ABQ
Ryan Mountcastle, IF
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Scouting report
Now that he's coming off about a month of hitting .333/.386/.492 in the big leagues, I feel a little more safe projecting Mountcastle as a 50 even though he's a free-swinging corner bat. He has great plate coverage and hits with power to all fields. His swing is gorgeous. He has a 4.5% career walk rate (it was about 7% in his small big league sample) and it's rare for DH/LF sorts to walk that little and be star-level performers. DH types with OBPs in the .310-.320 range typically max out in the 2-3 WAR range, which is where I expect Mountcastle to peak. But his contact quality is quite good, and the visual evaluation of the hit tool and the on-paper performance have been strong for several years, so the degree of confidence that Mountcastle will hit is relatively high for a prospect with plate discipline issues. There are Nick Castellanos similarities in Mountcastle's profile, frame, and swing aesthetic, and Castellanos was a back loaded 50. (Alternate site, MLB)