Baseball Prospectus | | Eyewitness Scouting Report


	AJ Reed Born: 05/10/1993 (Age: 22)
	Bats: Left	Throws: Left
	Height: 6' 4"	Weight: 275
	Primary Position: 1B

A big boy. Slightly portly but he carries the weight well with broad shoulders and well-proportioned lower-half.

Evaluator	Christopher Crawford
Report Date	06/13/2015
Dates Seen	06/12/2015
Affiliate	Lancaster JetHawks (High A, Astros)

MLB ETA	Risk Factor	OFP	Video
2017	Medium	45	No

Tool	Future Grade	Report
Hit	40	Some feel for hitting, but a lot of things working against him. Bat speed is only average, and while there's certainly strength in the swing, that along with the length leads to lots of swing and miss. Swing does stay in the zone with leverage and creates backspin, so chance to hit for average isn't completely out of the question. Did recognize spin well, Wasn't going up to look for walks, but very patient in his three plate appearances, easy to see why his on-base percentage is so much higher than the batting average.
Power	60	Ball jumps off the bat. Swing has some uppercut but it isn't forced, and he gets excellent hip rotation and weight with a short load. Keeps his hands in and can crush anything middle-in, and arms are long enough to create extension and hit the ball out of the park the other way. Won't turn any singles into doubles with speed, either.
Baserunning/Speed	30	Not an athlete. Clocked at 4.37 on ground ball to second baseman. Zero second gear. A clogger in every sense of the word, a guy you will need to pinch run for late in ballgames.
Glove	50	Showed soft-hands at first base, but footwork around the bag was very much a work in progress, and he looked anxious on some throws. Lack of speed will keep this from ever being anything more than an average grade.
Arm	60	Former pitcher at Kentucky, throws hard zip and as you would expect from a former SEC pitcher, plenty of accuracy.

It's important to keep in mind that Reed is still relatively new to being just a position player, so the progress he's shown is something to be admired. That being said, there's still a lot of work to be done here if he's going to be a regular at first base, and as impressive as the approach and power is, three true outcome players are an extremely volatile bunch. The ceiling is average starter at first base capable of hitting 25 to 30 homers a year, with Matt Stairs off the bench as a floor.