The Red Sox hosted Hammond School (Columbia, S.C.) infielder Tucker Toman for a pre-draft workout at Fluor Field in Greenville on Saturday, according to SportsTalk Media Network.
Toman, 18, is the son of current Middle Tennessee State baseball coach Jim Toman. He is also currently regarded by MLB Pipeline as the No. 42 draft-eligible prospect and by Baseball America as the No. 70 prospect in this year’s draft class.
A switch-hitter, Toman batted .487 and slugged .887 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs in his senior season with the Skyhawks. The South Carolina native is committed to play his college baseball at the esteemed Louisiana State University, but he is expected to go pro this summer.
Per his MLB Pipeline scouting report, “Toman shows better bat speed with his left-handed stroke but is proficient from both sides of the plate. He understands his swing and barrels balls with ease when he just concentrates on making hard contact to all fields. He got too aggressive and pull-happy at times last summer but has the hittability, bat speed and strength for at least average and perhaps plus power without swinging for the fences.”
Baseball America, on the other hand, notes that Toman “has impressive power potential as a switch-hitter and is an offensive-oriented infielder who had an up-and-down summer. At his best, Toman barreled the baseball and sprayed line drives and deep fly balls all over the field, but he also had events where he swung and missed consistently and got himself out with bad chases on pitches out of the zone.”
Defensively, the 6-foot-1, 190 pounder is described by MLB Pipeline as a player with an uncertain future given that he only has below-average speed and average arm strength.
“The best-case scenario would be third base, where his arm and hands might be a little light but he has the work ethic to possibly make it to happen,” Toman’s scouting report reads. “Second base seems like a bigger stretch with his lack of quickness, and he could wind up on an outfield corner.”
Toman, who turns 19 in November, could very well be someone the Red Sox target in the second round as opposed to the first in this year’s amateur draft, which begins in Los Angeles on July 17.
Boston owns the 24th and 41st overall picks in the 2022 draft. They also own the 79th overall selection, which they received as compensation for losing Eduardo Rodriguez to the Tigers in free agency.
While it remains to be seen just how interested the Red Sox are in a prospect such as Toman, it is somewhat intriguing that this information got out there.
(Picture of Tucker Toman via his Instagram)
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