One thing is for certain, when it comes to the Cardinals’ 2005 first round pick: he won’t have to do a lot to become the best “Colby” ever to play in the major leagues. When “Colby Jack” Coombs (given name: John) is taken out of the equation, the best and only Colby is former Rangers prospect Lewis, who started 26 games in 2003 and got saddled with a 7.30 ERA for his troubles. (By virtue of simply not having done that, our Rasmus might already be the best.)

But the Cardinals, obviously, have higher hopes for Rasmus, already the top non-Reyes prospect in the system for both Baseball America and John Sickels. Having eclipsed Bo Jackson’s high school home run record in his native Alabama, and possessing all five of the mythical tools, hopes were high that he would prove to be the Cardinals’ first top position player prospect since dearly-departed Daric Barton.

And through July 31, 2005, he had… not delivered much at all. Certainly, he hadn’t been made a fool of at rookie-level Johnson City; he had kept his average hovering around its current .290 all season, and his 11 doubles suggested power in the future. But he had yet to show off the home run swing that had made him the first rounder in the first place. Even more worrying, he had struck out in an astonishing 38.7% of his at-bats, a bad sign for any prospect, let alone a guy renowned for his bat. Yes, at the beginning of August–the last month in the Appy League season–his line looked like this:

 AB  R   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB  K   BA  OBP  SLG
124 22  36  11   1   0    8  11 48 .290 .348 .395

Bo don’t know a .105 isolated power! The eternal slow-bat whispers reared their ugly heads; no doubt some cautious prospect mavens took a sad look at the Cardinals’ other scuffling power prospect, Mike Ferris. Things didn’t look bad per se, but let’s just say that your average #2 prospect is going to look a little more impressive than that on the lowest rung of the minor league ladder, even in a system as barren as the Cardinals’. Now, obviously, since we have the benefit of hindsight, we see his final numbers and think he did a solid number on the Appy League. But take a look at that last month–in isolation–and see why it is BA and Sickels love him:

 AB  R   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB  K   BA  OBP  SLG
 92 25  28   5   4   7   19  10 25 .304 .373 .674

Rasmus not only boosted his isolated power to a startling .370, he also cut his K rate to a borderline-acceptable 27.2% and raised his walk rate–perhaps because pitchers were scared of him. Now, I’m not sure whether it’s simple luck or adjusting to wooden bats, but even his final slugging percentage–.514–left him seventh in the league. Regardless, it’s nice to have a high-ceilinged hitting prospect, isn’t it? Let’s keep this one for a while.