Seattle Mariners minor league prospect Eric Filia has done nothing but hit in his two professional seasons.
When the Mesa Solar Sox play the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League championship game on Saturday, there will be prospects more highly-regarded than Seattle Mariners youngster Eric Filia. Mesa has Victor Robles, currently the number two prospect in baseball at MLB.com, and Kyle Tucker, ranked number seven. Peoria has the number five prospect, Ronald Acuna, and the number 92 prospect, Michael Chavis.
Eric Filia isn’t among the top 100 prospects in baseball or even in the top 10 in the Seattle Mariners organization. He comes in at number 24. Despite his uninspired ranking, Filia just led the AFL in batting average with a .408/.483/.605 batting line. He’s in the conversation for league MVP.
Congratulations to @E_Filia4 for winning the @MLBazFallLeague Batting Title. Since 2013 Filia’s .408 AVG is 2nd highest and only 1 of 4 players to combine >.400 AVG & >1.000 OPS in an AFL Season @Mariners @UCLABaseball @MiLBMariners @EliteBaseball @MLB / Pic: @LookoutLanding pic.twitter.com/w4rDqTqwVb
— RSR Baseball (@RSRBaseball) November 16, 2017
The road to success in professional baseball for Filia had some speed bumps along the way. His baseball life got off to a good start at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California. He hit .500 in his freshman year, tying the school record set by Jeff Kent.
After high school, he stayed close to home when it came time for college, enrolling at UCLA. He had a very good sophomore season that culminated with a national title.
He was particularly good in the 2013 College World Series, where he hit .444 and drove in eight runs in five games. While he was racking up hits and making great catches in the field, the ESPN cameras were often turned to his then-girlfriend, Lauralee McIntyre, which made them both mini-celebrities at the time.