OF David Calabrese, St. Elizabeth HS [ON]
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 9/26/2002. B/T: L/R.
Commitment: Arkansas.
David Calabrese and fellow Toronto-area outfielder Owen Caissie have established themselves as the top two Canadian prospects in the draft this year, and in my opinion, Calabrese takes the top spot. Originally a member of the 2021 class, he joined Nick Bitsko, Alejandro Rosario, Blaze Jordan, Owen Caissie, and others in reclassifying up to the 2020 class and is one of the youngest players available. Though he stands out for his speed, he's a better hitter than last year's top Canadian prospect, fellow speedster Dasan Brown, and his well-rounded profile makes him a favorite among scouts.
Calabrese is a bit undersized as a skinny sub-six footer, but he also won't turn 18 until September, giving him plenty of time to grow and add muscle. He has a loose swing from the left side with a slight uppercut, one that has enabled him to make very consistent contact throughout his amateur career. Though he'll never be a power hitter, the looseness in his swing combined with his athleticism and hopefully more physical development helps him project to be much more than just a slap hitter. He already shows a penchant for driving the ball to the gaps, and with his plus-plus speed, he should be a threat for plenty of doubles and triples at the next level. Defensively, that excellent speed also helps him in center field, where he needs some further refinement but has the potential to be a very good defender.
Partially owing to the fact that he's just so young, there are a lot of different directions Calabrese could develop. If he tacks on some more muscle as he finishes off his teenage years, he could find himself a 15-20 home run hitter at the big league level. Even if he more or less stays the same, there is the projection for a 5-15 home run hitter with lots of doubles and triples to supplement his slugging percentage, and he makes enough contact to profile for solid on-base percentages as well. Combine that with plenty of stolen bases and potentially great defense in center field, and it's a really well-rounded projection. However, because he's just 17 and hasn't seen a ton of high-level competition, he comes with some risk and the shortened season probably hurts him a lot more than it helps him. On talent alone, he fits in the second or third round, but he may choose to join Arkansas' incredibly talented recruiting class (which also includes big name draft prospects Masyn Winn, Markevian Hence, Cayden Wallace, and Nick Griffin) and that would complicate things considerably.
Hitting and fielding in 2020
2019 batting practice
No comments:
Post a Comment