Monday, October 28, 2013

Scouting the Draft 2014: Kyle Schwarber

The hot stove has died down to a few smoldering coals until the World Series ends and it get re-stoked again.  In the meantime, we'll just keep on with our reviews and draft profiles.

The best pure college hitter in the 2014 draft is a guy I had not heard of before until early draft previews started coming out this summer after the college season had ended.  Kyle Schwarber is a lefthanded hitting catcher for Indiana.  He's a stocky guy at 6'0", 230 lbs with a low center of gravity.  There are some questions about whether he can stick at catcher.  If not, then he's a short first baseman or a DH where the bat has to come up huge.  That is certainly possible as he has destroyed the Big Ten for the last 2 seasons, especially 2013, his sophomore campaign:

2012  .300/.390/.513 with 8 HR, 5 3B, 9 SB in 12 Attempts, 30 BB, 24 K in 230 AB.
2013  .366/.456/.647 with 18 HR, 4 SB in 7 Attempts, 39 BB, 33 K in 235 AB.

He'll never be known for his speed, but it seemed to slip a little between his freshman and sophomore seasons.  His CS% also slid from about 30% down to 19%.

Big League Futures does not have a draft profile up on him yet, but has him ranked at #22 in their early 2014 draft rankings.  Mack's Mets does not have in in the first round in his early mock draft.  Matt Garrioch at BA has him at #21 his his very early 2014 draft ranking.  BA has him ranked at #17 with the comment that his best position is clearly the batter's box!

He is certainly not what the Giants usually look for in the first round.  If you want a great bat and don't care about anything else, Schwarber is your man.  I think he will most likely be taken in the second half of the first round or at least the supplemental first round.  He could be a steal if his body and defensive questions drop him to the second round.

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