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2011 midseason positional rankings: top 15 first basemen
Nick J. Faleris April 13, 2011 Presented below are the
DiamondScape Scouting midseason positional rankings for the 2011 draft class. We will be rolling out our top 15 catchers,
first basemen, second basemen third basemen and shortstops, our top 30 outfielders, and our top 50 pitchers as of mid-April
2011. This series will culminate with our overall midseason top 300 draft prospects, which will post April 25-27, 2011: Positional Rankings: c | 1b | 2b | 3b | ss | of | p
Midseason Top 300: 1 - 100 | 101 - 200 | 201 - 300
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Big Daddy Cron(s)... Sliding up one spot
to the top is converted catcher C.J. Cron (Univ. of Utah), who has produced the most
impressive offensive line of any draft eligible four-year collegian thus far in 2011. Cron's triple-slash line currently
sits at .480/.538/.800, and while he has not walked a ton (around 9% of his PAs), he has struck out even less (around 7% of
his PAs). His brother, Kevin, makes his first appearance on the first base positional rankings at #15. Kevin is
on pace to break the career high school homerun record in the state of Arizona, and was a DiamondScape Scouting Preseason Second Team All-Region Selection. Alex Dickerson (Indiana Univ.) has been solid this spring, but has not shown
growth. More importantly, the questions as to whether his upper-body-driven cuts and long barrel path will prevent consistent
hard contact against better stuff remain unanswered. His raw power is huge, but advanced pitching will attack his holes.
Even moreso than the average prospect, Dickerson's ability to make adjustments will determine his ultimate success. Cody Asche (Univ. of Nebraska) has struck out in just 15% of his plate appearances thus far.
While still a fair amount, it does not push him into the "danger zone", from the perspective of statistical analysis,
and he has generally done a better job covering the plate. Conversely, Harold Riggins
(North Carolina St. Univ.) and Johnny Coy (Wichita St. Univ.) have run into
contact issues, in addition to showing some trouble regularly barreling the ball with the BBCOR bats through their first 100+
ABs. Jacob Anderson (Chino HS, Chino, Calif.) remains the top pure first baseman
at the prep ranks, but Nick Delmonico (Farragut HS, Knoxville, Tenn.) debuts at #2
on the midseason rankings, as a current catcher projecting better at a corner spot. The
April 14 DSS Draft Blog entry explores nine of the below first basemen in more detail via a midseason stock up/stock down/stock hold piece. The
rankings below represent DiamondScape Scouting's midseason positional ranking for 2011 Rule
4 Draft-eligible amateurs only, with their preseason rankings in parentheses (green indicating
a rise, red a fall and blue a hold in position): - C.J. Cron | Univ. of Utah (2)
- Nicky Delmonico | Farragut HS, Knoxville, Tenn.
(NR)
- Alex Dickerson
| Indiana Univ. (1)
- Cody Asche | Univ. of Nebraska (4)
- Matt Skole | Georgia
Tech (8)
- Preston Tucker | Univ. of Florida (3)
- Ricky Oropesa | Univ. of Southern California (5)
- Jacob Anderson | Chino HS, Chino, Calif. (9)
- Aaron Westlake | Univ. of Missouri
(12)
- Taylor Ard | Washington St. Univ. (13)
- Dan Vogelbach |
Bishop Verot Catholic HS, Fort Myers, Fla. (11)
- Cameron Gallagher | Manheim Township
HS, Lancaster, Penn. (7)
- Rookie Davis | Dixon HS, Holly Ridge, N.C. (15)
- Harold Riggins | North Carolina
St. Univ. (6)
- Kevin Cron | Mountain Point HS, Phoenix, Ariz. (NR)
Dropped Out: Johnny Coy | Wichita St.
Univ. (10); Austin Southall
| Chipola Coll. (JC) (14)
| Top tools | | Hit: | C.J. Cron | Univ. of Utah
| | Power: | Alex Dickerson
| Indiana Univ. | | Speed: | Jacob Anderson | Chino HS, Chino, Calif. | | Arm: | Rookie Davis |Dixon HS, Holly
Ridge, N.C. | | Defense: | Jacob
Anderson | Chino HS, Chino, Calif. |
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Top Prospect: C.J. Cron | Univ. of Utah
Scouting Report Summary (full scouting report here): Cron may have as much offensive upside as anyone in the
draft not named Rendon. If he provided a little more value in other aspects of
the game he would almost certainly be a candidate to go in the Top 10 overall in June and, as it is, he'd be an early-1st
Round lock in a less loaded draft class. His power potential and polish make him an attractive target and he should
be off the board at some point in the Supplemental-1st Round, if not in the 15-32 range in the 1st Round. There is always some risk in taking a prospect whose value is
almost exclusively tied to his bat, but Cron shows an advanced feel already, and as a member of a baseball household should
possess the mental tools to help him to incorporate pro instruction as he progresses towards the Bigs. Preseason Rankings
Positional Rankings: Top 300:
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