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Drew Ward DOB: 11/25/94 Ht. 6’3″ Wt. 215 Bats: L Throws: R Career Stats |
Like Michael Taylor a couple of years ago, Ward repeated High-A and showed vast improvement in his second turn – just about every facet of his game was better: more power, more speed, and more range. The scouts aren’t keen on his K rate, but he does work counts and thus can learn to lower it. While I personally feel he’s best suited to 1B, it would seem that the plan is to keep him at 3B until he develops into a AAA (or better hitter) and/or the team needs him at 1B. |
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Kelvin Gutierrez DOB: 8/28/94 Ht. 6’3″ Wt. 185 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats |
Gutierrez has moved up the ladder steadily since ’13 and just had his first multilevel season – despite missing time due to injury. While he committed a career-high 25 errors last season, Gutierrez has the tools of a left-side infielder, with a quick first step and a cannon right arm. Offensively, he’s been solid at every level (career .288/.350/.382) and appears to be developing some power (185 lbs? no more like 200) to go along with the speed. He’ll return to Potomac in ’17. |
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Sheldon Neuse DOB: 12/10/94 Ht. 6′ Wt. 195 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats |
As the Nats’ 2nd Rd. pick out of Univ. of Oklahoma, Neuse had a somewhat disappointing first season in Auburn, with an OPS of just .646 (vs. lg. avg. .655) and six errors in 26 games on defense. He was a SS and a reliever in college, so obviously arm strength is not a problem, but his shift to 3B is in line with what scouts said about his lack of quickness. They do like his raw power and balanced swing, so odds are good he’ll move up to Hagerstown to begin 2017. |