Reegie Corona - Prospect Profile

Reegie R. Corona (born November 7, 1986 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball infielder who plays for the New York Yankees organization.

 Selected by the Mariners from the Yankees in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 draft (2nd pick) on Dec. 11, 2008. Was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Yankees in 2003. He played in the Yankees farm system, including stints with the GCL Yankees, Staten Island Yankees, Charleston RiverDogs, Tampa Yankees, Trenton Thunder and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Debut
Gulf Coast League(2004)
Signed out of Venezuela, Corona was only 17 in his debut for the Gulf Coast League Yankees. At the time he had a decent batting eye, was a solid defender, and displayed good gap power for a guy that barely weighed 160 lbs. He hit .255 with zero home runs, five RBI, 12 runs scored and a .304 on base percentage in 37 games.

Staten Island(2005)
Had a poor season at Staten Island batting only .227 but developed the “know how to win” by hitting a walk off single that captured the league championship for Staten Island. “The way I felt after I got that hit is one of those rare moments in life,” said an elated Corona, only 18 at the time. He hit a slicing line drive down the left field line that lifted the Staten Island Yankees to the pinnacle of their amazing season. This wasn’t something new for Corona however because he may not have been lighting up the league with his bat, but he played like a gold glove infielder all season long.

In the final game of the New York Penn League championship he made two sliding grabs on grounders ticketed for the middle, and saved possibly two more runs, the game and perhaps Staten Island’s season.

Charleston RiverDogs(2006)
Had a good season hitting .295 with a .353 on base percentage in 96 games but more importantly, stole 26 bases which showed his great speed. At 19 years old he was one of the most consistent hitters on the River Dogs. Halfway through the season he was leading the league in hitting with a .344 average. Corona was hitting the ball hard almost every time at the plate and was spraying line drives to all parts of the field.

Tampa Yankees(2007)
While in Tampa, Corona struggled defensively. He was making errors on routine plays and making bad throws to first base and the cause could be the switch from second base to short stop.

Being a switch hitter, he was struggling against left-handed pitchers which was an unusual statistic considering he is a natural right-handed batter. He was leading off and had a bad start to the season. He turned his season around and was named a Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star in June. He also became a better defender as well as a better hitter.

Said Corona… “I think just trying to be consistent from both sides of the plate and using my speed has worked for me,” he said. “Hitting for power is not really my game. Taking a lot of pitches, scoring runs and helping the team is my job.”

Trenton Thunder(2007)
Corona was promoted to the Trenton Thunder in the last 35 games of the season in 2007 and hit just .221. He tired in the last 35 games and hit just .108 against lefties. Reegie was a strong player at the start of a season but would fade later because he needed a better strength training program.

He had a bad year in the field committing 37 errors. He is a hard-nosed player willing to do anything asked of him by his coaching staff and has tremendous work ethic.

Trenton Thunder(2008)
Reegie Corona hit .274 in his second go round with the Thunder and scored 72 runs with 125 hits in 129 games. He also stole 24 bases.

Corona maintained a consistency during both halves of the season hitting .273 in the first half of the season and hitting .274 after the all star break.

Said Corona.. “I’m just focusing on being consistent with my hitting and consistent with my defense, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

He also set a career high in doubles which could be attributed to his desire to improving his strength.

With his combination of consistent hitting, great fielding and speed caught the eye of the Seattle Mariners. They selected him in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 draft prior to the start of the 2009 season.

He had a chance of making the Mariners team out of camp but didn’t and was offered back to the New York Yankees. The Yankees took him back.

Trenton Thunder/Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees(2009)
Was having a great season in Trenton before being called up to Scranton. He was shuffled back and forth before ending the season playing for Scranton.

He was hitting very well in Trenton hitting .287 with three home runs and 26 RBI in 85 games. He did not hit well in Scranton. His overall numbers were .200 with three home runs, 14 RBI and only 32 hits in 44 games. He only played a third of the season at Scranton and I expect him to improve just like he did after the other stops he made at the other levels.

Batting and Power

Wherever Corona goes, he continues to make progress offensively. He shows very good plate discipline, leading scouts to believe he has the potential to hit for a high average. He has great knowledge of the strike zone and could possibly could draw more walks than strikeouts. He works the counts well and he’s willing to take a walk. He has good gap power as evidenced by the amount of double he hits. He is not a home run hitter. He is a switch-hitter and hits better from his right side.

Base running and Speed

Corona is an above average runner. He knows how to read pitcher’s moves better than he has in the past and has the potential to steal 30 bases.

Defense

He can play short stop, third base, second base and some outfield. His more natural position is at second base and makes less errors at second than at shortstop. I’ll give you an example of this. In Trenton during the 2008 season, he made nine errors at shortstop in 30 games. In 99 games at second base, he made only three errors. In Scranton during the 2009 season, he made seven errors at shortstop in 25 games and only one error in 19 games.

He is an above average defensive shortstop with plus range but a Gold Glove caliber second baseman. His arm is strong enough to play third base. He can change the game defensively.

YankeesDaily’s Take and Projection:

Reegie Corona doesn’t do any one thing particularly great but he does a lot of things well. He can play shortstop, third base, second base and some outfield. He has plus big league plate discipline but has no home run power. This will most likely relegate him to reserve infielder status on the Yankees like a Brett Gardner especially since the Yankees have Robinson Cano as their starting second baseman. He would do really well as a reserve infielder.

Reegie Corona is currently hitting .310 through 13 games in the Venezuela Fall League . He’s also made three errors at second base.

Video is from Mike Ashmore’s Thunder Thoughts Youtube page