Seattle Mariners 2019 MLB Draft Prospect Profile: J.J. Bleday

There is very little Mariners baseball news to dissect as the team is in Japan and won’t be back on the field (except for a few exhibition games) until their Opening Day games against the Oakland A’s on March 20th.

While the Mariners are away, it is a good time to watch some college baseball. And while watching college baseball, it is a good time to think about what the Mariners plan to do with their first-round pick of the 2019 MLB Draft.

This year, Seattle holds the 20th overall pick. This year’s draft class leans heavily in favor of the prep players, while Jerry Dipoto and company typically prefer college athletes. But today, we take a look at one of the best collegiate bats in the draft class, Vanderbilt’s J.J. Bleday.

Jeffery Joseph Bleday is a 6’3″, 205 lbs OF currently playing for the Vanderbilt Commodores in the SEC. The left-hander is described as one of, if not the best all-around hitter in college baseball. He has great strike zone recognition, boasting 76 walks to just 59 strikeouts in his 2+ years on campus.

He sprays line drives from foul line to foul line and showed good gap power in his first two seasons at Vandy. The question surrounding Bleday’s profile was his power. While most project average power, there was a hope that with his swing trajectory, bat speed, and overall feel for hitting, the power tool could develop into something plus.

Early returns in 2019 suggest he may have done just that, having already cracked a career-high 6 home runs in his first 16 games of the season. If Bleday is a 30 home run hitter, he could be a multi-year All-Star at the plate with a reasonably quick timeline through the majors.

Bleday missed half of his sophomore season an oblique injury, but still managed a .368/.494/.511 slash in 2018. He went off to the prestigious Cape Cod League and wowed scouts with his bat, slashing .311/.374/.500 in the wood bat league. He was voted the best prospect in the league by scouts of the area.

Defensively, Bleday isn’t going to wow anybody. He has below-average wheels, but a strong arm that will allow him to play RF. He handles the corner OF spot well thanks to instincts and fundamental sound footwork, but will never be confused as anything more than okay.

Ultimately, he may be better suited to learn to play first base, but the team drafting him will be doing so for his bat, with the hopes the defense will be good enough.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 60 Power: 55 Run: 40 Arm: 55 Field: 45 Overall: 55 Comp: Daniel Murphy

If Bleday continues to tear up the SEC, he very easily could play his way into the Top 10. But with the extreme likelihood of being a bat-only prospect, it could cause him to slide to pick 20.

Bats like Bleday are rare, especially for teams picking in the bottom third of the draft. But with this class strongly favoring the prep players inside the Top 15, anything is possible. If everything goes reasonably well for Bleday, he could make his MLB debut in 2021, right around the time the Mariners plan on competing again.