Hot Prospect Profile: NOLAN REIMOLD

Posted by Jeremy on April 30, 2009 under Hot Prospect Profile | Be the First to Comment

What I wrote about Reimold on Hot-Prospects.net on 11/21/2008…

O’s fans got a dose of what Reimold can do when fully healthy. Reimold battered AA pitching this season to the tune of a .284 25 HR 84 RBI 87 runs scored. Reimold has a power hitters frame at 6-4 210 lb. that is deceptively athletic. His right-handed swing generates easy power to all fields and he controls the strike zone effectively, earning 62 BB this season. Reimold’s success has continued in the Arizona Fall League where he started slowly but has come back to hit .273 with 4 HR and 18 RBI in 24 games.  Defensively, he has good range and a cannon arm built for RF. The main detractor to Reimold’s success has been his proneness to injury, though his healthy ‘08 season is cause for optimism. Additionally, due to his advanced age, Nolan will have added pressure to make a positive MLB impact earlier than many younger prospects.  Failure to do so may relegate him to the dreaded role of 4th outfielder or, even worse, AAAA player.

2009 Projection: Expect Reimold to get plenty of AB’s in spring training with an outside shot of earning a spot on the O’s opening day rosters.  More likely, Reimold will start 2009 at AAA with a promotion to Baltimore happening soon.  Watch to see how well Reimold plays this spring.  If he hits well, there is a shot that he could find his way onto the roster in a possible platoon position with O’s LF Luke Scott.  A future outfield of Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Reimold should give Orioles fans ample reasons to be excited about their team’s future.

UPDATE: Reimold put up big numbers in spring training in a limited period of time going 9-28 with 4 HR 8 RBI and 2 SB while earning a respectible 4 BB/5K ratio.  Regardless of his hot start, he was sent to AAA Norfolk in mid-March as there was no room for him on Baltimore’s roster.  Fast forward to today and we find that Reimold is tearing apart International League pitching to the tune of a .403 BA with 6 HR 19 RBI 4 SB and 14 runs scored in just 19 games.  The left field platoon of Felix Pie (.157 BA 1 HR 2 RBI) and Ty Wigginton (.205 1 HR 8 RBI) has been lackluster at best leaving O’s Manager Dave Trembley to say about Reimold “I talked to our scouts about him. He’s off to a real nice start and I hope it continues because he’s a guy that we all feel can help us. When that is, I’m not sure, but I know he is probably a lot further along than we all anticipated at this particular point in time.”

Bringing up Reimold on June 1st seems to be the logical choice, though his bat may force himself into the lineup much sooner.  At 25 years old, Nolan has the polish that several other promising minor leaguers lack.  Match that with his solid plate discipline and there is much reason to believe that he will not struggle in the same way that several other younger, more aggressively pushed prospects do once they make their major league debuts.  I expect that Reimold will arrive and make significant offensive contributions to an already talented Orioles linuep.

The eBay market for his products is starting to heat up as the prices of his first year 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft cards have risen from the $0.50-1.00 levels of a couple months ago to the $2.00-3.00 range now.  His 2007 Bowman Heritage autos have also jumped somewhat during that same period of time from $4.00-6.00 to $10.00-12.50 today. 

Exponential price increases are always a good thing if you are an investor and bummers if you are a prospective buyer.  I think there is still quite a bit of room for growth in Reimold’s cards, though, as history has shown that the largest market jumps for rookie cards happen during short productive periods following a major league debut.  The question that a prospective buyer must mull over is whether or not the player, in this case Nolan Reimold, will succeed or fail during that window of time and, if they succeed, how will the market respond?

My gut tells me that the current eBay values are about half of what they will be during the one month window following his major league debut.  Trembley has indicated that when Reimold is called up, he will be called up to play every day.  That should allow Nolan to establish a firm foundation of continuity and allow for him to confidently build on positive performances-a luxury that he wouldn’t necessarily have if he was relegated to a platoon role.

Let’s see how my aggressive projection pans out!  I have a feeling that we will all be founding out sooner rather than later.  

Looking for some good Reimold deals?  Here’s just a little sampling on what’s on eBay right now.