Collin Cowgill and Paul Goldschmidt were barely a blip on Major League baseball's prospect radar heading into the season—neither of the two even sniffed any of the top 100 prospect lists.
Now, the two Arizona farmhands are within arms reach from helping the Diamondbacks try to win an NL West pennant race this summer.
"We're kind of approaching that time to where we'll make some decisions on people in our system," Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers told The Arizona Republic. "I think we're always looking for ways to improve the club and the first place we're going to look is internal.
"We want to make sure that with any of our young players, especially guys like Goldschmidt or Cowgill, when they come up, we want them to play."
With the struggling platoon of Xavier Nady and Juan Miranda at first base, and the average play of Gerardo Parra (despite raising his average to .287 in his last 36 at-bats) in left field, it's not like the D-Backs couldn't use the help. They have already dipped into the system by calling up Wily Mo Pena before the start of interleague play.
Goldschmidt has been flying under the radar since being drafted by the Diamondbacks in the eighth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of Texas State.
After posting a .314-35-108-102-5 line in the hitter-friendly High-A California league last season, the right-handed hitting first baseman is on pace to exceed those numbers in the more pitcher-friendly Double-A Southern League, proving to critics that he’s no fluke.
In 305 at-bats this season, Goldschmidt is hitting .315 with 25 homers, 77 RBI, 66 runs scored, seven stolen bases along with an impressive .432 on-base percentage and 1.065 OPS.
Scouts are finally buying into the player they call "Goldie" as being a legitimate, upper-tier prospect and love his makeup.
Plate discipline has been a bit of a concern in the past, but it looks as though the 23-year-old has revamped his approach at the plate. Goldschmidt has already exceeded last season's walk total with 62 and has only fanned 70 times—an enormous improvement from last season's final BB:SO ratio of 57:161.
If it weren't for 25-year-old first baseman Brandon Allen currently at Triple-A (who the D-Backs planned would be the guy Goldie is), Goldschmidt would already be there.
But don't count out Allen just yet, who has heated up for Reno over the last few weeks. The left-handed slugger won't make the decision easy for the D-Backs as he currently sports a .303-17-62-72-6 line in 290 at-bats, and has already had a couple cups of coffee with the team back in 2009 and 2010.
Former Kentucky Wildcat star Collin Cowgill has taken the PCL by storm in his first season at Triple-A.
Standing at just 5’9", Cowgill has been somewhat of a victim of his stature with scouts despite showing the ability to hit for decent power at each level.
The Aces center fielder is a five-category producer and has made a name for himself as a gritty, tough-as-nails type of player. He's currently the youngest position player on Reno and is beloved by teammates—often the recipient of regular ribbing.
In 332 at-bats, the recently turned 25-year-old is hitting .361 with 12 home runs, 57 RBI, 81 runs, 26 stolen bases, and an eye popping .437 on-base percentage and 1.009 OPS.
He currently leads the PCL in hits (120), on-base percentage and runs, second in stolen bases, third in total bases, fourth highest batting average, and hit safely in 17 consecutive games.
Former big league center fielder of 16 seasons and current Reno Aces manager Brett Butler raves over Cowgill's tools. According to Chris Jackson of Milb.com, Butler called Cowgill one of the best center fielders he had ever coached.
And from Cowgill’s perspective, who better to learn from than Brett Butler, especially given their similarities?
I highly recommend that fantasy owners keep an eye out on this potential five-category producer should he upend Gerardo Parra for playing time in the outfield.
It shouldn't be too much longer until we see the likes of Goldschmidt and Cowgill being penciled into Arizona's lineup, as well as plugging them into our own fantasy lineups.
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