Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | ATL | OF | 1 | 60 |
Grades Update: Dec 2020
| OFP | Role | Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 70 | 50 | 50 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
Dec 2020 Report
Evaluator: Geoff Pontes
Age: 22 yr
Height: 6-2
Weight: 215 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2015 IFA
RuleV: On 40-Man Roster
Physical Description: Tall, athletic, muscular, but still lean, Pache is built like an NFL receiver with similar footspeed to some of the top burners in professional sports. His shoulders are broad, and his frame has continued to add positive weight over the last two seasons. He's started to shed some of the baby fat as he's added more muscle to his frame, without losing his elite speed. He's ticked down from the 80 runner he was as a teenager, but his speed still plays in double plus territory, particularly in the field. Still 10 to 15 pounds of muscle remain in his frame hinting at some latent power upside.
Hit: Sets up fairly square to the pitcher with a slightly off-set front foot. We've seen different iterations of this stance over the last year with a string of key elements. He's far more upright now than he had been early in 2019, and has gone from closed off, to slightly open, to a happy medium of the two. He employs a leg lift trigger that will vary in height and exaggeration on fastballs versus breaking pitches and offspeed. This gives me a fairly high comfort level with his pitch recognition as it manifests in the physical form. He's not going to produce barrels at a high rate, at least initially, but he should continually square up and make average to above average quality of contact. His swing path is on the longer side, but that goes hand in hand with his ability to extend on pitches on the outer half. There's some swing and miss at times due to his swing length but his innate hand eye coordination and discerning eye negate some of the exposure. One knock I have is Pache's tendency to lean in heavily at the point of contact and in follow through putting him in poor running position. The adjustments to the more upright setup seem to be a conscious effort to neutralize this. Overall an average hit tool due to a lack of high end hard contact and some swing and miss. Still some projection for this grade to tick up in the coming years. Grade: 50
Power: The early years of Pache's professional career were a lesson in projection, development, and progression. In his first 832 plate appearances across three levels Pache had zero home runs and a light isolated slugging of .070. Over his last 951 MiLB plate appearances he hit 21, and more than doubled his ISO right as he started to transform physically from a gangly teenager to a young man. He has the bat speed, strength and extension to produce average home run totals at peak. He gets into good hitting position and has continued to get comfortable as he's refined his setup and swing path. His excellent speed once underway allows him to boost his overall slugging profile but turning gap shots into doubles and triples. His 2019 data supports an average power grade with an average launch angle of 13 degrees, average exit velocity of 88 mph, and a max of 107 mph. Keep in mind all of that was done as a 20 year old. Grade: 50
Field: Pache's strongest skill and one of the loudest defensive profiles in the minors. Excellent vision in the field, strong body control, and elite makeup speed allow Pache to cover significant ground in centerfield. He's athletic enough to make diving plays and put himself into position to get the ball back into the infield quickly. He'll likely be one of the strongest outfield defenders in the majors day one. Already showcased his run saving ability during the Braves NLCS run this season. Grade: 70
Arm: Double plus arm strength and good accuracy on throws into the infield. Excellent online carry and top level velocities of 96+ mph from centerfield per Statcast. A true rifle of an arm that's a weapon with his defensive profile. Grade: 70
Run: Double plus runner, Pache derives the most value from his speed as a defender. His aforementioned strong makeup speed and ability to cover much ground in center allow his defensive tool to rate as highly as it does. Offensively he's not a great base stealer despite his speed, and he's slowed coming out of the box due to a poor running position on follow through of his swing. He does show the ability to turn of the jets with a ball hit in the gap easily turning some singles to doubles and doubles to triples. While he's not a great base stealer, he's a very good baserunner. Grade: 70
Overall: Arguably the most tooled up prospect at the moment. Pache should break camp as the Braves everyday centerfielder from day one. While the tools and upside have always been apparent the offensive upside finally began to manifest itself in 2019. His early MLB returns while underwhelming in a small sample, showed flashes of brilliance. The Braves have instilled a high level of confidence in Pache from his first days within the organization, and that confidence shines through in his play on both sides of the ball. The offensive profile as it stands looks capable of average to a tick better production with more growth in the tank. That combined with his elite centerfield defense give Pache the upside of the great centerfielders of yesteryear. The archetype of Torii Hunter or Andrew Jones, deriving value on both sides of the ball, but with their all-world defense as their carrying tool.
OFP: 60
Role: 70 - Impact Player - Perennial All-Star
Risk: Moderate
