Corey Ray

A 33rd-round pick of the Mariners out of a Chicago-area high school, Ray opted to head to Louisville instead of signing, earned a spot in the starting lineup late in his freshman year and has been a star for the Cardinals ever since. Scouts have few concerns about his hit tool as they expect him to be at least an average hitter, especially after the refinement of his approach this spring. He has a short stroke and is balanced at the plate with a wide stance. Scouts had worried about Ray's ability to hit lefthanders but as of early May he had an .865 OPS against them. Ray shows plus raw power and projects to hit 15-18 home runs as a pro. He's a plus runner with the eye for stealing bases–he's topped 30 steals for a second consecutive year and he's done it with an 85 percent success rate. The questions with Ray revolve around his eventual defensive position. Scouts seems almost evenly divided over whether he's a solid average to tick-above-average center fielder or a future left fielder. Even as a left fielder, Ray does enough things well to be a big league regular, but his eventual impact will be determined by whether he can stay up the middle.