Via David Asher

If you watched any of the NCAA Baseball Tournament or College World Series this year, you probably saw Kenny Swab manning centerfield for the Virginia Cavaliers. Swab is a normal catcher, but was athletic enough to move to center so that Virginia could maximize their offense (John Hicks caught most games down the stretch).

Swab was drafted by the KC Royals in the 21^st round in this June’s draft. He was drafted as a catcher. After spending the second-half of his spring in the outfield for Virginia, Swab signed not long after the Cavaliers’ exit from the CWS. He has transitioned back behind the plate in the Appalachian League for the Burlington Royals. When he isn’t catching, he serves as the DH (or gets the night off). He has just three errors so far during his first professional season.

Burlington has played 50 games so far this season and unfortunately are in last place in the East Division of the Appy League (19-31). Swab has played in 23 of Burlington’s 50 games. He is hitting .241 with three doubles, one homerun, seven runs scored, and 12 RBIs.

In his last ten games, Swab is hitting .333 with ten RBIs (so he seems to be heating up). Over his last five games (so far in August), he is hitting .444 with eight RBIs. He hit his first professional homerun on Thursday August 11^th.

Swab has also proven to be a clutch hitter in his early professional career. He is hitting just .190 with the bases empty. However put a few baserunners on, he goes crazy. Swab is hitting .297 with runners on base and .370 with runners in scoring position.

The Royals have just promoted their catcher of the future, Salvador Perez, to the big leagues in the past few days. Swab could be his platoon partner in the big leagues in the next few years.

Many have trouble separating the myth from fact when it comes to high schooler Bubba Starling. Does he regularly hit homeruns off light posts? Some think some of his homeruns STILL haven’t landed. Some say he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds. Others say he can throw a football 50 yards from his knees.

His high school baseball coach believes the legend and the reality are the same. His mother doesn’t understand why people talk about her son as if he was a god.

Many travel to watch the 6 foot 5, 193 pound senior in high school take batting practice, especially now with the MLB draft less than a month away. He’s a five-tool centerfielder and some scouts consider him to be the best three-sport athlete since Dave Winfield. With some of the college talent possibly sliding in the draft due to injury (Anthony Rendon and Matt Purke) or inconsistency (Gerritt Cole), Starling has moved up many draft boards.

Starling has signed on to play quarterback at the University of Nebraska and he plans to also play baseball (he also played basketball in high school). His advisor is Scott Boras. These commitments may be the huge turnoffs for some big league clubs.

Will a team dangle enough money in front of him? Well, his parents want him to go to college because he is naïve and won’t be forced to grow up overnight. Starling also has NEVER failed.

Brian McRae, a former big leaguer and Team USA assistant coach said that

“there’s not a lot of guys that run as fast as him and have that power potential.”

Starling’s father is out of work and that’s a reason why Nebraska seems so good. It’s a guaranteed free college education and an expense the family won’t have to worry about. The baseball payday may come, but who knows? Starling himself admits that Nebraska sounds good at the moment. However he has always dreamed of playing for the KC Royals. Right now, Nebraska is winning the race over baseball, but the draft hasn’t begun. Everything is just speculation.

With a new CBA expected during the winter that may cap draft pick bonuses, ALL high picks will most likely aim high when asking for bonuses. Starling is no different, and he can afford to with a free college education to fall back on. Rumors are that his signing bonus could be between $5 million and $6 million.

The KC Royals are the most logical destination for Starling in this June’s draft. 1. He’s a local kid and it would be a great PR move for the Royals. 2. They’ve dealt with Boras before (Luke Hochevar, Aaron Crow, Eric Hosmer, and Christian Colon). 3. They need a prospect with power potential. 4. They have the #5 pick and the consensus is he will go there (unless a team higher decides to gamble on Starling).