In the summer of 2022 Cam Collier was projected as a Top 10 draft pick, but he slid down to the Cincinnati Reds at #18 and signed an over slot bonus. He didn’t play much, but he put up an OPS of 1.144 in his nine games that he did play for the Arizona Complex League Reds before their season came to an end.
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Cincinnati sent Cam Collier to Single-A Daytona. His season debut was a good one as he went 2-3 with a double, three walks, and three runs batted in. The next game saw him go 1-1 with another walk. Things slowed down from there as he went 7-40 (.175) in the remaining 12 games he played for the Tortugas in April. That slump carried over into the first week of May, too, as he went 2-18 against Palm Beach.
When Daytona returned to Jackie Robinson Ballpark to take on St. Lucie, Collier picked up a hit in every game of the series and over the next three weeks hit .279/.352/.443 for Daytona. But on May 31st he went 0-3 and went into a big slump, hitting just .098 from that day through June 20th, with just one extra-base hit, but he did walk nearly as often as he struck out in that stretch.
On June 21st he picked up two hits and his bat heated up over the next two weeks as he hit .325 in a 10-game stretch through July 5th. But starting on the 6th he went cold, going 10-52 (.192) over the next three weeks. Collier closed out the series against Lakeland and the month of July with a 2-hit day. He carried that forward for the next three-and-a-half weeks, hitting .391/.500/.580 with 13 walks, nine extra-base hits, and 15 strikeouts across 20 games.
Just as hot as he had been, he went that cold over the next 10 games, going 5-36 (.139). He would rebound well from that stretch in the final series of the year, going 7-19 (.368) with five walks against St. Lucie.
For all 2023 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Cam Collier Scouting Report
Position: Third Base | B/T: L/R
Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 210 lbs. | Acquired: 1st Round (2022 Draft) | Born: November 20, 2004
Hitting | Collier has an above-average hit tool.
Power | He has above-average power potential.
Speed | He’s a below-average runner.
Defense | His defense is below-average.
Arm | He has an above-average to plus arm.
When it comes to Cam Collier it seems that much of his value is likely to be tied up in his bat. He’s got a good arm and it’s impressive, but there are more than a few scouts that think he’s going to wind up at first base in the long run and his arm won’t be nearly as useful at first as it would be at third base.
If he’s going to remain at third base he’s going to need to maintain his body and athleticism, maybe even improving on both. Historically that’s been something most players who had those questions about them at his age haven’t been able to do.
With Collier, though, there’s a bunch of upside with his bat. He’s got a chance to hit for both average and power. He’s also a patient hitter, so there’s a chance for him to be a high on-base percentage guy as well.
In 2023 he struggled a bit to hit for average and for power. Collier battled inconsistency throughout the season. One of the youngest hitters in the pitcher friendly Florida State League he was roughly league average at the plate. He hits the ball hard, particularly for his age. His average exit velocity on line drives and ground balls was more than 6 MPH higher than the Florida State League average.
That works well when he gets the ball in the air. The problem he will need to overcome is that in 2023 he simply didn’t get the ball in the air nearly enough. His 53% ground ball rate was the 2nd highest among players in the farm system with at least 250 plate appearances (there were 44 such players).
In his full season debut Cam Collier didn’t really stand out when looking at the surface numbers. And the ground ball rate was a little concerning. But he seems to get the strikezone well for his age, he hits the ball a lot harder than his peers did despite being younger than almost all of them, and he makes contact in the zone at a high rate. The underlying stuff at the plate is quite promising with the exception of the ground ball rate. That needs to move in the right direction, but if he can get that on the right side of 50% he’s going to be a very good hitter.
Video
Cam Collier Spray Chart
Interesting Stat on Cam Collier
He crushed the ball on Tuesdays. In 17 games played on a Tuesday he hit .328/.452/.534. He struggled mightily on Thursdays, hitting .164/.292/.180 in 18 games.