Dustin Ackley Is A Monster!

I posted this in another thread mentioning Ackley but I've seen him plenty in person and while I think he is one of the best college players in the land I don't think he is an elite prospect.  He has quick wrists, a level line-drive swing, and a great approach at the plate.  His hits are not seeing eye, they are line drives that spring off his bat.  He rarely strikes out and has no problem taking a pitch up the middle or to the opposite field.  He always seems composed at the plate and has thrived in the clutch at times.  He is a good athlete and has good speed, and I don't mean "good athlete and speed for 1b/LF/RF".   I mean good speed for a baseball player period.  He played 1b last year only out of necessity for the Tar Heels, not because his D in the OF was bad, when Mike Fox got fed up with Reid Fronk's glove at 3b and moved him to LF and put 1b Chad Flack at third.

He did not play in the Cape or any other wood bat league last summer, possibly due to some lingering injuries from during the long season he played, so he still hasn't shown what he can do in a wood league.  Many freshman feel fatigue playing their first 56-game spring, but Ackley's Tar Heels went deep into Omaha, so I think they got up around 70 games.  He started to falter late in the year, as many freshmen do, but righted himself at the end to bring the BA back over .400 and hit a couple homers in Omaha.

I just do not see him having the raw power and talent to warrant a top pick.  He is a hell of a college ballplayer, and does every thing right as a hitter, but he isn't big or strong like you want a college 1b/OF to be if you are making him a premium selection.  His game (contact, doubles and a little speed) is more like that of a 2b.  The lack of strength could pose problems in driving balls with wood bats, but we will see.  Hell of a ballplayer though, I just don't know if he is a professional star.