If I said “quick, name me five Yankee prospects”, who would you name?
Jesus Montero would probably be the first name to escape your lips, and then Austin Jackson, too. After that, you might choose Mark Melancon, or maybe Austin Romine and then Slade Heathcott or Andrew Brackman.
One name that probably doesn’t crack your list is Kevin Russo…but maybe it should.
After all, he’s hitting .337 with a .413 OBP and an OPS over .850 (views stats) at AAA Scranton.
Perhaps more encouraging is that since 2007, he has posted a steady improvement in all offensive categories.
Russo came to my attention at Sunday’s Scranton game–he was hitting .340 as of that day.
I later asked Thunder beat writer Mike Ashmore, who got a chance to cover Russo when he was at AA, and he offered this:
“Russo is a hard working, versatile infielder whose stock really rose last season. He’s solid defensively, but made a lot of progress with his bat, and seemed to come out of nowhere to earn the attention of the Yankees brass with an invite to the Arizona Fall League. He also overcame a freak injury, missing some time after requiring surgery to fix a facial fracture suffered while attempting to field a routine ground ball during batting practice. Russo profiles as a utility infielder who might be able to crack a big league lineup on an everyday basis if he can develop a little more pop in his bat.”
All right, so a utility infielder might not be as glamorous as, say, a potential all star (like Montero), but coming out of nearly nowhere to make the big leagues would be impressive enough in its own right.
Ashmore also offered this quote from Damon Oppenheimer, whom he recently interviewed (you can see it here and here). Oppenheimer was answering a question on under-the-radar prospects:
“”Well, I think you guys had one in Kevin Russo here. He’s made a lot of progress and he’s done a good job. I don’t know if that’s under the radar anymore, he’s hitting .330-something in Triple-A. But he wasn’t a big name guy. Kevin’s a guy that people should really keep their eye on. He can play and he’s performed.”
The thing is, when everyone’s comparing prospects to Jesus Montero, everyone else seems to take a step back–but that is more illustrative of how good Montero is than anything else.
Russo, however, really is an under-the-radar type. Night in and night out he’s hitting, but because he doesn’t have a ton of power (he’s slugging .439), he’s easy to miss.
Russo’s not that young–he’s 24–but he’s still young enough that he’s still likely to improve. He’s stolen 28 bases so he has some speed, and with a walk and strikeout ratio that’s close to equal (42 to 48), if he does as Ashmore suggests–and develops some more pop in his bat–he could have a very nice career.
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7 Responses to Russo Flies Under Radar, but hitting .340
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TIQ IQ
I think he is going to be given a chance to win the utility infielder job from Pena next season. He is a better bat but lesser glove, so it probably depends on what the Yankees want from that spot. I think it also depends on A-Rod’s health and what they do with Hinske and Hairston. He should certainly be in the mix.
Great stuff, Rebecca.
Nice post. I haven’t read much on Russo, but he definitely seems like a guy to watch. His K rate has dropped every year since ’07 while is walk rate has increased every year since ’07. Good signs.
Why he play? What role does he have next year and going forward?
Next season he could platoon with Damon in Lf?
Nah. He is an infielder- think Pena with a lesser glove but a better bat. Sort of Ray Durham very-lite.
Moshe if he can’t play SS at the MLB level what is his role? Second and third are taken so that leaves the outfield. From what I read and have been told he does not have the quickness needed to play CF. This leaves the corners and with his lack of power he can’t play there full time.
Damon if he comes back shouldn’t be a full time player anymore (health). He does not hit lefties as well as he could so giving him a platoon mate seems to be a good idea (keep him fresh to mash right handers). Can Russo learn the outfield this off season in winter ball so he can fight for a role on next years team? Does he get traded say in a 5 for 1 or 6 for 2 mega deal for an established player (Yankees will loose players in rule V draft if not traded)?
I see him ultimately getting traded… The infield positions are filled up for a while and there is no way he beats out Pena for utility man! Pena has a switch hitting bat making him more valuable and they work with him longer, and he has a better glove at way more positions. Russo’s bat is pretty good average wise but he has little power, mostly hits singles and isn’t a good base stealer. He just doesn’t fit on the team, if he were going to play LF you would be better off playing Melky at LF for defense and Gardner in CF, his only real hope of playing bigs for any extended period of time is the same as Miranda he needs to be traded before they can’t play and end up career minor leaguers.
I brought up Kevin Russo a few weeks ago on this site and I was talking about his future and I don’t see one with the Yankees, he is blocked at every position and he may have a better bat than Pena, Ramiro also switch hits which is more valuable and will eventually lead to Russo being beat out and other than that he can’t find much playing time… I think eventually he gets traded in an overall bigger deal. He should have some trade value and I have been paying attention to him all year and he has been the most consistent hitter on Scranton.