Mexican League Prospect: Luis Terrero
In the first couple installments in the Mexican League miniseries we looked at both Alan Guerrero and Sergio Perez, two right-handed pitchers. Plus the analysis on Leonardo Heras, the league’s top hitting prospect, can be found on my site, www.releasepoints.com, or right here.
Now it’s time to look at Luis Terrero, the second most productive hitter in all the minors last season.
Terrero isn’t a prospect any more for several reasons, namely age and, well, he’s not qualified any longer. See, he played 243 games, mostly with the Diamondbacks in 2003 through 2005, and has a career major league line of .231/.348/.376, with 14 homeruns and 17 stolen bases. He wasn’t much of a prospect during his first go-round in the minors, but his numbers in the Mexican League are, at the very least, a little eye-catching.
Last season was Terrero’s first in the Mexican League and he put up the best numbers of his entire career, at any level. In 459 plate appearances, he hit .390/.485/.770 and his total offensive production was 100% better than the league average. And, by the way, his 38 homeruns ranked second in the minors too. He also walked in 13.3% of his plate appearances too. Yes, this is a favorable hitting environment, but he shined well above the pack.
During his original ascension up the minor league ladder he split his time between all three outfield spots, but the majority of the time (53%) he played center field. Last year, though, he rotated between center and right field, but his defense, at least according to the raw data, appears to have taken a small step backwards.
Terrero will turn 32 in mid-May and could provide some outfield depth for a Triple-A team next season. Two years ago he split time between the Reds’ Double-A and Triple-A teams and hit a combined .283/.341/.515 so he’s still capable of hitting stateside pitching, which, without a doubt, is better competition.
Truthfully, there are far worse players masquerading in the upper levels than Luis Terrero. And there’s probably not much of difference between him and, say, Boston’s Darnell McDonald.
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