Taylor Sparks, 3B, UCI. B-R, T-R. 6'4", 225 lbs.
.360/.388/.581, 10 HR, 7 SB.
Taylor Sparks is a big, strong right-handed hitting 3B for UC Irvine, a school not known for producing power hitter, or any kind of hitter, for that matter. He's obviously a hacker, but my goodness! If you can hit like that swinging, why would you want to take? Now, 10 HR's may not seem like a lot, but UCI plays in the Big West Conference which has some mighty fierce pitching. Add in the BBCOR bats and the balls with raised stitches and 10 dingers is pretty darn impressive! He also played for the collegiate Team USA and hit .396.
On video, he's big and athletic looking with a bat waggle in his stance. He has a quick front foot lift that he puts back down almost immediately. His bottom half doesn't move much but he gets torque from his torso and tremendous bat head speed as is comes through the zone.
PG ranks him as the #26 overall draft prospect while BA has him a bit lower at #50. A big junior campaign could boost his stock into the mid first round. I have a feeling his swing mechanics may need some work, but that kind of raw talent and power are not easy to find, especially from the right side of the plate.
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Say Doc, did you run an edition of Scouting the Draft for Luis Ortiz out of Sanger, Ca. I saw on MLB.com that we was rated around 15th overall. I am going to check him out this year as I'm in the area.
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe I did. Big, strong RHP, mid-90's FB. Love him. I think he would make a great pick at #15!
DeleteSecond post in November.
DeleteThanks for posting these draft profiles DrB, especially the ones for Big West Conference Draft prospects like Sparks! I'm looking forward to following Hawaii's 2nd season in the Big West Conference and familiarize myself with the good players in this conference. Looks like this conference has some interesting draft prospects in 2014..
ReplyDeleteLG
Yup, we've covered a couple from Cal Poly, there are at least 2 good draft prospects from Fullerton and Sparks from UCI. I'll see if I can dig up a few more.
DeleteI like this guy a lot. Thanks for highlighting him. Team USA is a nice extra profile. He's one of those guys who you'd love to be there in the 2nd round, might be gone by then.
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out if the name Taylor Sparks sounds more like a pop singer or a porn star. Either way I would draft him!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing, at least about the pop star thing. Almost put it in my writeup! LOL!
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