I don't know how a kid with that much bat speed had people who are paid to evaluate players questioning his power. It's pretty quantifiable even when you miss the ball. He must have been really injured or he took some new stuff that can't be detected. His other skills are loud AF. 99 mph throws are no joke
He was like 175 lbs. entering his second year of pro ball and while he is listed at 6'2, he isn't a large man... so I am sure that impacted their valuation. People said the same thing about Brice Matthews as well - because of his size. Cole also has seemed to see his power increase as the velocity of his competition has increased as well. Some guys hit more homers in the big leagues than the minors - it may be that way for Cole.
20 pounds of muscle will do that. His hit tool is still suspect but his power is not. The fact that he doesn't chase makes me super optimistic. I honestly wished Alvarez would take a similar approach. I rather Yordan hit 60 homeruns than bat .300.
BTW, I love you insight. I don't know **** about our farm system other than what you and @Snake Diggit tell me and then I do a bunch of internet research when there is an exciting player. This kid has me excited. I love aberrations like a 5'5" contact hitter having the most post season homeruns in league history.
His average EV has been 98. The qualified league leader (Oneil Cruz) is at 95.7. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/zach-cole-805904?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb He is well above 90th percentile in sprint speed, outfield arm strength, and all power hitting metrics. The question is if he can stay out of the bottom quarter of the league in whiff and chase metrics.
I'm pretty sure he won't chase much. He will whiff though. Are there minor league stats that show if he struck out looking or whiffed?
Yes, fangraphs has swinging strike and called strike %. He was high in both areas but extremely high on swinging strike %.
