Scouting Reports - Blake Swihart (2011 Draft Class)

Swihart in 140 characters or less:

Switch-hitting, plus-plus arm w/good athelticism; consistently barrels; some pop to come; refining defensively; impact talent at premium pos.

Scouted:

2010 Aflac All-American Baseball Classic (San Diego, Calif.), August 15, 2010 (film)
2010 Area Code Games (Long Beach, Calif.), August 5-10, 2010 (in attendance)
2010 PG National Showcase (Tampa, Fla.), June 17-20, 2010 (film)

Physical Description:

Good catcher's frame. Even build that projects to fill-in to solid strength throughout. Lean and athletic with agility.

Defense:

Behind the plate, Swihart is currently a capable receiver with the smooth actions, athleticism and body control to develop into a very good receiver. His footwork and transfer are generally clean, though like even the best high schoolers he will benefit from continued repetitions and clean-up through pro instruction. His arm is his calling card, with fringe-plus-plus strength, good accuracy and clean carry. Sub-2.0 pop times are not irregular and, with a slightly cleaner transfer, he could see that drop to consistent sub-1.9. Swihart has the athleticism to easily hold down an outfield corner, and could also handle a switch to third base or even second.

Bat:

Swihart brings to the plate comfort from each batter's box, good bat speed and the hand/eye coordination required to produce consistent hard contact. He will add strength in the coming years, and as he does he should see a more complete transfer of energy from his swing to the ball at contact. Even now, with some noise and occasional loosey-goosey in swing, the ball jumps when he squares. He shows balance at the plate, as well as patience, and has seen some growth in his approach -- including working the count effectively against solid arms and dialing his cuts up and down in varying counts.

Discussion:

The Texas Longhorns commit is a rare switch-hitting backstop with "now" skills and a fair amount of projection remaining. Additionally, his athleticism provides for useful back-up plans at lf/rf/3b/2b should he run into any issues at all as a catcher at the next level. There is little to dislike with Swihart, though any situation requiring projection (and his future strength is what will ultimately turn his bat from solid to potentially special) carries risk. He easily profiles as one of the top positional prep players in the draft class and may have the most interesting blend of skills of any player not named "Bubba". He should go early on Day 1 and could be the first high schooler off the board.

Projected position: Above-average catcher on 1st division team

Suggested draft slot: Early-1st Round

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