Per Roman Quinn himself, Roman Quinn will be moving to center field full time.
Phillies prospect Roman Quinn confirms on Twitter he's switching from shortstop to the outfield pic.twitter.com/MbHI0v6p7j
— Mitch Rupert (@Mitch_Rupert) June 11, 2014
Impacts on Quinn:
There has been a ton of debate over whether Quinn could actually stick it out at SS, so overall this is not a huge surprise. Defensively Quinn has the tools to be very good in center field. He is at least a plus plus runner and possibly more as he continues to get his feet back under him, once he gets his reads down he could have plenty of range in centerfield. In addition to range Quinn has plus arm strength, which could be a real weapon in center field. Quinn was a center fielder in high school before he was drafted in 2011 so the transition could be very smooth, and Quinn himself has appeared more bought into the concept of playing the outfield other continuing in the infield.
At the plate it is a different story.
The difference between hitting at short and hitting in CF is actually pretty substantial.
SS: .248/.309/.370
CF: .262/.324/.393— Eric Longenhagen (@longenhagen) June 11, 2014
That is not a small gap that will be made up easily. Quinn does offensively profile in center field with a decent feel for contact, surprising pop, and the electrifying speed. However this does hurt his value. The big question is whether the potential defensive upgrade transitioning to the outfield overcomes the defense.
Impacts on other Prospects:
Two guys jump to mind here in J.P. Crawford and Carlos Tocci. For Crawford this is a vote of confidence as the org has cleared one of the major obstacles out of his way. He could be on his way up (or down depending on how you view things) to Clearwater soon, where he would take over as the primary shortstop.
As for Tocci, he now falls in as the second best centerfielder in the system. It shouldn’t affect his development at all as he is behind Quinn by a full development level. This does add more depth to the centerfield position in the system and put some pressure on Tocci to put up better numbers on the field.
If Crawford gets the call to Clearwater expect the Phillies to backfill with Emmanuel Marrero or Malquin Canelo in Lakewood, with the other playing full time in Williamsport. Neither have the offense/defense combination that Crawford or Quinn offered, but both could be in the fringe starter, utility infielder role.