Washington Starts His Season With a Bang

This may be the first of many Kyri Washington (Woodstock 2013) posts, or, conceivably, the last (but not likely!).

Kyri is showing up on all the prospect lists for the 2015 draft, but he comes with a caveat or two. Here’s a short writeup from an article on a website called “Draft to the Show,” in which Kyri is named one of the top 15 college hitters in the country:

15. Kyri Washington, OF, Longwood — Washington is one of the more intriguing enigmas of the 2015 class, as you don’t see outfielders with 70 speed and power grades very often. He’s light-years away from being a complete baseball player, and he rivals Duggar for the worst swing on this list. He could easily move up ten spots on this list with a solid spring, but it takes an awful lot of dreaming to see Washington become a big league regular. It’s a fun dream, though.

In an article on Baseball America‘s website published four days ago, writer Hudson Belinsky had this to say about Kyri:

In an intrasquad game Saturday, Longwood outfielder Kyri Washington showed an impressive skill set. Washington’s swing is typically very short, but can get long at times. There is minimal hand load, though he does load his back elbow significantly, which could lead to more topspin to his pull side, as well as limiting the flexibility of his bat path in general. Washington’s approach is to drive the ball as soon as possible, and this leads to issues when he expands the strike zone. Washington projects for average power and speed, and if he convinces teams that his swing-and-miss problems are solvable, Washington could be picked in the top five rounds of the draft.

So, needless to say, I’ll be keeping an eye on Kyri’s college season. ATVL would love to see a huge breakout in 2015!

So far, the results are encouraging. In Longwood’s first scheduled game, held yesterday at Bush Stadium in Cookeville, Tennessee, against Tennessee Tech, Kyri blasted two home runs and drove in 3 runs in Longwood’s 8-2 victory. He also struck out twice, but I would say he’s off to an excellent start!