Shawn O’Malley is the third card in the 2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects set. He was a fifth round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006. He has moved up a level each year from rookie ball in 2006 to high A ball this year where he is the starting shortstop. His hitting stats show that he has average on-base skills and next to no power with slugging percentages around .300 in his career so far. He is not listed in Tampa’s top 20-30 prospects in John Sickel’s blog (www.minorleagueball.com). Looking on other blogs it looks like the one talent O’Malley has is speed. He stole 28 bases last year but was caught 14 times as well which may mean he needs to learn how to read pitchers. Shawn was the Rays’ 30th best prospect according to Baseball America earlier this year.
For O’Malley to become a major leaguer he is going to have to be an above average fielder and probably will have to show some versatility to become a utility player. If he can learn to cut down on his times caught stealing then someday he may make the majors as a utility player who can also be a pinch runner. He is only 21 so he has time to develop.
