The final part of the Rookie Profile series will talk about outfielders in the 20-50 range in the rankings or those not mentioned in the original Top-20 Rookies Piece.
Christin Stewart (Tigers) - Stewart was hailed as the best power bat of the 2015 draft class as a Junior out of the University of Tennessee and he went 34th overall because of it. Since then though it’s been a bit of a longer path to the majors than what you’d expect for a big college bat for the now 25-year-old outfielder. The power played though, hitting 93 homers in 460 career minor league games before his call-up to the majors in mid-September last year. The 6’0”, 205-pound left fielder generates tremendous bat speed with his quick, short swing that will allow his 60-grade raw power to play at any level as his big ISO rates in the minors show, but the average won’t be as high as it should be. The Hit tool is a bit below-average but should still produce a .250-.260 mark at that major-league level with an OBP mark that is significantly higher given his consistent, and improving, walk rates in the upper levels of the minors. In 136 games at Double-A Erie in 2017, Stewart posted a 24.9-percent strikeout rate and a 10.1-percent walk rate, then in 122 games at Triple-A Toledo in 2018 those same marks were 20.7-percent and 12.8-percent respectively. Stewart, in his three full seasons as a pro, has never failed to put up fewer than 27 home runs in a season and that same pop should have no trouble showing up at Comerica Park in 2019.
Alex Verdugo (Dodgers) - Verdugo has been a somewhat household name for the better part of three seasons now ever since hitting Double-A and reaching the top few spots in the Dodgers system. His Hit tool and defense have been highly-lauded throughout his time in the minors with his best two tools being his 70-grade arm and 65-grade Hit skills to go with 50-grade Run and Fielding and 45-grade power in his profile. The 22-year-old centerfielder has posted a career .309 batting average in five pro seasons in the minors (.321 at Triple-A) with an impressive 11-percent K-rate. There are some drawbacks though, he’s posted a double-digit walk-rate once in his pro career despite a great grasp of the strike zone and the power hasn’t shown up the way most expected with no more than 13 home runs in any season to this point. He is an average base-runner who has put up just two double-digit steal seasons in his five pro seasons with decreases in three of the last four years. The clogged up outfield in L.A. has delayed his arrival in the majors, except for two cups of coffee in the last two seasons, but now with Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp moved out of the picture, there should be playing time for Verdugo in the outfield this year but aside from the good batting average there isn’t much else he’ll bring to the stat line for fantasy purposes unless he hits atop the order and scores runs, but that hasn’t happened so far even at Triple-A Oklahoma City where in 208 games he posted 111 runs, or 87 for 162-game pace.
Billy McKinney (Blue Jays) - The well-traveled 24-year-old outfielder is now with his fourth organization since his pro career started in 2013. McKinney was drafted by the A’s in the 2013 draft at 24th overall as a hit-over-power guy with average speed. Since then though his approach has changed, and he’s added loft to his left-handed swing to generate more home run swings. Across multiple levels with two organizations last year, McKinney hit a career-high 22 long balls with 54 runs, 56 RBI, and two steals in 122 games, 38 in the majors. In those major-league games he slashed .252/.318/.462 with six homers, 14 runs, 13 RBI, and a steal. The problem for McKinney is that while he hit five of the 22 homers against southpaws, he hit just .209 against them compared to .240 off of righties last year meaning he may be due for a platoon role and due to his average speed and fringy arm he’s also bound for left-field. The power will play, especially in Toronto and in a solid lineup around him but the average is concerning and likely won’t climb. Toronto needs some infusion of outfield help and McKinney will bring that but may hurt the average without much power upside.
Yusniel Diaz (Orioles) - In the Manny Machado trade at the deadline last season, the Orioles brought back a few players with Diaz being the top piece in the deal, at this point. He was in November of 2015 to a $15.5-million signing bonus when he was 18 years old and now, he’s played at Double-A for the better part of two years between the two organizations. In 2018 specifically, Diaz hit .285/.392/.449 with 11 home runs, 59 runs, 45 RBI, and 12 steals in 97 games and 354 at bats. Those 11 homers represent the most he’s hit in a season so far in his three-year pro career, but the plate discipline was there, as it has been throughout his career, with a 67:59 K:BB ratio. All five of his tools grade out as average or above already with some room for improvement, though that is a bit deceptive with the actual production that has come from those grades. The power has been talked about already, but the 50-grade speed isn’t really producing great results either with just a 44.4-percent success rate when stealing bases, 28-of-63, which isn’t great and could go down as he adds a bit more weight to his 6’1”, 195-pound frame and as he goes against pitchers and catchers with better moves and faster releases. Overall Diaz can play any of the outfield spots but is likely best suited for right field long-term, save for his lack of power production to this point. Baltimore believes, as does Diaz, that there is more refinement and development left in the slightly-raw 22-year-old’s game that could produce more loft and ultimately more power while keeping his .280-plus average mark where it is.
Austin Hays (Orioles) - Hays marks another Oriole in this series, but that’s to be expected since they are in the midst of a rebuild at the moment. Hays burst onto the scene in a promising start to his pro career in 2016, hitting .336/.386/.514 with four homers, 21 RBI, 14 runs, and four steals in 38 games at Low-A after being drafted in the third round of that year’s draft. The outfielder continued to be noticed when, in 2017, his first full season, the then 22-year-old slashed .329/.366/.593 with 32 homers, 95 RBI, 81 runs, and five steals in 128 games between High-A and Double-A. Looking like the next stud outfielder in Baltimore, his stock was tanked pretty solidly in 2018 when his stat line dropped to a .235/.266/.410 slash line with 12 HR, 46 RBI, 40 runs, and six steals in 75 games. Now there were injuries at play, but his approach changed, and he became more aggressive at the plate, raising his K-rate to 20.5-percent from 15.5-percent in the same number of games at Double-A the year before. A couple of things have to happen for Hays to make the majors this year, one is logging healthy and productive time at Triple-A for starters. If he can get back to his 2017 ways while facing Triple-A pitchers for the first time there is room for Hays to be in Baltimore full-time in right field in 2019. He’s more of a keeper type rookie rather than impact play for 2019.
Daz Cameron (Tigers) - If the last name looks familiar, he’s the son of former major-league center fielder Mike Cameron and was taken in the Competitive Balance A round in the 2015 at 37th overall. Houston, his original organization, helped him make some changes to his swing and his approach at the plate that really improved his production, right before they sent him to Detroit in the Justin Verlander deal in 2017. In that 2017 season, over 120 games at A-Ball, Cameron slashed .271/.349/.466 with 14 home runs, 79 runs, 73 RBI, and 32 steals. Then in 2018, he backed that performance up with a .264/.343/.406 slash line, eight homers, 75 runs, 61 RBI, and 24 steals in 126 games split between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. His best tool is the 60-grade, or plus-level, speed though the rest of the tools aren’t far behind with all being at least average to above-average. The swing is compact and gets to the zone quickly enough to not be overpowered by upper-level fastballs and should produce 15-20 homer pop in the majors. The defense isn’t a concern and Cameron can be played in center field on an everyday basis as the speed always him to run down balls to the gap. The 22-year-old will need more than just the 15-game taste of Triple-A that he got last year before he heads for Detroit for good but the outfield for the Tigers is needing a talent like his and he should be up in the second half of 2019.