Top 10 Braves prospects
1. Lucas Simms, right-handed pitcher
2. Christian Bethancourt, catcher
3. J.R. Graham, right-handed pitcher
4. Jason Hursh, right-handed pitcher
5. Mauricio Cabrera, right-handed pitcher
6. Jose Peraza, shortstop
7. David Hale, right-handed pitcher
8. Victor Carratini, catcher/third baseman
9. Tommy La Stella, second baseman
10. Sean Gilmartin, left-handed pitcher
*as ranked by Baseball America
Phil La Stella was a hardcore Yankees fan who watched baseball videotapes at home in New Jersey with his sons, Tommy and Michael. One day, they watched one about Mickey Mantle, whom the narrator called the greatest switch-hitter.
“I’d made Tommy be a lefty hitter when he was young,” the elder La Stella said. “Mel Allen said Mickey Mantle was the best switch-hitter of all time, and Tommy said, with a lisp he had at that time, ‘What’s a switch-hitter?’ After I explained it to him, he said, ‘That’s what I’m going to be.”
One other thing: “He was probably 3 or 4 years old,” Phil La Stella said.
So young Tommy started hitting from both sides of the plate, and continued until his high school coach advised him to revert to batting just lefty. Good advice: Batting left-handed, the Braves second-base prospect has hit for an even higher average (.346) and OPS (.921) against lefty pitchers than against right-handers (.322/.904) in his minor league career.
The point his father made with the story was that Tommy was always determined and never lacked confidence. Even as others would later doubt whether he was good enough to play at the next level, whatever that level was.
La Stella, 24, wasn’t drafted out of St. Joseph High School in Montvale, N.J. He wasn’t offered a scholarship after his freshman year at St. John’s University, so he transferred to Coastal Carolina University. After sitting out a year, he hit .378 with 14 homers, 66 RBIs and only 15 strikeouts in 246 at-bats in 2010. And still he wasn’t drafted.
Three years later, coming off a superb Double-A season, La Stella is thriving among some of baseball’s top hitting prospects in the Arizona Fall League. Despite a slump last week, he’s hitting .302 with seven extra-base hits, a .439 on-base percentage (tied for fifth in the league) and only three strikeouts with 13 walks in more than 60 plate appearances.
He’s on the verge of competing for a major league roster spot at spring training and could get a crack at a starting job if the Braves trade Dan Uggla this winter.
“Obviously, the goal is to be in Atlanta one day playing in the big leagues,” said La Stella, a gap-to-gap, line-drive hitter who goes 5 feet 11 and 185 pounds and has the thick forearms that come from countless hours hitting baseballs or operating a jackhammer. “I try not to concern myself with it because it’s not something I can control. But yeah, there’s definitely a little bit of the internal clock going when you’re getting a little closer.”
He was finally drafted in 2011, in the eighth round by the Braves. But, despite hitting .328 with five triples, nine homers and a .944 OPS in 63 games that year at Class-A Rome, then .299 with 34 extra-base hits and a .389 OBP in 90 games (85 at high-A Lynchburg) in 2012, he wasn’t ranked among the Braves’ top 10 prospects.
Some who were slow to come around on La Stella as a high-level prospect finally did after the 2013 season, when he hit .356 with 29 extra-base hits (five homers) and a .444 OBP in 88 games, including 81 at Double-A Mississippi. This despite missing much of spring training and a month of the season for an elbow injury.
“Right now, he could play in the big leagues — there’s no doubt about it, in my mind,” said John Moses, his hitting coach at Lynchburg early in 2013 and again with the Scottsdale Scorpions in Arizona.
His defense was characterized as mediocre-at-best by some evaluators, but La Stella has worked to improve that part of his game, especially arm strength and footwork. Bruce Manno, Braves assistant general manager and player-development director, said team officials believe he can be at least an average defensive player by major league standards.
“Tommy’s bat is special, and he’s getting better defensively,” Manno said. “He’s working on some things that we’ve outlined, and we think he’ll continue to get better. We’re very pleased with his season and what he’s continued to do in the fall league. … He’s got a very fundamentally sound swing and approach and real good plate discipline.”
One of his Scottsdale teammates is power-hitting Braves minor league outfielder Robbie Hefflinger, who played with La Stella at Lynchburg in 2012 and Mississippi in 2013.
“He’s always had that good hitter’s mentality, but he just flipped a switch at Mississippi this year and he’s completely on another level now,” Hefflinger said. “That’s something special to watch. I always joke with him, ‘If you’re not in the big leagues next year, the Braves have a problem.’”
Moses was among those in the Braves minor league system who thought La Stella was ready had Atlanta brought him up in September – he wasn’t called up – and believes there’s nothing that will overwhelm him once he gets to the majors.
“He’s got the mental part down,” Moses said. “And he’s not afraid to share it. He makes people better around him. He’s a leader. You ask the guys who are with us here (in Arizona) and they’ll tell you he’s one of the best hitters they’ve ever seen.”
Moses played 11 seasons in the majors and served on big-league coaching staffs for six seasons with Cincinnati and Seattle. So it carries weight when he opines on what separates La Stella from many prospects.
“Tremendous eye at the plate. Very confident hitter,” Moses said. “He’s a born hitter. It’s really hard to teach a guy what he does, the way he takes pitches. Extremely confident. And that’s what you look for in a hitter, a guy who’s not going to shy away from any pitcher. I don’t care if the guy’s throwing 100 (mph), he’s battling and puts together great at-bats.
“He’s one of the most confident hitters that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been around some pretty good ones. We had some pretty good players in Seattle. Junior (Ken Griffey Jr.), Alex (Rodriguez), Edgar Martinez, Ichiro (Suzuki). I’m not saying he’s that type of hitter yet, but he has that confidence, and he just doesn’t shy away. He attacks.”
Former major league Tommy Gregg, an ex-Brave, is the Royals’ Triple-A hitting coach and holds that same post with the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League. He’s taken note of La Stella.
“You can see he’s real quiet (in his stance). He’s a guy you can tell is very confident and trusts his hands,” Gregg said. “When you’re a good hitter, you’re confident stepping in the box that I’m not going to get fooled, and when I get my pitch, I’m not going to miss it. He looks like he’s got a really good idea of what he’s doing. It’s fun to watch guys like that.”
Asked to name a person most influential in his career, La Stella cites Kevin Schnall, his Coastal Carolina hitting coach. “The guy who really was instrumental in my development, not just in terms of mechanics, but mental approach,” La Stella said.
Then, after a brief pause, he acknowledges two others.
“More than anything, on the mental side, it has to be my mom and my dad,” he said. “They’ve kept me sane over the years, through some injuries and through some difficult times, like not getting drafted in 2010, when I was eligible plus I had a great year. That was definitely a difficult time for me, kind of wondering what do I have to do to get on the map. If it weren’t for my parents, I definitely would not be here. They’re unbelievable.”
Jane, his mother, is a psychologist. Phil is a medical researcher after 25 years as an emergency-room physician.
“He was always a great athlete, and nothing that he’s done so far has surprised us,” Phil La Stella said. “He’ll outwork everyone. But the thing that he’s always had, that his mom and I are most impressed with, is his confidence in his own ability. You’ve heard the expression, picturing yourself being successful? That personifies Tommy. He says what he’s going to do and then he goes out and does it.”
After years of being doubted, La Stella says it feels good to be talked about as a potential big-leaguer.
“Obviously when the recognition finally does come, it’s a relief,” he said. “For a long time, that wasn’t really a part of it for me. I’d go out and play well and wouldn’t hear anything. It’s finally nice to get some positive feedback.”
Is he as hungry now as when he was being overlooked?
“If not more so,” he said, looking a reporter in the eyes. “I mean, I’m knocking on the door. I want to kick it down.”
