PuRP No. 25: Correlle Prime (220 points, 25 ballots) | Winter 2015 Ranking: 21 | High Ballot 14, Mode Ballot 21, 23
After a very good year in Asheville last season in which he posted a .291/.336/.520 line, Prime has run into some problems against High-A pitching with Modesto this year. The 21-year-old first baseman, facing pitchers on average 1.6 years older than him, is hitting just .235/.279/.385 (80 wRC+) and has struck out in 28.6 percent of his 385 plate appearances to date. The 6'5 Prime does have 31 extra-base hits (including ten homers) this season, but overall the year represents a pretty significant step back for the big fella.
The last scouting report from the national media we have on Prime is what Kiley McDaniel at FanGraphs had to say about Prime when he ranked the big righty 25th among Rockies prospects last year:
6'5/200 power hitter has above average raw power to profile at first base if he hits, but some scouts doubted that out of high school ($125,000 bonus as 12th rounder in 2012) given his size. He's hit at least .280 everywhere he's gone and jacked 21 homers this year as a 20-year-old getting his first taste of full-season ball in Low-A. It's probably bench/platoon bat upside as a big R/R first baseman, but he's hitting and the headline puns will be easy.
There's little doubt that Prime possesses a nice line-drive hit tool, youth, a great personality, and an excellent name. With that said, Prime doesn't belong on this list going forward (he didn't come close to making mine this time around and his placement on this year's edition was surprising to me) unless he really turns up the offense and hits for power. Because of his lack of defensive utility, Prime is a player who needs to dominate on offense to make it to the big leagues and he has fallen off the cliff in that regard thus far in Modesto.
Contract Status: 2012 12th round; not Rule 5 eligible (2016); three options remaining
MLB ETA: 2018