CAR
Gabriel Arias, IF
Edit player ✎
Baseball Reference →
FanGraphs →
MLB →
Scouting report
The splashiest name in the Mike Clevinger trade was Arias because a) he’s been known and hyped for longer and b) he has a closer proximity to the big leagues than the others who were acquired. Arias was part of San Diego’s huge 2016 international signing class, inking a deal worth just shy of $2 million. He quickly became the most promising of the young infielders the club signed that year and was pushed to full season ball late during his age-17 season, well out ahead of the others in his class. After a rough statistical 2018 as a very young player at Low-A Fort Wayne, Arias had a great 2019 on paper, hitting .302/.339/.470 as a 19-year-old at Hi-A Lake Elsinore. Arias looks like a stud at five o'clock when he's taking batting practice and infield, but his in-game swing decisions have been a problem, and were even during that statistically impressive 2019. The Padres threw every developmental trick in the book at him during the 2019-20 offseason, including virtual reality training, to try to get him to better identify balls from strikes, and chase less often. In a small spring sample, it appeared to be working -- Arias played some spring games in the place of Fernando Tatis Jr., who was one of several Padres to miss time with flu-like symptoms during the spring before baseball shut down. The importance of Arias' approach extends beyond his on base ability to his power production. His swing is grooved, making the parts of the zone where he can do real damage limited, so for him to get to his power in games he's not only going to have to recognize balls and strikes, but also learn what he can actually hit. It's possible this will occur, and Arias will be a star if it does, but I think an Orlando Arcia trajectory -- where there are growing pains and frustration amid flashes of spectacle -- is more likely. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)