At 6’1”, 185 pounds, Witt is an athletic, tall prospect with good strength and still has room to grow. He is a rare potential five-tool prospect out of the high school level. One of the fastest prospects in the 2019 MLB Draft as he’s been clocked running a 6.40 60 yard dash, he has outstanding tools on defense and has a future at the shortstop position. Witt is very smooth on defense with his soft, quick hands, excellent footwork and a strong arm. He has been clocked at 92 mph from across the diamond. At the plate, Witt has the tools to be the best hitter in his draft class. He can hit the ball for both average and power. His exit velocity as reaches in the triple digits and can really drive the ball to all fields.
Strengths
Big power
Strong arm
Elite speed
Plays with high energy
Exciting prospect
Smooth defensively
Raw bat speed
Loose, quick hands
Weaknesses
Drops back shoulder when trying to go the other way
Needs to bulk up to add more power
The biggest concern I have with Witt is that he’s 19 - actually older than Bubba Starling was when he was drafted.
That adds a little bit of a bust rate. Hopefully his instincts and pedigree and exposure/competition help him overcome the troubles older players sometimes have.
Witt will be older on draft day than A-Rod when he debuted.
Now, you COULD argue that will help him move fast. He’s a baseball rat who grew up around the game and has premium bloodlines. If any HS player should move quickly, it’s him.
I’d like to see the Royals challenge him with single A rather than rookie league if he’s the pick and signs quickly. Or at least be open to it if he demolishes rookie ball for a few weeks.
It’s encouraging he made the updates and changes to his swing he did over the offseason. Handled many of the questions about his hit tool. That type of adjustment ability is critical to success as a pro.
I could see a development curve for Witt that looks like this:
2020: Single Season A, High A
2021: High A, AA
2022: AAA, MLB [Reply]
The age thing doesn't concern me as much when he has a bloodline like that with a father he's likely leaned on forever that played in the MLB for 20 years. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
The age thing doesn't concern me as much when he has a bloodline like that with a father he's likely leaned on forever that played in the MLB for 20 years.
If he hadn’t shown the progression from reports last year to this year’s reports, I’d be more concerned with it.
There’s a lot of data that suggest advanced age guys should typically be red flags, though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower:
If you were quantifying "bust probability" in a simple percentage: what is Witt's % and what's Rutschmann's?
Well, that’s hard. If I could place odds on things like that, I’d probably be running a scouting department somewhere...
Witt has a higher ceiling because he plays a more important position and is a plus runner. Rutschman has a higher floor because of what he has proven so far in college.
If guessing, I’d say Rutschman’s is about 20 percent bust, 20 percent ceiling (GG catcher who posts .280/.400/.550), rest in between (solid to good MLB starter).
Witt’s bust potential is probably 10 percent higher, at least, and the ceiling is more like 10 percent, with a 30ish percent outcome of util infielder, 30ish percent outcome of solid to good starter.
His ceiling would be something like .300/.400/.550, flirting with 30-30, with above-average D at SS. [Reply]
In theory, you'd be running a scouting department if you batted 1.000 on saying "this guy is a bust, those guys are career Omaha Stormchasers and that guy will be a guaranteed 3+ WAR guy for a decade once he reaches the majors" for each and every prospect class. [Reply]
Brandon Wood was the best minor league player I ever seen play not named Alex Gordon. Damn he was good. I saw him hit a moon shot at Hammons Field. [Reply]
Gore is completely fucking worthless at this point. He’s been caught stealing 5 times now. If he can’t get you a guaranteed SB in a clutch situation, no reason to keep him.
Can’t hit, can’t defend particularly well (doesn’t read ball off bat well), weak arm, just nothing.
Bring up Bubba. Give him a shot.
Or if they’re not ready to do that quite yet, I imagine they’ll outright him when Duda (why?) is eligible to come off the DL soon . . . . [Reply]