St. John’s HS SS Errol Robinson 4/27/13
With the Major League Baseball draft now less than one month away, scouts and front office executives are scouring the country attempting to watch as many high school and college players as possible to prepare for draft day.
Although the topics of discussion on this site focuses primarily on the Nationals organization and professional baseball, my inner scout will always dedicate plenty of space to dissecting the draft. In the weeks leading up to the June 6-8 draft, I will highlight well-known prospects and give you my scouting breakdown of their potential as a professional. This week I discuss promising prospect and local product, St. John’s College High School shortstop Errol Robinson.
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Errol Robinson INF St. John’s College High School Washington D.C.
Number of Times Scouted – 4/27/13 vs. Good Counsel HS; three other times in the past
7-Word Scouting Report: Fast, athletic middle infielder with professional potential
A very impressive athlete with some physical projection remaining, Robinson possesses excellent foot speed, talent at the plate, and solid defensive ability, which combine to make him an intriguing local prospect for the 2013 draft. His body type and frame remind me of former Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles second baseman Delino DeShields.
His pure speed is notable, as I have clocked him as fast as 4.14 seconds to first base, giving him above-average to plus speed as a right-handed hitter. At the plate, he shows quick wrists, good bat speed with a fairly compact swing, and a good approach at the plate. Likely he will not produce much power with a wood bat in the future, but his swing is conducive to plenty of doubles in the left-field and right-field gaps as he capitalizes on his speed.
Defensively I have not watched him enough to properly evaluate him, but my initial impression is that he has solid range at shortstop, good instincts and leadership qualities for the position, and soft hands, but perhaps not quite the rifle-like arm teams covet at shortstop. Because of this, I assume as a professional he will move either to second base, or perhaps center field to take advantage of his excellent athleticism.
I have read reports that Robinson has a strong commitment to the University of Mississippi, where his parents attended and his sister is a current student. His desire to attend school might cause him to slip down draft boards next month, but judging him based solely on his talent on the baseball diamond, he deserves to be drafted in the Top-5 rounds, and could be selected higher if an organization believes he can play shortstop professionally.
Robinson is a special high school prospect, especially for the Mid-Atlantic region, and if you have the opportunity to watch him in the next few weeks, I highly encourage you to get out to a St. John’s game and enjoy watching this potential future major leaguer.
Projected Draft Position -> Late 2nd Round through Round 3