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2019 MLB Draft Preview: Kyren Paris scouting report
The 2019 MLB Draft is less than two weeks away — the first round kicks off on June 3, 2019 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #8, their second round pick is at #50, and they have Milwaukee’s competitive balance pick, acquired in the Alex Claudio trade, which is #41.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today, we are looking at California high school shortstop Kyren Paris.
Kyren Paris is a 6’0”, 165-170 lb. righthanded hitting shortstop out of Freedom High School in Oakley, California, part of the greater San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan area. Paris is one of the youngest players in the draft, not turning 18 until November. Paris is a quality defender with speed and a good arm, and has good bat-to-ball skills, though his power is a big question mark. He’s currently committed to Cal.
There are some fairly large spreads in the rankings with Paris. Baseball America has Paris at #70 on their board, praising his makeup and his “no-nonsense demeanor,” and comparing him to 2018 second round Osiris Johnson. MLB Pipeline has Paris ranked #75 on their board, with quality marks for the glove and speed and questions about the power. Keith Law is more bullish, having Paris at #48 on his rankings, though with the caveat that he’s a long way off with the bat. Fangraphs, meanwhile, has Paris at #34 on their rankings.
Paris doesn’t show up as being off the board in many mock drafts, though Jim Callis has him going at #34 to the Diamondbacks in his most recent mock, and mentions that the Minnesota Twins also like him. Fangraphs mocks Paris to the Indians at #24, and says he might not make it that far.
Paris isn’t someone who would seem to be in the mix at #8, but who could be of interest to the Rangers at #41 or later. We know the Rangers love up-the-middle guys with strong defensive profiles and speed, with the question being whether they believe in the hit tool enough to grab him at #41 or #50, or if he’s someone they’d only consider beginning in the third round (and he probably wouldn’t last that long). Kiley McDaniel says that Paris has been polarizing among teams because of the erraticism of his bat, but if the Rangers are one of the teams that thinks he will hit, he could be an option.
Some video: