In 2002 he was promoted to Fort Wayne in the Class A Midwest League. He hit .306/.403 on 129 games and 536 at-bats. He had 57 RBIs and stole 26 bases. He struck out a lot: 105 times that year, indicating that he was working pretty hard, cutting at pitches to generate a .403 SLG with as many times as he went down swinging. He got a look at Lake Elsinore by the end of that season.
2003 was Josh's breakout year. He returned to Lake Elsinore for a stormy season where he dropped lightning bolts on California League pitching. He batted .337/.530, knocked in 16 home runs, 128 RBIs, and 45 doubles in 549 at-bats. Barfield demonstrated his power, which captured him accolades. His 122 strikeouts though were enough to trigger career earthquake warnings.
In 2004 he was promoted to Mobile where he still performed well, but he went through a really bad slump. Double-A pitchers caught a habit, a lateness to his swing, that they were able to exploit. He finished off the season .248/.417 but he still had triple-digit strikeout numbers (119).
He's doing better in 2005, playing for the Triple-A Portland Beavers. He's a very solid .306/.434 right now, with 11 home runs, and 58 RBIs. He still hasn't hit the century mark in strikeouts yet, although he's closing in (93). Barfield's walk-to-strike ratio is improving, suggesting that he's exercising a bit more patience.
Defensively, he's a solid second baseman, although scouts with whom we've spoken mention that his reaction time in double-play situations needs a bit of fine tuning as he has trouble getting around when balls pass to his right.
It's hard not to like Josh. He's the best player in the Padres farm system, in our opinion, and he's developing the tools to be a quality second baseman for San Diego. He's had a number of injuries that have slowed down his progress in the farm system, and have added to the frustration which claimed a chunk of 2004.
Our concerns center around his offense and his strikeout numbers. We'd like to see his strike to walk ratio continue to improve. He should be clearing 18-25 homers a year at Portland, based on his abilities. Patience and timing seem to be the complicating factors.
For him to be able to contribute in the 8-15 homer range with the major league club, he should be able to put up better numbers at Portland.
The Padres might promote him anyway, taking a gamble on him rising to the competition level, as he has done in the past. This would be more likely if he is completely healthy, something that he has not been for several years. The more conservative scenario for Josh is that he will probably spend another half-to-full season in the Triple-A with Portland in 2006.
