Baty anchored the lineup of the Rangers team in Long Beach, putting together consistently quality at-bats with hard game contact all week at the Area Code Games. Listed at 6’3’’ and 210 pounds—though perhaps both taller and broader than that already—he’s a pro-framed body with enough present strength for game power with wood, impressive for any rising high school senior. The ball makes a different sound off his bat and jumps off the barrel to both fields from a smooth, low-effort stroke with excellent hip torque and quick hands. Baty showed he can work counts and hits with a plan, taking close pitches to get to fastball counts in a few of his plate appearances. His body type and left-handed power check the boxes of a pro third baseman, where his arm grades as average to a tick above. Baty’s range and lateral mobility are fringy, and if he moves to first base (where he already gets occasional reps) or left field, it will be more because of his actions than any problem with the arm-strength.

Baty was the Texas 2018 Gatorade High School Player of the Year as a junior, though he’s nearly a full year older than most 2019 prep prospects and could have graduated in 2018. He will be 19-years-old next June, a draft factor that teams now place more weight on. Despite this, Baty’s excellent showing in Long Beach gives him some helium going into Jupiter this fall. The pro-ready frame and left-handed offensive tools have put him on the national radar. I came away really impressed with the bat, which has a chance to carry the profile even if he moves off the hot corner and ultimately winds up lower on the defensive spectrum.