Elijah Green
 |
| Photo: Twitter/ @elijahgreen1204 |
Bio:
Age: 19
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 225 lbs.
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Hometown: Windermere, Florida
Draft Profile: 1st round, 5th pick of the 2022 draft by Washington
Drafted Out of: IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
Career Stat Line: .218 AVG .340 OBP 5 HR 38 RBI 23 SB 0.979 Fielding %
After four straight pitchers in the spotlight, we were itching to get back to a positional player, and Elijah Green of the Washington Nationals organization felt like a great guy to focus in on. As the son of former NFL Pro-Bowl tight end Eric Green, Elijah was destined to be a big, athletic dude. Unlike his father though, baseball, not the gridiron, was where his true passion lied.
Green abandoned football at the age of 13, despite being a physically imposing and talented player. "It was just the love of baseball for me. The game of football took away baseball for me for half the year, so quitting football just showed my true love for baseball. It was a really tough time for me because my Dad played in the NFL, but he has supported me through it all," (IMG Academy).
The teen spent the extra time honing and excelling in his craft. A member of the Florida Travel Baseball organization, Elijah was exposed to regular competition on a national level, helping to fast track his early development. "He's an absolute toolshed when it comes to evaluating him, but it is the intangible of competitive make up that will really shine when you see him play live," said former a former FTB coach (FTB). His skillset caught the eye of IMG Academy, where he played his high school ball.
After the COVID pandemic eliminated the 2020 season, Green exploded onto the scene as a junior at IMG. In 25 games, he slashed .321/6/21 against elite high school opponents. The subsequent summer, Elijah was featured on the United States U-18 in the World Baseball Cup. He started six out of the team's seven games, going 8/23 at the plate while leading the team with four home runs (USA Baseball).
His stats would grow substantially as a senior, hitting .462 with nine homers and 32 RBI (MaxPreps). Most impressively, 61% of his hits went for extra bases, helping to skyrocket his OPS to an eye-popping 1.592. Pure, raw power. With a commitment to Miami University, he began to prepare for what his future would hold as the 2022 draft loomed.
As draft night approached, there was a wide range of spots the Florida product could end up, with some scouts considering him the top selection in the whole damn thing. Others had some reservations about how well his contact tool would translate to the pro game. MLB.com had him ranked as their #3 overall prospect. Ultimately, he Washington Nationals fell in love with Green, making him the fifth pick of round one. A few weeks later, he'd ink $6.5 million dollar signing bonus and officially become a professional baseball player.
His 2022 would conclude with twelve games down in Florida for Washington's rookie team. The good news was that he batted .302 with two long balls, nine RBI and a .404 OBP. However, when he wasn't getting on base, he was usually striking out. His 21:6 K:BB ratio was a big red flag, translating to a 40.4 K% in 52 plate appearances (MiLB.com).
 |
| Photo: Tristan Lorei- The Free Lance- Star |
After being assigned to the the Class A Fredericksburg FredNats this spring, Green's adjusted fairly smoothly. The power tool has still been absent, but he's been fairly productive at the dish with 29 RBI in 58 games. In the process, he's reduced his K% a little bit, although there's still room to clean that up. On a positive note, the kid's still just 19 years old, so time is on his side. He also plays a squeaky clean outfield too, with only three errors in his minor league career. So many of the traits scouts fell in love with have translated to the pro game, now it's just a matter of it all clicking.
I was hoping to be able to watch the #4 prospect in the Nationals organization play in person last night against the Shorebirds, but he's been absent from the lineup since June 28th. Per ABC's Brandon Bossert, he's dealing with an undisclosed injury, yet has remained off of the IL (Twitter). We may have one more chance to see him live down here however, with the FredNats concluding their season in Delmarva this September. We're pulling hard for Elijah Green to have gotten the promotion to A+ Wilmington by then, though his return date from this mystery injury will play a big part in that.
------
@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
Comments
Post a Comment