Miami Marlins OF Braxton Lee Scouting Report, January 2018

Stands tall with very high hands to start; sits down into his load as the pitch is being delivered with natural swing mechanics down onto the top of the baseball. Insignificant weight transfer through mechanics, and remains pretty well balanced without much of a leg kick for leverage throughout. Quick hands with above-average bat speed, but still must fight through high hands and long bat path which can get out of sync at times. Struggles to consistently pick up spin on pitches; susceptible to chasing breaking balls down out of the zone without good pitch recognition. Primarily a slap/spray hitter with opposite field orientation to take advantage of his exceptional speed; lacks consistent ability to pull ball with authority, especially in the air. Lots of ground ball contact that has him out of the box quickly trying to beat out infield singles; likely unsustainable.

Decent bat speed but without even modest lift in his swing thanks to high hands and swing plane down onto baseball. Very little raw power at this point, and unlikely to develop much in time considering he’s more or less near final form and undersized in physical stature. Contact hitter at the plate with an approach looking to bunt and slap to opposite field as necessary; power that comes will primarily be gap-to-gap or ground balls down the lines, and play up thanks to his speed on the base paths. Difficult to project too much more with current physical strength, swing mechanics, and approach.

Natural center fielder who can really track down the ball off the bat over his head and in gaps. Good jumps on the ball off the bat and advanced ability to read the ball in flight. Speed plays defensive value up considerably, as does above-average arm strength, especially relative to his smaller stature. Defensively strong enough to hold down an everyday gig in center field with a shot to be above-average there eventually; should transition fairly easily into outfield role at the big league level.

Surprisingly strong arm relative to throwing mechanics and physical stature; decent velocity and carry on the baseball with some accuracy from center field. More than enough strength here to keep baserunners honest, and foot speed helps him on ground balls by gaining considerable ground in towards the infield to cut down throwing distances.

Exceptional speed; arguably double-plus right now based on measurements from AFL — 4.01 - 4.14 from home to first base on full swings; 3.88 - 3.97 to first base on drag bunts; 8.04 from home to second base; 11.01 from home to third base. Aggressive runner who understands speed is his carrying tool; hustles hard out of the box to beat out ground balls and rush infielders, and will run quite a bit once on the base paths. Decent reads on pitchers and situations, but more so a natural runner right now who gets by on speed alone; tool will improve as he learns to better read pickoff moves and game situations.

Physically undersized; possible durability questions as to whether he can play outfield everyday in the big leagues, but he has yet to see significant disabled list time to suggest it’d be an issue. At/near final physical form and close to ceiling of all his tools; minor, nuanced adjustments here and there will make him a more complete player, though. All things considered, showed up pretty well for AFL in the fall; came as advertised — great runner, good athlete, some top- or bottom-of-the-order potential with the bat… we’ll see. Should see Triple-A New Orleans for most of 2018 with a shot to break through depending on roster needs and his adjustment to the Pacific Coast League. 

Braxton Lee is right on the cusp between a fringe regular/platoon guy in the outfield (45 FV) and an average/second-division everyday starter (50 FV). I pushed him to a 50 at ceiling on account of strong speed and defensive tools compared with his obvious understanding of how to use his speed to play up his otherwise limited projection offensively. He has no power to speak of, and so there’s little margin of error for him to produce in his way at the plate; if he can get on base in the big leagues, he could become an everyday center fielder. If he can’t, he’ll live as a platoon/utility/fourth outfielder option who plays good defense and can run. Shot to reach The Show in 2018 if things go right; bigger impact likely coming in 2019. MLB ETA: 2018.