Zach
Watson

2016 Pre-Season Second Team All-State Selection

2/26/16 Zach Watson was impressive in West Ouachita’s opener in the WGNO classic, banging out a couple of hits and showing off his plus run tool with a 4.00 second home to 1^st time. Watson has a medium, athletic frame with some present strength. A right-handed hitter with a balanced, athletic setup and short stride. Simple, flat path with bat speed in the zone and quality hand-eye coordination.

2/7/16 A 6-foot, 170-pound infielder and outfielder with a lean, athletic frame. Fast twitch athlete with game changing speed that posted a 6.62 60 yard dash. Switch hitter with short, compact swing, flat path, finds the barrel consistently from the right side. Line-drive type hitter with fluid rhythm and bat speed that posted a 97 mph exit velocity. Left-handed stroke is still developing, but shows a flat path with some strength at contact. Solid defender with average hands, fluid footwork and plays through balls well. Long arm action into mid-3/4 release with accuracy on throws and a positional velocity of 87 mph from both the outfield and infield.

A 6-foot, 165-pound infielder and Louisiana State commit with a thin, athletic frame. A fast twitch athlete and outstanding runner that has athleticism to make a move to the outfield. Right-handed hitter with short, compact swing and a flat bat path that finds the barrel consistently. Currently ranked No. 5 in the 2016 class rankings.

3/23/19: Wiry strong, athletic outfielder with the tools to stay in the middle of the diamond. Watson possesses some of the best bat speed amongst all of the 2019 college draft eligible hitters and has the rare combination of premium bat speed and run speed tools. He shows good tempo in the box. His hand load and stride work in rhythm and are on time with each other. This allows his hips to work first while keeping his hands loaded and help him produce great bat speed; plus to better raw power to his pull side. Watson gets his swings with an aggressive hitting approach as shown by his career low 6.7% walk rate. His .441 BABIP this season (and .369 career) are a good indicator of just how hard he hits the ball and how quickly he can run home to first (4.19, 4.28 on ground balls on this look). Defensively, he plays the big field well, covering ground from gap to gap and overhead with a quick first step and good acceleration. His arm is near average, enough for any of the outfield spots. Projects to be an above average MLB defensive outfielder with plus range. By continuingto turn his tools into an even higher level of performance, Watson will be considered for Day One this June. (Seifert)

7/9/18: Wiry strong, athletic outfielder with tools to stay in the middle of the diamond. Near average arm with above average range in center field. Future above average defender. Offensively, showed a controlled stride, balanced setup and good separation from a slightly spread stance. Aggressive approach, got his swings. Very good bat speed which produced plus raw pull power in batting practice. Connects well to start his swing, but tends to pull off. His hands follow his front shoulder, which causes him to be in and out of the zone, instead of letting his hands work independently from his body. May need to concentrate more on driving his top hand through the ball. He’s a plus-plus runner underway who most often hit the ball in the air during this look. Ran a 3.77 on a bunt base hit and a 3.87 on a sacrifice. Also, ran a 4.28 and 4.37 on groundouts. With continued development by turning his tools into an even higher level of performance, Watson could be considered for the early rounds of the 2019 draft. (Seifert)

2-27-2018: A 2018 draft-eligible sophomore due to his birthdate, Watson did not play in this series because of an oblique injury. He is currently day to day, with hopes of returning to the lineup this weekend. Watson is game changing talent, who combines speed, power and defense. He is a potential 1st round pick. (Seifert)