Bats/Throws: S/R

Height/Weight: 6’1”, 175 lbs

Acquired: NDFA (08/03)

Born: 4/31/86 (Guige, VZ)

Why Ranked Here: Big league skills at shortstop, one of the two most difficult defensive positions to play. Coronado has average MLB range and arm to go with fine hands. He’ll play 2009 as a 23-year old in AAA. Over the course of the last year, the switch-hitter has shown steady, modest improvement with the bat culminating in a VWL season in which he hit .308/.373/.429 in 27 games. Coronado makes contact, rarely striking out and can take a walk.

There’s something to the argument that Coronado’s bat is just starting to catch up with the pace at which the Mets have rushed him through the system. In 2004, he played in 33 games in the VSL. In 2005, the Mets reasonably moved him to the GCL where he hit .404/.429/.468 in a whopping 11 games. That prompted the Mets to promote him to Kingsport, where he hit a more modest .266/.338/.382 in 39 games. Nothing strange about moving a guy who was off to a hot start in the GCL up to the Appalachian League, but what follows is harder to justify. The Mets had Coronado finish 2005 in the SAL in Hagerstown where he hit .225/.295/.282 in 18 games as a 19 year old. With no indication that he had conquered the SAL, the Mets promoted Coronado to the FSL to begin 2006 where, as a 20 year old, he hit .226/.283/.278 playing every day in 138 games. To begin 2007, for the second year in a row, after struggling at the previous level, the Mets promoted Coronado, this time to AA Binghamton. Predictably, he struggled to a .212/. 284/.257 line in 81 games. Coronado improved on that in ’08 both in Binghamton and in the VWL. While fans have focused on Mets propensity to push higher profile players, such as Fernando Martinez and Francisco Pena, few players have been hurried through the system as quickly as Coronado.

2008: Coronado hit .253/.330/.291 in 340 AB before the All-Star Break and .275/.346/.359 in 167 AB after the break. Sure, a .084 isolated slugging percentage isn’t usually something to brag about it, but it’s sure better than the .038 he put together before the ASB. Even better, Coronado showed incremental progress in the area, with an isolated slugging percentage of .119 in the winter in VWL to go along with his first .300+ AVG since 11 games in the GCL in 2005.

Dr. Pangloss Says: Coronado can play an MLB caliber SS. In 2008, MLB SS averaged a .272/.327/.391 batting line, a mark within Coronado’s reach. Coronado who has the athleticism for second, would be an asset off a bench as a defensive specialist.

On the Flipside: Coronado, who has below average power, might just never hit enough to play everyday.

Projected 2009 Start: AAA Buffalo where he’ll be looking to prove that his VWL showing was no fluke.