Chicago Cubs Top 10 Prospects: #6

#6 Eric Patterson, 2b

Year	Team	Lv	AVG	OBP	SLG	AB	HR	SO	BB	SB	CS
2002	Ga Tech	NCAA	.346	.438	.458	260	3	42	37	41	9
2003	Ga Tech	NCAA	.274	.351	.375	248	2	44	29	45	6
2004	Ga Tech	NCAA	.326	.433	.508	264	9	54	52	48	7
2005	Peoria	A	.333	.405	.535	432	13	94	53	40	11
	W. Tenn	AA	.200	.324	.267	30	0	7	6	3	2
2006	W. Tenn	AA	.263	.330	.408	441	8	89	46	38	12
	Iowa	AAA	.358	.395	.493	67	2	9	6	8	0

Eric Patterson has a lot of similarities to his brother. Eric was viewed as an unsignable pure athlete coming out of high school in the 2001 draft. Due to his talents and connections he was snagged early on the second day of the draft by the Rockies, but he took up college at Georgia Tech.

Eric burst onto the scene with a sensational freshman season. He was named first team All-ACC, first team freshman all-american and third team all-american. Patterson slumped his sophomore season, but bounced back with an excellent final season. He was ranked as the 59th best prospect in the 2004 draft by Baseball America, but once he signed with Scott Boras like his brother he begun to slip. The Cubs didn't have a pick in the first fifty, so they had a little bit of extra cash to spend and took him with their eigth round pick and signed him for third round money.

Patterson started out his professional career in 2005 in the Midwest League where he overmatched younger players than him. He ran into a bit of a roadblock this season as he skipped Daytona and went to West Tenn. He displayed a little bit more patience than expected but it wasn't a great year. He did finish it with a bright spot in the final few weeks of the season after a promotion to Triple A Iowa. Patterson then backed up his late season success with a good performance in the Arizona Fall League.

Much like Corey, Eric has solid tools across the board. He's a gifted runner with plus speed and the potential to swipe thirty bases every year in the majors. He's got very good hitting skills and can flat-out scoot out of the box to first. He doesn't have the same power that his brother does, but he can hit double-digit homers with thirty steals. I am sure the first thing that runs through your mind is what about his discipline that his brother can't do. He's not the poster boy for the walks and no strikeouts, but he's a lot better than his brother. He's shown average walk skills and slightly below average contact skills. He can fall in love with his power at times which hurt him in these aspects. Defensively he's no Orlando Hudson, but he's solid.

In a perfect world Eric Patterson can become a solid all-around starting 2b. I envision him becoming a .280/.340/.420 and 30 SBs type 2b with the Cubs. Not great, but solid nonetheless. He's nearly ready right now. He's probably a better bet to hit those numbers than Mark DeRosa, but I am not the GM or manager. Eric's going to be in Iowa this season where he should have another solid season wasting away. One thing's for sure, the Iowa Cubs are going to have one great team next season.