Calvin Mitchell

Position: RF
Level: Class A
Affiliate: West Virginia Power
League: South Atlantic League
Born: 03/08/1999 (Age: 25)
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 209
B/T: Left / Left
Acquired: 2nd Rd., 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft (PIT)

Prospect Spotlight

Mitchell entered the spring of his senior year at Rancho Bernardo (CA) high school as a potential top-30 pick in the 2017 MLB Draft. He tried to get away from the hit-first approach that is his calling card that spring, sliding to 50th overall to the Pirates. Mitchell has gotten back to basics at the plate since turning pro, and by the way he has performed in his first full pro season, he looks like a steal in the second round. Through the first half of the season with West Virginia in the South Atlantic League, Mitchell is slashing .316/.379/.504 with seven homeruns and plenty of extra base hits.

Contact and approach are Mitchell’s best attributes, and I came away from my May look feeling he was the most polished pure hitter in the South Atlantic League.  He has an incredibly short, efficient, and compact swing with quick wrists that keep that bat in the zone a long time. There is good feel for the zone and ID off-speed pitches, and the result is a future plus hitter for average with hard contact to all fields. While Mitchell’s power is more average than plus, he showed ability to drive the ball with loft at times, and I don’t think he will be completely bereft of power at the end of the day. Defensively, he’s playable in either outfield corner from a range perspective, but a below-average throwing arm likely limits him to left field at the big league level.

A .275 hitter with average pop in left field grades out to more of a solid-regular than a star, but the feel to hit makes Mitchell a fairly high-floor prospect. His ceiling is a FV 50 everyday player on an outfield corner.