Drafted in the 7th round (212th overall) by the Cincinnati Reds in 2005.
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Speed and hitting for average are Roberts' best tools. A slap hitter who makes regular contact, he led the Alaska League with a .373 average last summer. He's been clocked in the 60-yard dash in 6.41 seconds and from the left side of the plate to first in 4.0. But his speed is often wasted in the outfield because he doesn't get good enough reads on balls to play center, and his arm is better suited for left. His poor instincts have often relegated him to DH, which creates a problem for scouts because he lacks the raw power to play anywhere but center.
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Roberts was traded just before the Florida State League all-star game, making that his first contest in a Fort Myers uniform. A 70 runner on the 20-80 scale, Roberts plays a good defensive center field with a fringy arm that plays well enough for the position. His biggest question will be how his bat plays. He batted .293 in 2006 but produced little power and doesn't project to hit for much more because of his swing. He hits the ball hard, but his swing is choppy and seems better suited for redirecting the ball rather than driving it. While it allows Roberts to take advantage of his speed by beating out infield hits now, that approach works less frequently against big league defenders. Roberts also needs to walk more to take greater advantage of his speed. He broke his left foot in the first workout of instructional league, so the Twins' look at him was shorter than they had hoped. They like what they've seen so far, though, and expect a healthy Roberts to jump to Double-A.
Roberts is a case where the Reds believe they may have gotten more than they paid for. When they signed him for $137,000 as a seventh-round pick last June, they viewed him as a speedy leadoff hitter. Most scouting reports knocked his defense and arm strength, but Cincinnati was pleasantly surprised to find that he gets decent jumps and covers gaps well enough to be an average center fielder, with enough of an arm (45 on the 20-80 scouting scale) to stay there. That's important, because Roberts' speed game doesn't profile as well on an outfield corner. He gets from the left side of the plate to first base in 4.0 second and can run a 6.4-second 60-yard dash. He stole at will at Billings, succeeding in 32 of 39 attempts. Roberts understands how to make best use of his quickness. He bunts well and tries to work the ball to the left side of the field, and he has enough speed to hit .290-.300 by keeping the ball on the ground. He has enough functional strength to be more than just a slap hitter and bolstered his stock by leading the Alaska League with a .373 average in the summer of 2004 while using wood bats. He'll move up to Class A this year.
Minor League Top Prospects
Roberts was one of a handful of intriguing center fielders roaming PL outfields this season. Like Helena's Fermaint and Darren Ford, Roberts has plus speed. He deploys a slap approach, mixes in some gap power and has good plate discipline. His defense showed signs of improvement, though he relies on his speed to makeup for mistakes reading balls off the bat and has an average arm at best. How he develops his game around his speed will determine his future.
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Rated Fastest Baserunner in the Minnesota Twins in 2007
Rated Fastest Baserunner in the Cincinnati Reds in 2006
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