Orioles Take An OF In 1st Round For 4th Straight Year, But Not A College Prospect This Time

The Baltimore Orioles were selecting higher than anyone would have wanted nine years into a rebuild, but not high enough to grab the most-coveted prospects.

UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, who was drafted first overall by the Chicago White Sox (welcomed to the big leagues by Commissioner Rob Manfred butchering his name), and Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey were long gone before Mike Elias made another pick.

And Elias did what many in the industry expected … to a point.

He took an outfielder with his top pick for the fourth straight year, only this time it wasn’t a college prospect. With the seventh overall pick, the team drafted High School outfielder Eric Booth Jr. out of Mississippi. The lefty slugger is the son of Eric Booth Sr., a record-setting kick returner at Southern Mississippi after turning down the Blue Jays as a 34th-round pick in 1993.

Like his father, Booth Jr. excels in the speed department. According to MLB.com, Booth can run from home to first in just over four seconds and ran the quickest 60-yard dash (6.33 seconds) at the East Coast Pro Showcase in August. As for his fielding ability, his scouting grade is listed at a 55, a relatively average number. However, this number would have been a lot lower before the spring season started.

One of Booth’s staggering weaknesses is his arm strength, a flaw that Booth has improved upon this season but requires much needed development from the Orioles. His scouting report also notes a tendency to misread balls and run awkward routes from the outfield. However, the Orioles feel confident in working with Booth to fix these issues, and he has a strong football frame and superior athleticism to cover that ground.

Okay, Enough Delay … What About The Bat?

As a hitter, Booth is a mixed bag.

He has plus power, as shown in the home run derby at the Perfect Game All-American Classic last July, which he won. He also demonstrates a strong ability to make consistent contact and barrels. In his senior year, Booth hit .481 with five home runs, a .669 on-base percentage and a .922 slugging percentage in the state’s top public-school classification. However, scouts noticed Booth’s unique stance, in which he pumps his hands away from his body, leading to some chopped balls and a slanted swing.

The lack of a level swing has raised some eyebrows, especially from fans closely monitoring recent first rounders Vance Honeycutt and Enrique Bradfield Jr. They, too, required swing adjustments at the time of their selection, and to this point it has not gone to plan. Honeycutt has yet to excel at Hi-A in parts of three seasons there and Bradfield projects as a fourth outfielder.

A selection this high will live or die with the hit tool, and this is unquestionably a risk for a front office already under pressure for development issues at the MLB level and throughout the organization. Former top five picks Colton Cowser (struggling at MLB level) and Heston Kjerstad (still in AAA) have yet to pop.

As fans, all we can do now is hope that the team can develop these prospects, and learn from past player-development failures, an aspect of the front office that has been in question for quite some time now under Elias.

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