Nathan Hickey

Hickey was scouted frequently out of high school thanks to playing on the same Providence High team in Jacksonville as Tyler Callihan, who was drafted by the Reds in the third round in 2019. Hickey was a solid offensive prospect in his own right and thought at the time to be an above-average hitter with above-average power, albeit with defensive questions. That continues to be the reputation Hickey has after two seasons with Florida. This spring he was the best hitter on a strong Gators team. He posted a .317/.435/.522 line with nine home runs and more walks (42) than strikeouts (20). Hickey hammers fastballs and has done well with 93-plus mph velocity this spring and tries to access his easy plus raw power with a leveraged and steep uphill swing path. That’s allowed him to do damage to his pull side on pitches middle and down, but there is a hole at the top of the zone that better pitchers might be able to expose more often. A good feel for the strike zone and a willingness to take walks should take some of the pressure off of Hickey’s pure bat-to-ball skills. A team that thinks Hickey can stick behind the plate might like his bat among the top-50 picks in the draft, but most of the industry seems to think he’ll have to move off the position at the next level. His arm is more serviceable than above-average or plus and he needs plenty of work as a receiver and blocker to get to even fringe-average defensive ability.