As 2015 comes to an end, it is time for the end of the year hitting prospects list. There have been quite a few changes from the midseason list, and this time to go along with the new OOTV, I will cover each prospect individually over the next couple weeks. Starting with the first overall prospect on the Out of the Vines Top Hitting Prospects list, Billy McKinney.
McKinney tore up High-A and AA last season on his way to a (.300/.371/.454/.825) slash line. The 20 year old is not coming in this high on anyone else's boards at this point but I have him up here for a few reasons.
His production. B-Mac picked up right where he left off last season after being traded over from the A's in the deal that got the Cubs one other big named young guy. With a batting average of .300 to go along with gap to gap power with 31 doubles, McKinney has shown he can get the job done at the plate.
His polish. Anthony Rizzo this year had a strikeout rate of 15% to go along with a walk rate of 11.1%. And when you compare that to the work Billy has done at the plate with a 13.9% K and 10.2% BB, it is easy to see that much of the production is here to stay thanks in part to his expertise at the plate.
His age. This kid is still only 20 years old. He spent the majority of the year playing against guys that were 4 years older than him and still was able to compete at an extremely high level.
So what does this mean? After finishing last season in Tennessee, expect McKinney to spend part of the year there again while finishing off the season in AAA Iowa. This puts him on pace to arrive in Chicago sometime during the 2017 season. With good enough defense in the corner outfield spots and an arm that really only translates to LF, don't really expect him to push anyone out of a spot in the outfield, but if Kyle Schwarber can work his way behind the plate with the absence of David Ross and possibly Miguel Montero in the next couple years, McKinney has the opportunity to slide in nicely into that LF slot.
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