| Player: Rylan Charles |
| School: UNLV Position(s): OF |
| Height: 6′ Weight: 185 lbs. Bats: Left Throws: Left |
| Hit: Calm hands in load, direct path from load to zone. Hips fire in sync with rest of body. Long stride can periodically get down late. Very much a contact first approach, always chokes up a bit. Quick to zone, long through allowing him to fight off good pitches. |
| Power: Homered on day I saw him, ball really jumped but looked more gap off bat and carried. Line drive swing, likely more gap power than home run power. Projects to be just below average bordering on average. |
| Run: Average to better especially in field. |
| Arm: Not enough for right. Average strength at best but shows quality accuracy. |
| Glove: There are some questions about his ability to stick in center, but squashed those for me vs. Air Force. Good reads, covered plenty of ground in center to make one play in gap and nearly make another. Little doubt he can stay in center. |
| Summary: After hitting .382 a season ago, Charles has struggled in 2023, at least compared to the high standards he has set for himself. Hitting “just” .278 with and striking out about 15% of the time doesn’t raise any concerns until you a season ago those numbers were .382 and 10%. That said, the knock on Charles coming into the season was a lack of power projection and a real question as to whether he could play center or if he would end up a slap hitting left fielder. He has put a lot of the center field questions to bed showing great reads and routes in center with his speed enough to get the job done as well. The power is still a legitimate question as even his home runs are balls that will certainly be doubles at best with a wood bat. He is running more though, which has suddenly become more of a real trait to pay attention to with the changes at the MLB level. Overall Charles still best projects as a really good fourth outfielder/heavy side of a platoon outfielder but has more than enough upside to become a league average center fielder who hits in the back half of a lineup. |
THREE QUARTER SLOT 