Heath Quinn

   Heath Quinn – Samford – OF – Jr. – 6-foot-3 – 220 pounds

Quick reaction: Big guy with major power and a beautiful swing.

Swing breakdown: He starts with a slightly open stance that is very wide, which puts him down in a bit of a crouch. He starts with his hands way back and keeps them there until he’s ready to swing. His hands are really impressive for such a big guy. Somehow he’s able to hold them back there and take them straight to the zone with no unnecessary movement.

With less than two strikes he has a pretty big leg kick in his swing. He’ll pick it up as the pitch is coming and then aggressively set it down about 6-inches further than where it started giving him some extra power into his swing as he lunges at the baseball.

With two strikes he takes that leg kick out and simply picks the foot up and puts it back down allowing him to adjust to a breaking ball. As you’ll see in the video below, the lack of a leg kick doesn’t diminish his power.

His path to the baseball is incredible to watch in slow motion. His head stays right down on the ball, he tucks in his back elbow nicely, bringing his hands inside the baseball, and his hips explode as he makes contact.

His arms are long enough that he can reach a pitch on the outside corner. On both of the videos below he took the ball the other way for extra bases.

Projection: Quinn is a very special player. I’ve watched him since he was a freshman at Samford. He hit a home run the first time I watched him and I knew then he was special. In the last game I watched he hit 3 home runs in one game. There is no doubt that this kid has the potential to be a big time bat in the major leagues.

The only thing that may hold him back is I’m not sure where he plays. I believe he has the athleticism to stick as a corner outfielder, but I’m not sure he’ll win any gold gloves out there. I’m not saying his a terrible defender, but it’s definitely not what you’re drafting him for. He’s big enough that he could move to first if needed in the future.

The swing is nearly flawless. The power potential is real. I’m not comparing him to Kris Bryant, but they have similar swings and similar power. To me Quinn is easily worth a first round pick. With the start he’s having to the 2016 season (7 home runs in seven games) I could easily see him moving up into the top 15 of the first round.