Indians Top 100 Prospects: #94 Brock Simpson

94. Brock Simpson - First Baseman/Outfielder
Born: 11/15/1985 Height: 6'3" Weight: 210 Bats: Right Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008	22	Mahoning Vy	A-	60	218	32	64	11	2	2	24	28	24	0	.294	.373	,390	.763
		Career		60	218	32	64	11	2	2	24	28	24	0	.294	.373	.390	.763

History: Simpson was a 46th round pick in the 2007 Draft out of the University of Kansas. He did not play professionally until the 2008 season because he did not sign until August 13, 2007 and was still recovering from a broken hand he had injured during summer ball.

Strengths and Opportunities: Simpson was never much of a hitter in college, hitting just .270 (128-for-474) in his three year 158-game Kansas career. He is very much a long shot and may be more of an organizational player in the coming years, but the Indians definitely saw something with the bat even though the numbers said otherwise. He has good size, and his versatility allows him to play infield or outfield which is a plus.

Simpson was drafted as an outfielder, but upon joining the Indians organization he has been moved to first base. It has been a challenging position change going from the outfield to first base, but Simpson worked hard in Instructional League in 2007 and continued to work hard on the position change throughout 2008. Short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley manager Travis Fryman worked a lot with Simpson during the spring, which really paid off for him as he really had a good handle of first base when short-season play at Mahoning Valley started. He is still very raw at the position and rough around the edges, and in time he will need to make a lot of the smaller adjustments to playing first base to smooth those edges out.

Outlook: Simpson should open the 2009 season at Single-A Lake County, although could be a bubble guy to remain with the organization through this coming spring .

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

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