5 Collegiate Hitters to Know for the 2016 MLB Draft
Matt Thaiss, C, Virginia
MLB.com Rank: 35th | Keith Law Rank: 21st
Let's put Matt Thaiss through the same test we assigned to Corey Ray in comparing him to his qualified teammates to control for competition and park factor. Keep in mind that Thaiss is a catcher, so our threshold for excitement may need to be a bit lower.
| Category | Home Runs | Average | On-Base | Slugging | BB% | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 10 | 0.375 | 0.473 | 0.578 | 14.0% | 5.7% |
| Team Rank | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd |
| Second Highest | 8 | 0.351 | 0.441 | 0.513 | --- | --- |
Thaiss just outchea giving our tempered expectations the one-finger salute. He was either first or second on the team in every major category, and the player who beat him in strikeout rate and walk rate -- Ernie Clement -- didn't come close to matching Thaiss' power totals. Thaiss passes this test in every way imaginable, and he doesn't even need the catcher-related curve.
Thaiss is another guy who didn't sneak up on anybody after showing this same Gucciness last year as a sophomore. In helping propel the Cavaliers to a College World Series championship, Thaiss led the team in home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Basically, dude dealt out destruction for two straight years while playing for top-tier teams. We can't overlook this guy.
Law mentions in his blurb on him that Thaiss has a better chance of sticking behind the dish than fellow big-bopping catcher, Zack Collins of Miami. MLB.com wrote that -- even if teams don't view Thaiss as a catcher -- his stick alone could land him in the first two rounds. Based on what he did at Virginia, that would seem to be a more than fair assessment.
