Carson Roccaforte
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| Photo: Farm to Fountains |
Bio:
Age: 22
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Bats/Throws: Left/Left
Hometown: Beaumont, Texas
Draft Profile: 2nd round CB-B, 66th pick of the 2023 draft by Kansas City Royals
Drafted Out of: Louisiana-Lafayette
Career Stat Line: .238 AVG .307 OBP 4 HR 31 RBI 30 SB 1.000 Fielding %
Sticking in the outfield for this week's Minor League Spotlight, with a look in on Carson Roccaforte. The Royals' 16th ranked prospect grew his love for the game on the diamonds surrounding Beaumont, Texas. Growing up an athletic lefty, the son of Jay and Tracy was almost pigeonholed into a career in the outfield-- a challenge he was more than up for.
Carson put himself onto the map as a member of the local Port Neches Groves High School varsity club. As a freshman, he was a contributor to a team that won the 5A State Championship over Grapevine (PANews). By his junior season, the kid was the big name on the Indians' roster, hitting .358 with 15 extra base hits en route to being named team offensive MVP (Ragin Cajuns).
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| Photo: I.C. Murrell/ The News |
Colleges began to take notice, with Louisiana-Lafayette becoming the apple of Roccaforte's eye. In September of 2019, he made things official and committed to playing for the Ragin Cajuns, just 2 hours from his childhood home.
Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic ended the senior's final go at Port Neches prematurely. Carson was able to get in some practice with his summer league team, as well as completing workouts sent to him by his future coaches at Louisiana, but a disappointing conclusion to an impressive high school career nonetheless.
Roccaforte was thrust right into the action once he arrived at ULL, playing 55 games as a freshman. He immediately made his presence known, recording a hit in his first 8 collegiate games before finishing with a .274/4/22 line and the fifth most stolen bases in the Sun Belt conference (Baseball Reference). The 19-year old's efforts began to catch the attention of pro scouts.
But his encore campaign entrenched him as a legit top tier prospect. The sophomore hit .374, blasting 16 homers and driving in 68, ultimately leading Louisiana in 12 offensive categories. He also didn't make a single error during conference play. The magnificent year earned him First Team Sun Belt and First Team NCAA D1 South honors as he continued to creep up MLB draft boards (Kings of Kauffman).
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| Photo: Ben Massey/ Ragin' Cajun Athletics |
2023 wasn't quite as productive for the junior, slashing .318/.426/.538 with 8 long balls and 55 RBI. He got a little bit of work in at first base as well, when he wasn't continuing his streak of perfect fielding out in center.
Despite the slight decline, Roccaforte was still on many pro team's radars. His near flawless work in the field and gap power at the plate provided plenty of appeal. Come July 9th, it was just a matter of finding of when and where he'd be going.
66. Right at the end of round #2, the Kansas City Royals decided to take the ULL product with the 66th overall pick-- a competitive balance selection. Carson became the 4th highest draft pick ever out of the school, behind the likes of Charles Bordes, Garrett O'Connor and Darren Babineaux (The Baseball Cube). The team inked him to an $897,500 signing bonus and he was off to the Arizona Complex.
The 21-year old made an immediate impact on the rookie ball circuit, going 8-15 with 3 RBI and 5 stolen bases (MiLB.com). KC quickly moved the kid up to Class-A Columbia, where there were a few growing pains. Roccaforte posted a .257/0/12 line in 27 games with the Fireflies, striking out 12 more times than he walked. About a third of his hits went for extra bases though, projecting plenty of optimism toward his gap power translating upward.
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| Photo: MiLB.com |
Carson's spent 2024 thus far at the A+ level, playing for the Quad Cities River Bandits. He's hit his first 4 professional home runs with the team, going 14/19 on stolen base attempts and has still yet to make an error in the outfield since his sophomore year of college. On the flip side though, the 49:9 K:BB numbers are very concerning, which has dipped his on-base percentage considerably.
We're still plenty high on Roccaforte's upside long term. His elite level of defense is hard to find, on top of a bat that's starting to show off some pop. Once he gets going more consistently at the plate, it's going to be a quick ascension through this farm system.
If you find yourself out near Davenport, Iowa anytime in the coming weeks, make sure to check him and the River Bandits out!
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@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
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