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Draft  | Story  | 5/25/2003

2003 A Great Year for Outfielders

This is one of the best years ever for high school outfielders. Among the top 10 on most any list would be the following prospects. There are several others who will probably get drafted in a good position as well.


Delmon Young (Camarillo, CA)
Ryan Harvey (Dunedin, FL)
Lastings Milledge (Lakewood Ranch, FL)
Chris Lubanski (Kennedy Kenrick, PA)
Ryan Sweeney (Xavier, IA)
Tim Battle (McIntosh GA)
Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, TX)
Colin Curtis (Issaquah, WA)
Xavier Paul (Slidell, LA)
Kenny Lewis (George Washington, VA)




So how do these 10 compare with each other. Who has the most power, the best speed, the best arm, etc. It becomes one of those “beauty in the eyes of the beholder” type things. In some areas, the gap is nearly nonexistent. A quick look at the 5 main tools is interesting, but doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story. In some cases the tools are so close, that you would get different opinions from many scouts. Then there’s the other areas that need to be graded in addition to the 5 below.

The 5 Tools

Running speed: The guy who has been amazing scouts this spring is Kenny Lewis. He has run some record breaking baseball 60 yard times this year. He ran a good 60 at the PG National last June, but nowhere near the 60 that Chris Lubanski ran (6.35) at the same event. In fact, taking the 60 yd times from the PG National at Tropicana field last June (see below) we have many of the top OFs running under the same ideal conditions. We have added Shane Robinson to the list. He is a top prospect who gets far less attention than the others. 
1. Lubanski (6.35)
2. Milledge (6.43)
3. Battle (6.45)
4. Robinson (6.49)
5. Lewis (6.56)
6. Harvey (6.61)
7. Paul 6.66
8. Curtis (6.69)
9. Sweeney (6.80)




It was quite an event with every outfielder mentioned above except for Stubbs and Young in attendance. Young ran a 6.7 more than once at the PG Pacific Coast. Stubbs is a 6.5 type runner and a sprint champion. Since the PG National we have received running times on the same players. Lewis has run close to 6.2 and Sweeney has run a 6.6.

The next question is who uses their running ability the best? They all run the bases well, but Lubanski, Milledge and Battle seem to have those super level instincts that are hard to find.

Speed: Overall, it’s tough to pick between some of the aforementioned players when it comes to running. Here’s an attempt to put them in some kind of order. We will use a 1 to 10 scale, 10 being the best.


Lewis - 10
Lubanski - 10
Milledge - 10
Battle - 10
Robinson - 9
Stubbs - 9
Harvey - 9
Paul - 8
Curtis - 8
Sweeney - 7
Young - 7

Harvey, Sweeney and Young project more as right fielders in the Major Leagues.

Power: It becomes more important each year. It is another major interest area for outfielders. However power requires two grades (present and future) Present day power is less subjective though. Then you have raw power vs consistent power. T

he following players have shown us legitimate power with wood: Who can hit a baseball the farthest with wood? We’ve seen Harvey, Young and Milledge hit tape measure shots. We’ve seen easy long ball power in Lubanski and Sweeney. We’ve seen line drive power in Paul and Curtis. Stubbs has also proven his power potential. So the list goes like this:

PD = Present day, F = Future, R = Raw Power 


Young - 10 PD - 10 F - 10 R  
Harvey - 10 PD - 10 F - 10 R
Milledge - 10 PD - 10 F - 10 R
Sweeney - 9 PD - 10 F - 9 R
Stubbs - 9 PD - 10 F - 9 R
Lubanski - 8 PD - 10 F - 8 R
Curtis - 7 PD - 9 F - 7 R
Paul - 7 PD - 9 F - 7 R
Battle - 6 PD - 9 F - 7 R
Lewis - 5 PD - 8 F - 6 R
Robinson - 5 PD - 7 F - 5 R


The Arm: It is a tool most important to the projected rightfielders. Young, Harvey and Sweeney all excel in arm strength. In fact, on this list there are some of the best high school arms to ever play the outfield. Here’s how we would rate them:

AS = Arm Strength, OT = Overall throwing ability


Young - 10 AS - 10 OT
Harvey - 10 AS - 10 OT
Sweeney - 10 AS - 10 OT
Milledge - 10 AS - 9 OT
Paul - 10 AS - 9 OT
Battle - 10 AS - 9 OT
Curtis - 9 AS - 9 OT
Stubbs - 9 AS - 9 OT
Robinson - 8 AS - 9 OT
Lubanski - 7 AS - 9 OT
Lewis - 7 AS - 8 OT



Fielding Ability: Some being projected centerfielders and some rightfielders makes this a bit difficult. We will rank them all by overall outfield ability. This includes their ability to get the great jump and track fly balls along with other phases of fielding. We will give a present day and future grade. Once again present day is less speculative. Obviously speed and throwing ability are part of the package.

PD = present day, F = Future


Harvey - 10 PD - 10 F
Milledge - 10 PD - 10 F
Sweeney - 10 PD - 10 F
Lubanski - 9 PD - 10 F
Battle - 9 PD - 10 F
Curtis - 9 PD - 9 F
Robinson 9 PD - 9 F
Paul - 8 PD - 9 F
Stubbs - 8 PD - 9 F
Young - 8 PD - 8 F
Lewis - 7 PD - 9 F


Hitting Ability: It is the last, but far from least of the 5 major tools. It’s also the hardest to project. We will concentrate on overall hitting ability (hitting for average).

PD = Present day, F = Future potential


Young - 10 PD - 10 F
Harvey - 9 PD - 10 F
Milledge - 9 PD - 10 F
Sweeney - 9 PD - 10 F
Lubanski - 9 PD - 10 F
Curtis - 9 PD - 10 F
Stubbs 9 PD - 10 F
Battle - 8 PD - 10 F
Robinson - 8 PD - 10 F
Paul - 8 PD - 10 F
Lewis - 7 PD - 10 F


That’s right they all have “10” Potential.

By overall player rankings in (Baseball America) they would go in this order with the round projected in parentheses.

Delmon Young (1st round)
Ryan Harvey (1st round)
Lastings Milledge (1st round)
Chris Lubanski (1st round)
Ryan Sweeney (1st round)
Tim Battle (sandwich pick 1st round)
Kenny Lewis (3rd round)
Drew Stubbs (3rd round)
Xavier Paul (3rd round)
Colin Curtis (4th round)


BA also has PG attendee’s Estee Harris a speedy athlete from NY listed as a potential 3rd rounder and Adam Hale a big power hitter with a great arm as a 4th rounder. Size is the only thing holding Shane Robinson back, but we don’t think that will hold him back for long. If he doesn’t go fairly early, we’ll say they missed one.

There are many other factors that come into play. These factors play a key role in who will be drafted in which order. Here are the total points using our grading system above with our “add on” points factored in. None of this means anything next week.



1.   Ryan Harvey (100)
2.   Lastings Milledge (99)
3.   Delmon Young (99)
4.   Chris Lubanski (98)
5.   Ryan Sweeney (97)
6.   Tim Battle (93)
7.   Drew Stubbs (92)
8.   Colin Curtis (89)
9.   Xavier Paul (88)
10. Shane Robinson (83)
11. Kenny Lewis (83)

Delmon Young is projected as the possible first pick. So you can see the bat carries the most weight. He scored the maximum in hitting and power while Harvey and Milledge have the best 5 tool package. Lubanski will probably go higher because of his super high ceiling and championship caliber makeup. Ryan Sweeney might be the best pure baseball player of them all. Tim Battle might be one of the best natural athletes in the draft. Kenny Lewis could be the rawest of the bunch and the biggest sleeper. Are left-handed hitters more valuable? Are all these players signable? Who has the most physical projection? Who has the best makeup? Who has the best chance to be an all star in the major leagues? These questions and lots of other things will determine draft position. Please understand, these players are all among the very best in the country.
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