Scouting Report: Leody Taveras

It’s quite possible that the industry is underrating Leody Taveras. At first that sounds a bit silly; how can you underrate the consensus number one prospect in the Rangers’ system? Due to Leody not “breaking out” yet, I hypothesize that the large scouting orgs are being cautious when it comes to Leody’s tools and skill set. Let’s break down the profile, compare it to a recently retired MLB player, add in a bit of risk, and then see what you think.

Taveras stands at 6’1″ and weighs around 185 lbs with some more room on his frame to put on muscle, especially on the legs. He is a naturally gifted athlete with fluid movements, explosive hips and wrists, and muscle control. Taveras has advanced instincts for his age—both in the field and at the plate—and it showed when he held his head above water in full season A ball at the age of 18.

The switch-hitting Taveras gets good core tension in his load with a leg kick. He opens up the front leg early and the hips fire with his hands in excellent place in their loaded position. He also keeps his front arm loose while he brings his back elbow into slot and is able to adjust to pitch location well. Taveras likes to get his arms extended at the point of contact, but adjusts his upper body well to ball placement with shoulder plane and arm extension.

When he’s batting right handed, Leody’s lower body mechanics aren’t quite as sharp. His momentum is a bit more rotational and he doesn’t always make contact when his hips are transferring the most power to the swing. As a result, he makes a similar amount of contact, but with less pop. This should improve with time and repetition. Taveras has an advanced approach at the plate for his age and works the count if he’s not given a pitch to hit; he projects to have a good OBP.

Taveras has average raw power and generates plus bat speed due to the explosiveness in his lower body and wrists. His hit tool will allow him to tap fully into that power, although his swing as a righty currently lags behind his left-handed swing at the moment. Normally, this would mean we could expect 14-17 home runs per season, but with the current MLB situation, it may be 5-6 more than that. In addition to the home runs, Leody should spray doubles and triples to the gaps with regular consistency.

Taveras is a plus runner and in addition to knowing how to use it in center field, he is quickly learning to use it on the base paths as well. Leody stole a career high 20 bases in 2017 while only getting caught 6 times. The stolen base may never be a huge weapon for him, but he should provide solid value whilst running the bases.

The defensive profile is exciting to say the least. Taveras has good instincts in the field with the tools to be a plus defender in center field. He has an easy plus arm and makes strong accurate throws to the infield. Leody’s routes are currently a bit suspect, but he has time to correct them before playing on the big screen.

With five “average or better” tools, Taveras is a true 5-Tool talent. In addition, he has plus hit tool projection that should allow him to provide well above-average value on the offensive side of the ball while fielding an extremely challenging position at a high level. Taveras is often compared to Carlos Beltran when he was in the minors and with that profile, it’s not hard to see why. Leody isn’t likely to develop the same kind of power as Beltran, but the hit tool might be better than the young Beltran’s.

Taveras will probably need another two years in the minors before even being considered for a promotion to the show and there is a lot of improvement that needs to happen to stay on the path, but the upside is tremendous. In 2020 when the doors open at the brand new stadium on opening day, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Leody Taveras in center field with a career full of promise ahead of him as a Texas Ranger.