Sunday, May 10, 2020

2020 Draft Profile: Carson Tucker

SS Carson Tucker, Mountain Pointe HS [AZ]
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DoB: 1/24/2002.  B/T: R/R
Commitment: Texas.

The younger brother of Pirates infielder Cole Tucker, Carson is an excellent prospect in his own right and will look to outplay his brother down the road. Over the summer, Tucker looked like a player who was probably best off getting stronger and building up a track record over three years at Texas, but he did the former over the offseason and was arguably the biggest riser among prep bats this spring. He's easily the top high school prospect not only in Arizona, but in the whole western portion of the country between Dallas and Los Angeles.

Tucker has always been a steady player who understands the game and gets the job done. However, he wasn't always the most physical player, with a smallish frame that didn't quite produce the offensive impact of many of his peers in the 2020 draft class. That changed very recently, as he hit a growth spurt and went from 5'11" to 6'2" and filled out that frame well. His sound approach at the plate, which formerly just helped him put the ball in play consistently, now translates into lots of hard contact all over the field. He's still not much of a home run threat, but he's been channeling his newfound strength into lots of doubles and triples and can run into a few long balls here and there. Defensively, he projects to stay at shortstop with a very steady glove and a good arm. He's not the flashy, Javier Baez type, but more the steady, Marcus Semien type.

Tucker has the kind of profile that isn't all that exciting at the prep level, but which tends to play up extremely well against pro pitching and with wood bats. He actually comes with less risk than the typical high school player, though with a solid ceiling of 15-20 home runs, double digit stolen bases, high on-base percentages, and good defense. That kind of all-around talent will start to look really good in the second round, though there are rumors that he could be off the board in the comp round or even at the end of the first round if he's signable away from Texas.

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