Steven Fuentes

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Detroit Tigers #15 prospect in 2015
  One of the Tigers' top international signings in 2011, Fuentes signed for $210,000 as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela. He has good bat speed and had a solid season at the plate in 2014. He's still ironing some things out with his swing, working at his pitch recognition and trying to maintain a consistent hitting approach, though he doesn't swing and miss excessively. Most of the switch-hitter's struggles at short-season Connecticut came batting righthanded, where he struck out 20 times in 44 plate appearances. Fuentes uses the whole field and shows occasional pull power that should improve as he gets stronger. Signed as a shortstop, he's become big enough that he fits better at third base, slowing down from a plus runner to an average one. He's athletic and moves around well at the hot corner, where he has a quick first step, good range and a plus arm, though like many young infielders he's still learning to slow the game down. He's ready to move on to low Class A West Michigan in 2015.
• 
  Ranked Detroit Tigers #28 prospect in 2014
  The Tigers are one of the active teams when it comes to signing Venezuelan players, as they're one of the few organizations with an academy remaining in the country. In 2011, they signed a shortstop Javier Betancourt for $200,000 and Fuentes for $210,000, then put them together the next season in the Rookie-level Venezuelan Summer League, with Fuentes splitting time between shortstop, second base and third base. The two came over to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2013, with Fuentes playing exclusively third base. He doesn't have the smoothness or advanced baseball sense of Betancourt, but his tools are louder. Fuentes is athletic, has good bat speed and had a solid U.S. debut. He does use the middle of the field, but he needs to improve his plate discipline to get himself better pitches to hit. He'll flash gap power that should grow with more strength, but it's not a big part of his game. Fuentes' home-to-first times are average and he's an above-average runner underway. He has the arm strength and quick release to play on the left side of the field, but the game speeds up on him defensively. The Tigers tend to push their players, so Fuentes could head to low Class A West Michigan in 2014.

• December, 2014 Scouting Report
  One of the Tigers' top international signings in 2011, Fuentes signed for $210,000 as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela. He has good bat speed and had a solid season at the plate in 2014. He's still ironing some things out with his swing, working at his pitch recognition and trying to maintain a consistent hitting approach, though he doesn't swing and miss excessively. Most of the switch-hitter's struggles at short-season Connecticut came batting righthanded, where he struck out 20 times in 44 plate appearances. Fuentes uses the whole field and shows occasional pull power that should improve as he gets stronger. Signed as a shortstop, he's become big enough that he fits better at third base, slowing down from a plus runner to an average one. He's athletic and moves around well at the hot corner, where he has a quick first step, good range and a plus arm, though like many young infielders he's still learning to slow the game down. He's ready to move on to low Class A West Michigan in 2015.