The Keepers - #30 - OF - Sean Ratliff

30. Sean Ratliff – OF – A+ - 23/yrs.

The Mets drafted Ratliff in the 4th round of the 2008 draft.

From Baseball America: Stanford's top talent, junior outfielder Sean Ratliff, might have worked into the first-round mix with more polish at the plate. His 18 homers ranked fifth in the Pac-10, he runs well for his 6-foot-3, 225-pound size, and he has enough arm to hit 92 mph off the mound. It's a prototype right-field profile, but Ratliff has an unorthodox swing with holes in it, and he swings and misses a lot. His 72 strikeouts tied for second-worst in Division I entering regional play

From the Stanford website:

As A Junior In 2008: On the 2008 Wallace Award Watch List • Leads the team in homers, RBI, and triples (4) • Hitting .285 with 17 home runs, 54 RBI and six stolen bases • Had a torrid career-high-tying 13-game hit streak from March 8 - April 5, going 22-for-51 (.431) with five doubles, two triples, seven homers and 22 RBI • One of three players to have started all 53 games • Homered four times over three-game span (May 4-6) • Has one of the team's three grand slams during the 2008 season (5/4 at San Jose State) • Has made three appearances on the mound, pitching 3.0 innings for a 2-0 record and a 6.00 ERA.

From MLB.com: Hitting Ability:

He's not a pure hitter, not being consistent enough from at-bat to at-bat. Power: He's got pretty good power and showed home run pop to the pull side. Running Speed: He grades out as average, at best. Base running: He handled himself OK on the bases. Arm Strength: He wasn't tested in this game, but he's shown a strong arm as a guy who's done some pitching. Fielding: He's playing CF now and looks OK, but he may not be able to stay there in the future. Range: He has average range in center right now. Physical Description: Ratliff is a big, strong, left-handed hitter. Medical Update: Healthy. Strengths: Power bat, with home-run potential. Weaknesses: Inconsistency. He hasn't shown the ability to make consistent contact. Summary: College power hitters are always going to draw interest, even inconsistent ones. Ratliff hasn't always been able to make consistent contact, but he manages to show enough to remain intriguing. A center fielder for now, the team who thinks he'll turn his sometimes power into something frequent enough to man a corner spot will take a chance on him

In 2008, Raliff hit .229/.300/.388 for Brooklyn, in 201 at bats.

In 2009, Ratliff starred for Savannah, going .265/.312/.451/.763, in 468 at bats. He also had 15 home runs (tied for 12th in the league) and 68 RBIs (tied for 11th in the league) before getting bumped near the end of the season to St. Lucie (.286 in 28-AB).

Forecast:

Ratliff earned the bump to A+ and will play the 2010 season there once again. I look for the pop to continue and the home run count to increase.