2018 11th Round ( 325) Cody Roberts - C - North Carolina (NC)

[weams]

6' 1 195lbs DOB: 06/16/96

Luke's Take: An athletic catcher who produced a 1.79 pop time in HS, there is some confusion as to whether the Orioles will use him as a catcher or pitcher. He didn't really pitch in college, one short outing as a Freshman, and one short outing in a summer league. He was however drafted out of HS by the Marlins as a pitcher and he touched 91 in high school. As a catcher, he's an excellent defender who might have enough of a bat for a backup role.

Here are a couple excerpts from Baseball Draft Report on Roberts.

https://baseballdraftreport.com/tag/cody-roberts/

"I’m sure there is a more eloquent way to put this, but I’m a huge sucker for C/RHP Cody Roberts. Logic goes a bit out the window when it comes to his prospect stock because I enjoy watching him play so damn much. Roberts has arguably the best arm strength in this entire class of any position player, flirts with above-average raw power, and is as athletic as any catcher you’d hope to find.

There’s an obvious big league backup catcher floor here that feels to me like almost a sure thing. I know he’s not a sure thing to be a big league backup because there’s truly no such thing as a sure thing in this line of work, but catchers with his kind of arm/athleticism combination are hard to deny."...

"That feels like a fair range (rounds 5-9) to project Roberts. I’d personally be very happy to get a high-floor, solid-ceiling (plus the pitching fallback with his low- to mid-90s fastball) talent like Roberts at that point in the draft."

 

 

[weams]

Catcher? Pitcher? 

 

[DirtyBird]

Finally, a pitcher 

[OFFNY]

2 minutes ago, weams said:

 

6' 1", 195 lbs.

DOB: ) 06/16/96

 

o

 

Cruiserweight.

 

o

[lovetoaster]

Interesting...played catcher at UNC, but we drafted him as a pitcher. 

Batting Statistics

Year	Team	POS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	GP	AB	R	H	2B	3b	HR	RBI	HP	BB	SO	SB	CS
2016			.256	.323	.315	.638	54	168	27	43	5	1	1	29	3	15	30	3	0
2017			.268	.371	.374	.745	62	198	44	53	11	2	2	27	9	26	29	5	0
2018	UNC	C	.272	.371	.379	.750	53	195	45	53	9	0	4	34	6	27	49	4	4

[lovetoaster]

Pitched two-thirds of an inning in 2016. That's all. 

There have been some catchers that switched to power relievers, so that's my guess here.  

[weams]

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, lovetoaster said:

Pitched two-thirds of an inning in 2016. That's all. 

There have been some catchers that switched to power relievers, so that's my guess here.  

Knowing the O's they will probably try him as a starter first.

[bobmc]

Just now, weams said:

Elbow in good position

[MDtransplant757]

He could be a potential steal

[markpolis]

Roberts, playing RF today, just hit a 3 run HR in the first game of the Super Regional against Stetson and the #14 overall pick in this year's draft Logan Gilbert.

[palmer22]

 He also doubled down the left line off Gilbert in the first inning...

[scarey1999]

He is playing RF again today vs Stetson. Made a really nice running catch toward the line bouncing up against the wall in foul territory. 

[Otter]

The announcers mentioned on the telecast yesterday that he had a groin injury earlier in the year.  Maybe that's why his offensive numbers weren't great, and why he slipped to 11th round.  

I'm hoping to see him catch, wonder why he keeps playing RF if he's supposed to be an elite defensive catcher?

[Luke-OH]

1 hour ago, Otter said:

The announcers mentioned on the telecast yesterday that he had a groin injury earlier in the year.  Maybe that's why his offensive numbers weren't great, and why he slipped to 11th round.  

I'm hoping to see him catch, wonder why he keeps playing RF if he's supposed to be an elite defensive catcher?

Yeah, that’s weird.