Painting A Top 100 Comparisons Picture

Player comparisons can be tricky. They also are undeniably fun.

When scouts used to make comps, it was with one task in mind: Paint a picture with words so that other scouts can picture the player you evaluated.

That’s why Domonic Brown, a tall, lefthanded-hitting black outfielder, got compared to Darryl Strawberry. It wasn’t an attempt to say Brown was going to be like Strawberry. It was an attempt to say, “This guy looks like Darryl Strawberry in the batter’s box. Tall and skinny but with power.”

As we now know, Brown was no Strawberry. But comparisons in the internet age sometimes seemed to mislead BA readers more than inform them. Physical comps would get interpreted as performance comparisons.

For me, that happened because of sabermetrics and analytics-based prospect evaluation. A scout would never compare Brendan Harris, the former William & Mary infielder who came up in the Cubs’ system, as a future Albert Pujols.

But when Harris had a breakout year in the minor leagues in 2002, posting a .328/.389/.533 line, mostly at high Class A, another publication made that comparison. I’m sure I’ve made some bad ones in my day, but that one, based just off the performance, taught me to never use a comp without running it past a scout first.

A comparison that both matches the physical description and approximates a major league performance line is the way to go. Those are hard to find, so while I do like comps, I try to write about them sparingly. Until now, when I’m devoting a column to Top 100 comps:

Andrew Benintendi: Our top prospect is nearly incomparable, in that he has few modern antecedents. Red Sox officials have compared him to Fred Lynn and his swing to that of Don Mattingly. The fact that he lacks a true comp could be a bad sign for some players, but for Benintendi, it seems to indicate his superstar potential. Those players are unique and rarely have real comps. Hall of Famers usually have few truly comparable players. That’s how I feel about Benintendi, and for that matter No. 2 prospect Yoan Moncada.

Eloy Jimenez: The Cubs’ top prospect has similarities to Jorge Soler, now with the Royals, and Giancarlo Stanton. I like the one that one of our staffers came up with in Matt Holliday, another physical left fielder who had equal parts hitting ability and power production.

Kyle Tucker: Shawn Green used to be the go-to comp for scouts considering lefthanded-hitting corner outfielders with sweet swings. But the 21st Century comp should be Christian Yelich, though Yelich has a bit more athleticism and less power than Green. Tucker could be a mix of Green and Yelich and earns comps to both players.

Reynaldo Lopez: For many young righthanders from the Dominican Republic, a Pedro Martinez comparison is both an honor and a burden. No one can be another Pedro, and we try hard to weed out Hall of Fame comps in the pages of BA. No Greg Maddux comps, no Pedro, I guess no more Tim Raines comps (that really wasn’t a problem). Other Dominican righties have earned Yordano Ventura comparisons, though, which now has added poignancy. Lopez is one, right down to the 100 mph velocity and recoil.

Hunter Renfroe: Scouts have debated Renfroe for years, with varying degrees of confidence in his ability to make consistent contact and even in his athleticism. I think he’s most similar to Rob Deer, the former Brewers right fielder who didn’t hit for a high average but hit for big power and was an outstanding defender. The current player he resembles the most in terms of production is Mark Trumbo, though he’s a far superior defender in right field.

Alex Verdugo: Ben Badler suggested one of my favorite comps, Verdugo to Melky Cabrera. Like Cabrera, Verdugo isn’t conventional, but he can really hit, runs well enough to play center and has enough arm strength for right field. He might not be a star but he’ll be an average to above-average regular.

Dylan Cease: The Cubs hold out hope Cease can start, but with his 100 mph fire coming out of a small package from the Southeast, this Georgia prep product evokes big league closer Craig Kimbrel, an Alabama juco product. Many scouts who saw both as amateurs have drawn the same parallel.