SS Freddy Zamora, Miami
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DoB: 11/1/1998. B/T: R/R.
2020 Stats: Did not play (injured).
Heading into the season, it looked like Miami could have three of the top fifty picks between pitchers Chris McMahon and Slade Cecconi and shortstop Freddy Zamora. McMahon and Cecconi have cemented themselves well within that range and potentially even in the first round, but Zamora blew out his knee in practice just days before the season began and never got to take the field. The shutdown therefore helps him a bit more than it hurts him, as he wouldn't have played anyways. Zamora is a glove-first type of player, but he has a good track record of hitting that includes a .303/.388/.412 line as a freshman and an improved .296/.393/.447 line with six home runs as a sophomore, walking more (55) than he struck out (45) in the process.
Zamora is a talented player on both sides of the ball, no doubt. As a hitter, he has never had any trouble making consistent contact from the right side, spraying line drives around the field with relative ease. He rarely strikes out, and he's patient enough to draw his share of walks as well. While he's not a power hitter, he jumped from one home run as a freshman to six home runs as a sophomore, making him more than just a slap hitter. His strong, athletic frame lends itself well to being a productive bat at the next level. Defensively, he's a no-doubt shortstop, showing the ability to not only stick there, but potentially be an above average, impact defender.
The glove takes a lot of pressure off the bat, as he could stick as a utility infielder even if his bat turns out to be a bit light. The fact that he didn't play at all in 2020 doesn't hurt his stock as much as it could have in a pandemic-less world, and in the four weeks of the season, a lot more pitchers took steps forward than hitters. One downside to his profile is makeup, as scouts have long questioned his work ethic and he was briefly suspended from the team late in the winter this year for "violating team rules." I've never met the guy, so it wouldn't be fair for me to knock him too much, but it's something to think about before potentially investing a million dollars and shipping him off to work through the grueling minor leagues.
Zamora comes with a pretty high floor, as his defense and baseline offensive ability makes him a great utility profile at minimum. If his power continues to develop as it has, he could end up a starting shortstop with 10-15 home runs and solid on-base percentages annually. It's not the world's most exciting profile, but with more shifting nowadays, it's good to be able to shift fringier defenders off shortstop over to third base, where more and more range is needed. Zamora's great defense at shortstop can allow a team to do that with a more fringy defender, and still be confident they'll get some offense. He fits anywhere from the late second round back into the fourth round.
Batting practice with a few teammates (he's #2)
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