Which National League centerfielder has the most upside to have a long an successful career, Colby Rasmus of the Cardinals or Dexter Fowler?

Colby Rasmus of the St Louis Cardinals has spent just over a year in the major and has shown that he can reach the seats on a regular basis with 23 home runs in 585 at bats. S 131 strikeouts are a little high, but certainly not high enough to place him with the worst in the league. S strikeout to walk ratio has improved in his second season as has his batting average.

During his minor league career he only once hit .300, but did enjoy a 29 home run season at Double Springfield in 2007. He also consistently ran up double digit steals while playing in the lower leagues. This leads me to believe that he may wind up as a consistent 25 home run guy with 70 to 90 RBIs and double figures in stolen bases.

I also guesstimate that an average in the .270 to .280 range is highly probable. On the other hand Dexter Fowler of the Colorado Avalanche has shown much less power in the minor leagues than did Colby. S top output of 9 came in 2008 with Double A Tulsa.In that year he also produced 9 triples and 31 doubles along with a .335 batting average.

S stolen base totals were similar to that of Rasmus. So far in the bigs with the Rockies he has failed to hit for a big average, but has still produced a decent OBP. He has however produced a fair number of extra base hits, though not those of the 4 bagger type.

When I try to choose between these two players, I have to ask myself if I am looking for a leadoff hitter or a down in the order run producer. That being the case, I believe I would opt for Colby Rasmus and surmise that he will probably have the better career. If you produce with power then the bating average is not as big a concern.

If you are a table setter, then the average becomes important. At this time in their careers it appears neither has hit for a bog average in the pros, so viola, my choice is Colby.As a final note though, I do believe it will take another full season to get a good read on both players.

I think this answer depends on what kind of player you would like to see on your own team. For my money Dexter Fowler is one that I see having a bigger upside than Colby Rasmus. Rasmus clearly has more power upside than Fowler does, but at least in the season and a half that you can view both players by, Fowler seems to be the better all around player.

I think power and average can come along at a later point, but speed can’t be taught and Fowler has speed to burn. Once Fowler learns how to steal a base with slightly better success rates, he could really turn into one of the more impressive young players in the game. Rasmus had some nice power numbers, but he hasn’t sported a really good batting average and he doesn’t bring much to the plate beyond his supposed power numbers.

Fowler’s biggest problem seems to be that if he doesn’t put the ball in play, he strikes out. 116 K’s for a guy who had all of four homers last year isn’t real impressive.

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