FanPost

Dwight Smith - The good enough prospect

If I told your favourite team had a prospect who (among qualified hitters) at 21 was 4th in wRC+ in high A-ball (132+), 12th in ISO (.160), 6th in BB/K ratio at 0.8, and projected to have good speed and average defensive abilities, would you be excited about this prospect?

Well Blue Jays fans, meet Dwight Smith Jr., the man who gets no love from anyone paying attention. As a corner outfielder, Smith will live and die by his bat. Speed and defense are easier to project, its been clear since he was drafted that both of these attributes could be league average.

However, its the bat that's taken a huge step forward this year.

He's always had good plate discipline numbers, but this year they keep on improving with a 10.6% walk rate and 13% k-rate. I think the biggest red flag is always in the k-rate as this number tends to go up as players advance through the upper minors and to the majors, we'll see how he adjusts next year when I assume he starts in AA.

The most exciting point is that his power has had a major tick upwards. He is not a "big and strong" man at just 5'11, 180 lbs but he's shown decent gap power with 9 HRs, 8 triples and 27 doubles. He won't be winning any home run derbies but his increased power is encouraging.

Dwight Smith probably won't be a superstar and he doesn't fit the profile of a typical corner outfielder but he could be one of those players that does enough of everything to be a contributor in the near future. To date, he hasn't appeared on any of the major prospect rankings list for the Blue Jays organization but I think he could get some Kevin Pillar-style respect this year (KP is 4 years older). Hopefully, his results in the MLB will be a bit better though.

So what do you think Bluebird Banterers... is Dwight Smith Jr on the road to league averageness or is he on the slow track to AAAA?

Editor's Note: This is a FanPost written by a reader and member of Bluebird Banter. It was not commissioned by the editors and is not necessarily reflective of the opinions of Bluebird Banter or SB Nation.