50 in 50: Francisco Lindor

Francisco Lindor
SS / Montverde Academy

Bats-Throws: B-R
Height/Weight: 5-11/170
Hometown: Clermont, Fla.
College Commitment: Florida State
Birthdate: November 14, 1993

SCOUTING PROFILE: Lindor was born and raised in Puerto Rico, first in Caguas, then in Toa Baja, where he played in the same youth-league program as fellow Florida high-school star and potential 2011 first-round pick Javier Baez.  Lindor moved from Puerto Rico to the Orlando area in 2006. A year younger than most 2011 high-school drafts (he won’t turn 18 until mid-November), Lindor burst on the prospect map at the 2008 World Wood Bat Association Underclass World Championship in the most unlikely of ways. A skinny, then 14-year old, playing against some of the best 16-17-year olds in the country, he blasted a couple of home runs and drove balls for extra-base hits consistently from both sides of the plate. That power display, which he has continued to build on over the last three years, is what separates Lindor from the conventional top shortstop prospects. He isn’t a blazing runner, with a 6.78 in the 60 the fastest recorded time by Perfect Game scouts, although his first-step quickness and exceptional balance give him above-average range at shortstop. Nor does Lindor have a cannon for an arm, but his lightning-quick release and advanced footwork enable him to make all the plays that a stronger-armed player may not always make. The combination of all those attributes makes Lindor one of the few high-school shortstops that isn’t shadowed by questions about what position he will play at the major-league level. But the separator for Lindor is the bat. While a prototypical 5-foot-11, 170-pound 17-year-old middle infielder might be expected to be a contact hitter who needs to gain strength to compete offensively with a wood bat, Lindor’s quick, strong hands and overall hitting approach make him an exception. He has above-average bat speed from both sides of the plate and legitimate extra-base power. Lindor put an exclamation point on his offensive potential by winning the home-run hitting contest at the 2010 Aflac All-American Game. He enjoyed an outstanding senior season at Montverde Academy, both offensively and defensively, and gained a lot of notoriety Feb. 18 when his team matched up against Baez (Arlington Country Day HS, Jacksonville) in one of the most heavily-scouted games of the 2011 season. It cemented his status as a top-half of the first-round talent. In the unlikely event that Lindor doesn’t turn professional this summer, he has a scholarship to Florida State to fall back on.