John Nelson

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #22 prospect in 2005
  Nelson never has been able to return to the heights he reached in 2002, when he moved from outfield to shortstop and showed promise with the glove and bat. He has battled poor performance and injuries since then, and his 2004 season got derailed by torn ligaments in his ankle. Nelson was showing more of his old form while repeating Double-A and would have been promoted to Triple-A at midseason if he hadn't gotten hurt. He tried to return too quickly and was ineffective late in the season. Nelson's only truly plus tool is his arm, which is so strong that one Southern League scout suggested he might have more promise as a pitcher. He's a tease with the bat. When Nelson is on pitches, he can drive them out of the park. But he's not on pitches enough, and he hasn't made adjustments to shorten his swing and make better contact. At 26, he's starting to run out of time to do so. He runs well but isn't a big basestealing threat. Nelson began his pro career as a center fielder, and his best future role might be as a utilityman who can offer occasional righthanded pop. He'll try to win the Triple-A shortstop job this year.
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #13 prospect in 2004
  Nelson started in the organization as an outfielder, but he got an opportunity at shortstop because of a temporary shortage of players in spring training 2002. He had a breakthrough season, but regressed significantly in 2003. Sent to the Arizona Fall League to try to turn things around, Nelson broke a bone in his hand trying to check his swing. Nelson has the makings of a big league shortstop, with a 70 arm on the 20-80 scouting scale as his best tool. He's a good athlete and above-average runner. He has the strength to put a charge in the ball. Nelson needs to learn plate discipline and change his approach. He gets anxious and overaggressive if he gets in a hole and thinks one swing can get him out of it. That thinking just gets him out. He needs to slow things down and shorten his swing. Nelson's struggles weren't a complete surprise to the Cardinals because he skipped high Class A, but the extent of them was. Because he didn't get to redeem himself in the AFL, he'll probably go back to Double-A to start the season.
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #8 prospect in 2003
  Because of visa problems with several Latin American prospects during spring training, the Cardinals needed an extra shortstop for the Peoria team. Nelson played the position at Kansas and scout Dave Karaff said he could play there, so Nelson went to a side field and worked with organization guru George Kissell, who gave him the thumbs-up. He ended the year as the Midwest League's all-star at short. Nelson's tools actually profile well at shortstop, but the Cardinals thought of him more as a poor-man's Larry Walker in right field because of his arm, which rates a 7 on the 2-8 scouting scale. He turned out to be fearless around the bag and got better at short as the year wore on. At the plate, he hits to all fields and can sting the ball. Nelson needs work on both offense and defense, but showed the ability to make adjustments last year. He raised his average nearly 100 points from the beginning of May and improved his hands and footwork at short, though he still committed 33 errors. His approach and makeup mean Nelson is real easy to like. His stock jumped exponentially last year, so the Cardinals will challenge him with a jump to Double-A.