VanMeter projects to be an offensive-oriented infielder that I think has enough athleticism to be able to move around the field in a super-utility role. He has a very easy stroke with a little bit of lift that helps him generate significant carry on his fly balls. Most of his power right now is to the pull side, and he does have a tendency to get around balls that are on the outer half. He is aggressive on fastballs in the zone, and I think as his approach matures a bit, he will have the power to drive the ball gap-to-gap.   He hit three HRs with 24 doubles in 2014, up from zero HRs and seven doubles in 2013, which was his first pro season. He broke his fibula early in 2015 when he got taken out on a double play turn, but returned and logged 120 PAs with a 1:1 SO:BB ratio. He did not have a home run last year, but did finish with six doubles.   Through 47 games in 2016, he has shown that the positive trend in his power numbers pre-injury were no fluke, throwing up an .871 OPS with six bombs and 12 doubles along with a roughly 2:1 SO:BB ratio.

He has some thickness to his frame, and while I don’t think he is “maxed out” and believe that he will get stronger, there is not a ton of physical projection there. You can see the athleticism in his actions and he runs far better than his frame initially lets on (4.19 seconds HP-to-1B). VanMeter has a slightly above-average arm with accuracy, but projects to be just a fringe-average defender on the corner. For some reason the speed he has on the bases does not translate in the field and he gets a bit deliberate, especially moving laterally. He came into pro ball as a shortstop/second-baseman, and 2016 is his first taste of the hot corner, so I attribute some of the stiffness he’s shown the past couple days to getting comfortable with the different angles. He has spent a few innings in the outfield as well, so it appears that San Diego has hopes of developing him into a guy that will play fringe-average to average defense at a couple different positions, and provide some extra base pop with the bat.