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"John Sickels: White Sox Prospect Brandon Allen: Where Did This Guy Come From? ... Is this a real...

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"John Sickels: White Sox Prospect Brandon Allen: Where Did This Guy Come From? ... Is this a real breakthrough? Allen's ratios didn't slip much at all after being promoted. His strikeout rate went up a little, but the walks remained the same, and he continued to provide plenty of power. He's got issues against left-handed pitching, hitting just .211 against them in Double-A, though he still slugged .544 against them. He murdered right-handers to a .313/.389/.656 mark. His home/road splits were unremarkable. He's just 22, so I think the improvement this year was for real. His defense needs work (15 errors this year), and I don't think he's ever going to hit for much of an average, which will make it important for him to draw walks to keep his OBP at decent levels. If I were the White Sox, I'd be willling to push him to Triple-A to begin 2009, to see how much of this can be sustained against better pitching. I would rate him a Grade B- prospect right now. Is that too high? Too low? Or just right?" http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/9/17/615756/white-sox-prospect-brandon