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Atlanta Braves Top 100 Prospect Scouting Report: 33. Lucas Herbert

By Benjamin Chase

Feb 23, 2015; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher Christian C. Betancourt digs a ball out of the dirt during spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 23, 2015; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher Christian C. Betancourt digs a ball out of the dirt during spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez (33) high fives Atlanta Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons (19) after he caught the final out against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves defeated the Phillies, 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez (33) high fives Atlanta Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons (19) after he caught the final out against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves defeated the Phillies, 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

Scouting Report

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Herbert is listed at 6′ and 200 pounds. He looks right on that, if maybe even a little lighter than the 200 pounds. He is a right-handed hitter and thrower.

Hitting

Herbert has struggled to find a consistent set up with his lower half, and that’s part of his issues in my eyes. He does have an incredibly quick bat through the zone, however, but it’s not a pure swing path. He tends to one-hand swings above his waist, and he will hitch a swing way too frequently, trying to leverage for power.

Herbert has also interestingly switched from no batting gloves to one batting glove to two batting gloves. Low A at 19 is the place to experiment, but going deep into June is getting late to be still struggling to find a consistent approach at the plate.

Herbert has great power with his tremendous bat speed, but the inconsistent swing pattern and set up lead to inconsistent swing paths, and frequently, he hits the top or the bottom of the ball whereas if he hit it square, his bat speed would send the ball skyward. He has also been robbed a touch by weather as he’s had at least 3 balls he hit on the nose that died on the warning track due to a head wind on that particular day.

Base Running/Fielding

Herbert is athletic, and he can move on the bases fairly well. His instincts when stealing bases, however, could use some work, as he’s been caught as much as he has been successful, and in the few attempts I’ve seen, he’s not exactly great on straight steals.

He does run very well, especially for a catcher, when moving from station to station. He has a lot of ability going first to third or even second to home on a single in one game I saw.

Herbert’s athleticism is most obvious when he puts on the tools of ignorance and starts catching the Rome staff. He has great lateral movement and even better ability to get into the dirt to block a ball with great flexibility. His arm isn’t elite, but he gets up very quickly, which makes up for it in the run game.

The biggest area I could see for improvement in Herbert’s game behind the plate would be his framing skills. He presents a good target, but he tends to sit narrow to remain able to be flexible in his movements, but getting wider would allow him to “steal” more pitches for his pitchers.

Video

Next: Future outlook

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