his footwork, throwing mechanics, and his route-running to the ball and believe that while he will never be a Gold Glover out there that he has become a solid average defensive outfielder.   Even after the 30-plus pounds of muscle weight he has gained the last two years, it is a testament to the athleticism he has for a guy his size, and his determination that he has improved and stuck in the outfield.

Upon reaching Double-A for the first time last year, Weglarz struggled mightily and showed signs of pressing early in the year where in 19 games in April he only hit .089 (5-for-56) with 1 HR, 6 RBI, 10 BB, 19 K, and a .386 OPS.  His struggles that first month were a byproduct of him trying to do too much along with some mechanical issues that needed to be ironed out.  The Indians worked with him on maintaining a more consistent bat path each at bat and to relax more, and the big issue was that he was not seeing the ball well and was missing pitches.  To counter this problem the Indians made an adjustment to his batting stance and got him to spread his legs out to give him a wider base so he could better see pitches.  The changes worked as he bounced back in May to hit .329 with 6 HR, 28 RBI, 15 BB, 15 K, and a 1.055 OPS, and then in June hit .281 with 5 HR, 21 RBI, 22 BB, 20 K, and a 1.007 OPS.  Near the end of June he started to have problems with shin splints, and ever since then his numbers slowly started to tail off to where they fell off a cliff in August.  He hit just .217 with an .806 OPS in July and then hit .100 with a .425 OPS in ten August games before finally succumbing to the pain of the injury and going on the disabled list.  The injury turned out to be a stress fracture in his left shin area, and it forced a premature end to his season.  He went out to Instructional League and the Arizona Fall League in the fall to make up some at bats and test out the leg, but the pain continued and he ended up having surgery where a steel rod was inserted into his leg to speed up the recovery from the stress fracture to his tibia.  The surgery was successful and he is expected to be 100% for spring training.

There is no question that the shin injury had a big affect on Weglarz's performance in July and August, as a deeper look into his numbers showed his ground ball percentage almost doubled between June and July, going from 36% in June to 62% in July and then 64% in August.  His career average for groundball percentage is 42.3%, so a 63% average in July and August show that his leg was bothering him and is what accounted for his rapid drop in production as he was swinging on an injured leg that did not allow him to get the drive he normally gets into pitches and instead was rolling over on a much higher rate of pitches.

The Indians believe Weglarz has some bat-to-ball ability he has not yet shown, and that as he improves and becomes more consistent it will show itself much more.  Last year he never hit as good as he ever has in his career, but by the same token also never hit as bad as he ever has in his career either.  While mainly attributable to injuries, the inconsistent performance is somewhat alarming, especially considering how he had an inconsistent year at High-A Kinston in 2008.  His strikeouts are also a concern, though is a byproduct of his patient, powerful approach.  The Indians have continued to work on his leg position and made some mechanical adjustments with his hand placement in his swing to get more leverage and make his bat path more consistent.  He needs to continue working on using the other side of the field and hitting balls the other way by staying on balls and not falling into his tendencies to pull off and roll balls over where he grounds out.  He needs to continue to maintain and improve his good play in the outfield, something that can easily slip for a player his size.

Outlook:  For the first time in years Weglarz's only commitment for the 2010 season will be playing in the Indians organization.  He won't go to play in the Olympics, the Olympic Qualifiers, or the World Baseball Classic as he will be with the Indians from the day spring training opens in late February until the day the season ends in early October.  He was rostered in the offseason so he may be shuttled around between Double-A Akron, Triple-A Columbus and the big league team, but the bottom line is he will finally be able to settle in this coming season.  That along with 100% health should help catapult him into a breakout year in the upper levels of the system and prove he indeed is one of the best young power hitting prospects in the game.  He should open the 2010 season with a return trip to Double-A Akron, though could move quickly to Columbus if he shows he is healthy and performs well.

Photo courtesy of Tony Lastoria

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