Seattle Mariners Top 10 Prospects For 2017
3. Kyle Lewis, OF
Birthdate: 7/13/95 (21 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: short season A
Stats in 2016: .299/.385/.530, 3 HR, 3 SB
Coming down the stretch to the final month before the draft, Lewis was the hot name among college hitters. He was leading the nation in home runs, and he had a tremendous all around season going for Mercer.
Then whispers and murmurs in the scouting community began to come out about his medical reports and whether Lewis had some underlying issues teams were concerned about. He was off of a number of boards for teams in the top 10, and he fell all the way to #11 where the Mariners picked him up.
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Both the big bat and the medical concerns rared their heads in his short time with the Northwest League. Lewis came out of the gate on absolute fire for Everett, and though he had cooled down some, a .915 OPS is nothing to sneeze at.
Then he had a major knee injury that shredded his ACL, medial, and lateral meniscus in his right knee on a home plate collison. That led to season-ending surgery for Lewis.
Lewis has the raw power to be a tremendous right field profile sort of guy, and before his injury, he had the ability to cover very well in the outfield. While the exact details of what showed up in the medical reports were unclear, one scout told me that a “higher up” in his team ranks remarked when Lewis got hurt, “That’s what we were afraid of.”
Hopefully, Lewis is able to make a full recovery and bump up to full-season ball in 2017 as he’s an exciting hitter to watch when he’s right.
Next: #2