Today we are going to take a trip to the college ranks and look at outfielder Garrett Mitchell. He’s the 6th player we’re taking a look at in our 2020 Major League Baseball Draft Scouting Report series. You can check out all of the reports in the series right here.
The 2018 Season
After being drafted in the 14th round by Oakland in 2017 out of high school, Garrett Mitchell chose to head off to UCLA and play for the Bruins. He played most days, getting 177 plate appearances in 44 games. He hit for a solid average for a freshman in the Pac 12, hitting .280, but the rest of his performance wasn’t as strong. With just four doubles and two triples to go along with no home runs, the power was lacking in a big way as he slugged just .331 during the year. He also walked just 11 times with 40 strikeouts, giving him a .337 on-base percentage. On the bases he was only successful in stolen base attempts five times in nine attempts.
Following the season the then 19-year-old Mitchell went to the Northwoods League for summer baseball and things went a lot better. He hit .309/.404/.382 with three doubles, two home runs, and 20 walks with 18 strikeouts in 146 plate appearances.
The 2019 Season
In his sophomore season, Garrett Mitchell had a bit of a coming out party. He played in 62 games for the Bruins and racked up 293 plate appearances. The power was way up as he slugged .566 thanks to 14 doubles, a national best 12 triples, and he hit the first six home runs of his college career. He also stole 18 bases in 22 attempts. His walk rate improves as he drew 27 free passes, and he cut his strikeout rate big time with just 41 strikeouts on the season.
The 2020 Season
There were 15 games played for Garrett Mitchell in the 2020 season before things came to an end. The outfielder was hitting .355/.425/.484 with six doubles and a triple in his 73 plate appearances. He had also stolen five bases in six tries, and walked twice as often as he had struck out – six times to three times.
Garrett Mitchell College Stats
Garrett Mitchell Video
Garrett Mitchell Scouting Report
Height: 6′ 3″ | Weight: 204 lbs
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Position(s): Outfield
Projection. That’s where the scouting report should start with Garrett Mitchell. There’s a lot of projecting forward here, as the gap between his current power, which hasn’t been much in college, and his raw power – which some grade out as plus – is rather large. With that said, he may not need the power to become a quality big leaguer in the future. That’s because he projects for an average or better hit tool, plus plus speed, and quality defense in center field.
Since arriving at UCLA he’s re-worked his swing, something that’s led to quieting some concerns about his future ability to tap into some of the hitting tools he shows. Not everyone is fully on board with the swing, though. Still, he’s about as tooled up as any prospect in the draft with true 5-tool potential with plus grades in the raw column for his power, hit, speed, and arm to go along with above-average defense in center.
Where the concern could be
Not everyone is in love with the swing, and for a guy with plus power potential, he’s never really showed the kind of power you would expect. Even in his sophomore season when he stepped forward with the power, he had just six home runs. Those account for the only home runs in his 121 career games at UCLA, too. While there’s plenty of other tools that could make him a solid big leaguer, there are some concerns about his bat even though the upside is very high.
You can see all of the prospect scouting reports we’ve written so far right here.