NIck Weglarz: Rising Star

Nick Weglarz made it to AAA in 2010.  He turned 23 on December 16th and is poised to make his way  to Cleveland in 2011. He will open the year in AAA Columbus and will  primarily played left field but will problaby begin to see some time at 1b.  Weglarz has an excellent knowledge of the strike zone and is a line drive hitter. 

Weglarz is rated as the Indians fifth best prospect by BaseballAmerica.com: "Weglarz has the potential to slot into the middle of the order and produce a high OBP with power, though he'll have to work on his defense to make sure he doesn't give back too many runs in the field."

The key for Nick Weglarz in 2011 is to find a way to stay healthy, be more agressive on pitches in the strikezone, and develop some loft in his swing in order to turn some of those line drives into home runs.

The Indians drafterd 17 year old first baseman Nick Weglarz in the 3rd round (#94 overall) of the 2005 draft out of Lakeshore Catholic High School in Ontario, Canada.  After signing and reporting to Rookie Ball, he struggled hitting .231 with 2 HR, 13 RBI in 41 Games.  In 2006, Weglarz would get hit by a pitch after only one game and break his hamate bone which caused him to miss the remainder of the season.  In 2007 Weglarz showed the promise that the Indians had hoped for by splitting time between A ball Lake County and High A Kinston where he hit .274 with 24 HR, 93 RBI, with a OBP of .393 and a SLG%% of .498. 

Weglarz would play the entire 2008 minor league season at High A Kinston where he hit .272 with 10 HR, 41 RBI, a OBP of .396 and a SLG% of .432.  He had a BB% of 15.6% and a nearly indentical K% of 17.1%.  Weglarz would also play for Team Canada in the 2008 Beijiing Olympics in China.  Although Team Canada struggled by going 2-5, Weglarz shined.  He hit .400 with a .423 OBP and a .720 SLG%, includding 2 HR and 5 RBI in 7 games.  His best game came against Team Cuba where he went 4-4 with 2 HR and 3 RBI.  Tony Lastoria would move Weglarz to #2 on his prospect list.  Check out Indians Prospect Insiders write up on Weglarz.

Baseball America would move Weglarz up to #3 on the Indians Top 10 Prospects List:

Weglarz has uncanny discipline for a player his age and size, rarely offering at pitches outside of the strike zone and showing the potential to draw 100 walks in a season. He generates excellent loft, bat speed and leverage with his swing and shows plus-plus power potential, giving him an outstanding combination of power and patience.

Weglarz played for Team Canada in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Afterwards, he returned to AA Akron after his stint in the WBC and had a horrible April hitting .089 with a .386 OPS before rebounding in May hitting .329 with 1 1.055 OPS with 6 HRs and .280 with a 1.007 OPS with 5 HRs in June (stats from Tony Lastoria here).  Weglarz continued to hit in July but suffered what eventually was determined to be a stress fracture in his left shin.  He continued to play through the pain and struggled through to the end of the season finishing with a .227 average and 16 HR with an OPS of .808.  The Indians, not knowing the severity of the injury, sent him to the Arizona Fall League where he struggled for the Peoria Saguaros hitting .240 with a .740 OPS in just 25 at bats.  In Novembver, Weglarz had surgery surgery  to put a rod in his leg in order to help stabilize it and help the fracture heal. 

Weglarz started the 2010 season back in AA Akron where he hit .285 with 7 HR and an OPS of  .897 in 37 games before being promoted to AAA Columbus.  He found succes in his first stint in AAA hitting .286 with 6 HR and an OPS of .889.  Weglarz was on the short list of players expected to get a callup in September when he sprained his thumb in late July and required surgery.  Weglarz went go to Venezuela to rehab over the winter but only appear in 4 games (12 at-bats).

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	G	PA	AB	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	17	Burlington	APPY	Rk	41	166	147	2	13	17	42	.231	.313	.347	.660
2006	18	Indians	GULF	Rk	1	2	2	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000
2007	19	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A-A+	127	540	446	24	83	83	131	.274	.393	.498	.891
2007	19	Lake County	SALL	A	125	532	439	23	82	82	129	.276	.395	.497	.892
2007	19	Kinston	CARL	A+	2	8	7	1	1	1	2	.143	.250	.571	.821
2008	20	Kinston	CARL	A+	106	454	375	10	41	71	78	.272	.396	.432	.828
2009	21	Akron	EL	AA	105	427	339	16	65	75	78	.227	.377	.431	.808
2010	22	2 Teams	2 Lgs	AAA-AA	87	372	312	13	47	50	69	.285	.390	.503	.893
2010	22	Akron	EL	AA	37	163	137	7	27	22	26	.285	.387	.511	.897
2010	22	Columbus	IL	AAA	50	209	175	6	20	28	43	.286	.392	.497	.889
6 Seasons					467	1961	1621	65	249	296	400	.262	.383	.455	.838
AA (2 seasons)					142	590	476	23	92	97	104	.244	.380	.454	.833
Rk (2 seasons)					42	168	149	2	13	17	44	.228	.310	.342	.652
A+ (2 seasons)					108	462	382	11	42	72	80	.270	.394	.435	.828
A (1 season)					125	532	439	23	82	82	129	.276	.395	.497	.892
AAA (1 season)					50	209	175	6	20	28	43	.286	.392	.497	.889

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 1/29/2011.