Dylan
Beavers

2022 MLB Draft: At 6-foot-4, 205-pounds Beavers has a frame to dream on. He's long and lean and can easily add 20-25 more pounds of muscle in the future. He's also young for his class, turning 21 in August. Defensively, his plus speed – has shown down the line times 4.10-4.20 – projects to above average range and his arm is strong and accurate with a grade of at least plus. On the bases he showed his speed in the Pac-12 tournament during his inside the park home run against UCLA. In the batter's box his set-up doesn't look super comfortable, nor does it seem athletic given his natural abilities. But, he shows both power and patience with 35 home runs and 83 walks the past two seasons. His swing is reminiscent of Ben Zobrist on the left side. It is handsy and there is some choppiness to the stroke and some occasional rotational hook to the extreme pull side, however, he also shows the ability to foul off tough pitches and make adjustments within at-bats. His raw power easily grades out as future plus-plus with a future power production grade of plus. Although he does strike out at a higher rate (19.9% in 2022 and 20.8% career), his future hit grade is fringe-average, although clubs who really believe in their player development staff and want the player, may see him as an average future hitter. At the end of the day Beavers' tool set, athleticism and performance all add up to a high level prospect. One that is likely to go within the top 30 overall picks.

At 6-foot-4, 206-pounds he's got a frame to continue to dream on. He's long and has lean muscularity in the arms but there can easily be 10-15 more pounds of muscle on him in the future. Physically and relative to his profile as a corner OF with his particular set of tools, a comp to Bradley Zimmer comes to mind, though watching the five at-bats, the swing is reminiscent of Ben Zobrist on the left side. There is some choppiness to the stroke and some occasional rotational hook to the extreme pull side, however, he also showed the ability to foul off tough pitches, made adjustments within at-bats, didn't chase and only had one swing/miss all day. It's an upright set-up with a moderate knee lift to the waist, with hands off the body and elbows fairly pinched, barrel vertical before a slight tilt toward the pitcher as he goes to a short load with a very slight dip of the hands. The power happens easily and grades out as future 70 raw power, with a future power production grade of 55. The home run he hit was in a 2-strike count, launched to deep right-center into the teeth of a stiff breeze that had knocked down numerous balls all game long. Impressive in that at-bat was a first pitch long hooked foul ball, followed by an adjustment to let the ball get deeper and fouling it back, then a take on a good low fastball just below the zone and finally on the 1-2 count, the missile that left the yard. Beavers made those adjustments all game long, which belies his .277 overall average. He has walked 13 times to 17 strikeouts, with 6 home runs and 17 RBI. If his at-bats the rest of the way are anything like the tenacious approach he had on Sunday, that average will climb and the strikeouts will lessen. The future hit grade is a 45 though clubs who really believe in their player development staff and want the player, will turn him in as a 50 future hitter. The set-up doesn't look super comfortable and natural, nor does it seem athletic given his athleticism. Defensively, his plus speed (has shown down the line times 4.10-4.20) projects to above average range, so call him a 60 runner. The arm is strong and accurate with a grade of 70 for those who really like him (showed fastballs in HS over 90 mph). This game wasn't his cleanest in right field. He had a play at the wall in right-center that he could have played better, though positioning in RF at Cal can make some plays to the gap hard to get to and the wind can be a challenge. There was another play on a sinking line drive in front of him with a runner at 2nd base when he could have either laid out (maybe caught it, maybe not) or better yet played it into a long one hop and a throw to likely get the runner. Instead, he was a bit in between, not being able to get off a dive and played it into a semi-short hop that broke his rhythm and the throws, while strong, wasn't his strongest and was just a bit late. That said, this was ONE look and there have been a couple of plays this season when he's used that tall frame and leaping ability to rob home runs at the fence. So while all amateur players have improvement in their future, I'd be comfortable putting a future 60 defense on him, with the tools to play CF or RF. The overall tool set, the performance and the physical body traits all add up to a high level prospect and there will be first round grades on him for many clubs. (Clemmens)