3B Drew Bowser, Harvard-Westlake HS [CA]
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DoB: 10/2/2001. B/T: R/R.
Commitment: Stanford.
The Harvard-Westlake School, on the northern edge of the Hollywood Hills, at one point had future MLB starters Lucas Giolito, Max Fried, and Jack Flaherty in their starting rotation all at once. The team was similarly stacked in 2020, with two potential top 100 picks in the middle of its lineup: center fielder and likely first rounder Pete Crow-Armstrong and shortstop Drew Bowser. While Crow-Armstrong is the better prospect and easily the more famous name, Bowser has more power than his teammate and has generated plenty of draft buzz in his own right.
Bowser's standout tool is his plus raw power, as he generates a ton of torque with his 6'3" frame. It plays extremely well in batting practice, and while he hasn't always tapped it consistently in games, he has been trending in the right direction in that area. That is due to progress he has made mechanically, as he has begun to do a better job of staying within himself as a hitter and learning to trust his power rather than sell out. As for his hit tool, it has improved due to the aforementioned changes, and scouts have praised his baseball IQ and how it gives him solid pitch recognition skills. He has a track record of struggling with harder fastballs, but he has been making progress on that front. Bowser is a shortstop in high school, but his strong arm and fringy range point him more towards third base, where he could be above average.
Bowser's track record is relatively spotty against advanced pitching, and maintaining his positive trajectory over a full season could have really helped him. Instead, scouts will have to buy into what he showed before the shutdown and hope it will continue in pro ball if they want to sign him away from a Stanford commitment. He figures to be a second or third round talent, though signability will cloud that for sure and there is a very good chance he ends up in Palo Alto. As for ceiling, he could be a 30 home run bat with decent on-base percentages and good defense at third, but there is a fair amount of risk to assume.
Batting practice over the summer
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