The San Diego Padres Top 100 Prospects: #97–Ryan Skube, 2B

Name: Ryan Skube
Position: Second Base
DOB: 3/26/91
2010 Level(s): AZL Padres (Rookie), Lake Elsinore (High-A)

There’s probably less to recommend Skube than any other prospect on this Top 100 list, between his draft status, low minor league level, and small sample of production.

After all, what would one want with a .273/.364/.403 AZL hitter who was a 44th-round pick in 2009?

Well, a couple of things.

First off, Skube is just 19 years old, and when a 19-year-old second baseman can show patience and gap power like this, it’s nice.

Secondly, Skube had a four-game cameo in Lake Elsinore earlier this year, and went 7-for-17 with three doubles and a homer. Combine that performance with his AZL line, and he’s batting .298/.383/.468 this year. Sure, that Lake Elsinore sample is ridiculously small, but it’s nice to see a teenager unfazed by mid-level minor league pitching.

Skube remains a question mark. He hit just .243/.302/.350 in his AZL pro debut last year, so it remains to be seen if he’s just gotten randomly lucky for 26 games or if he really is a player to watch.

Skube is currently below-average but playable at second base. He’s just 7-for-12 in steals over his career, so he doesn’t look like he’s going to add much to his teams with base thievery. Adding some weight has really helped him this year (if the results are to be believed), but you have to wonder if the extra weight could detract from Skube’s range. It certainly doesn’t appear that he’ll be able to carry a corner position.

Squint hard enough, and you can see a future offense-oriented utilityman here. Like most short-season prospects, though, Skube will simply need to get more experience and play more games before we can really pin down his future.