He did what was asked of him after he was drafted. Is that enough?
- Born: February 26, 1997
- B/T: R/R
- 6’0″, 210-lbs
- Drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 3rd round of the 2019 June Amateur Draft from Wright State University
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
When I wrote about Dane Dunning, I used the word “metronome” to describe how steadily he pitched. Meet the metronome of batters.
Hardly matters if we break his lines up by level or not, he steadily did the same thing everywhere they played him. Now, as an older college prospect, you want him to hit well, but to post a .400 OBP on the A-ball circuit is about all you can ask of the guy.
He hit .304 at home and .305 away, like a metronome.
Now he did hit righties better, but he hit lefties just fine. If you are quibbling about an OPS hovering around .800, you need a new hobby.
That’s just A-ball showing, and it’s mighty impressive. Up and down around a mid-.900s OPS is just fine, thank you.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: #202 on their Top 400.
- BaseballHQ: Not on their Top 100.
- Fangraphs: Not on their Top 120.
- Fantasy Six Pack: #491 on their dynasty list.
- Prospects365: Not on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
- Imaginary Brick Wall: #157 on the Top 487.
- Fantrax: #193 on the Top 250.
Warnings
He’s now 23 and hasn’t reached AA, so let’s not sign the big checks just yet.
His skills aren’t known for being plus in that scouts do not expect him to reach the majors and do more than hit 25 HRs in a season, and that’s if his hands get quicker than they have been so far.
Defensively he’s more built for LF.
Conclusion
Well, all you can ask of someone when you draft them as a 22-year-old is to mash, and mash he did. You get more excited about someone who plays a premium defensive position, or who brings great speed or power to their game. The power certainly showed up, but will it stay this high by the time he faces upper-level pitching? As for speed, he did steal 24 in his final season at Wright State, so there’s at least the possibility that his 6 SBs in A-ball will translate to, oh, a dozen stolen bases a year? A 25/10 guy is nice to have, but doesn’t thrill the scouts too much.