Our four first-rounders are complete.
High school outfielder Jason Place, born in May 1988, was the first selection by the Red Sox in the 2006 Amateur Draft. Place, who profiles to end up in left or right field, has tremendous power potential, something lacking in the minor league system and something that certainly needed to be addressed eventually. With four first round picks (six last year) and back-to-back picks, it was obvious the Sox would go with a conservative pick (likely a pitcher) and a risky play (likely a hitter with power potential). It played out just like that. The video on MLB.com shows a clear uppercut swing, which also makes him liable to strike out – but that comes with most power hitters. He has a pretty lean frame for his power potential, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him fill out even more.
Two sections of the Anderson Independent Mail article on Jason Place written on the third of this month are interesting:
(Place’s high school coach is speaking about how he wasn’t sure how Place would progress to the Varsity team after making the team in eighth grade.) “Little did I know he was going to be in a starting job and play every (varsity) game as an eighth grader,” Thompson said. And over the next four years, Place was a mainstay for the Golden Hurricanes