Ricky Oropesa - Power to All Fields?
May 05, 2010
We love testable scouting observations. A few years ago, phrases like "power to all fields" had to go unchallenged. Who was tracking that stuff for every single college hitter?
Back then, nobody. Now, we do.
A couple of weeks ago, we confirmed that Alex Dickerson's power is almost entirely to pull. Let's turn to another 2011 draft prospect, USC's Ricky Oropesa.
Oropesa is having a solid year in the middle of the Trojan lineup, good for a raw wOBA of .444 in 172 at-bats. His 12 home runs and 16 doubles give us plenty of ammunition to figure out where his power is directed.
We bring up Oropesa because John Klima, who writes the site Baseball Beginnings, recently got a look at him, and had this to say: "You can’t take away the left-handed power to all fields. ... In his first at-bat, he drove a high mistake to the opposite field, left-center. That’s partly where Oropesa’s power will live as a pro. He’s a high-ball hitter all the way, and if you miss, he’ll let you know."
Thanks, John!
As it turns out, that was one of Oropesa's only two home runs to left field so far this year. He has also hit three to center field, but the bulk of his long balls (seven) have come to right.
But that doesn't mean Klima is wrong. The majority of the Trojan's doubles and triples have been to the opposite field: 11 to 5. And his singles are split right down the middle, with 11 to left, 6 to center, and 11 to right.
Maybe as Oropesa heads toward his junior year, he'll hit even more to left field. We'll be watching.