We begin our top 100 countdown with St. Thomas Aquinas outfielder Giovanni Dingcong.
He has put together a stellar career at St. Thomas Aquinas as he was named the East Coast Conference’s Rookie-of-the-Year back in 2015 after hitting 6 home runs, driving in 32 and hitting .364. Dingcong was also named First Team All-Conference that year.
As a sophomore he hit .297 with 6 home runs and 37 RBI. But he really busted out the power numbers in 2017 when he belted 20 home runs, while hitting a solid .302 and driving in 52 runs.
But it’s not just his power potential that has scouts salivating, the 6-foot-2, 230 pound outfielder also stole 25 bases and scored 53 runs. That type of tool set is a rarity these days.
After the 2017 season he was named a first teamer on the ABCA and NCBWA All-Region teams, and was named as a second teamer on the DIICCA All-Region team.
He followed up a nice spring with a great summer in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). He hit .312 with 13 home runs, 27 runs scored, 29 RBI and 5 stolen bases in 125 at-bats.
He was named an All-Star for the South Division team in the NECBL All-Star Game.
.@STACSpartans big cleanup hitter Gio Dingcong starts off where he left off in his MOP East Regional run. pic.twitter.com/OxGZbROwJq
— Wayne Cavadi (@UofDWayne) May 28, 2017
He started to get a lot of recognition towards the end of the 2017 season, and many thought he had earned a draft pick. But that was not the case as Dingcong went undrafted in the 2017 MLB Draft.
That means he’ll return to St. Thomas Aquinas College for his senior year, where scouts want to see him duplicate the power numbers he put up last year.
If he hits 15-plus home runs and steals 20-plus bases again, he should go pretty high in next year’s draft. As I said before, you don’t see too many players with those sets of tools anymore. And if you do, they’re usually winning MVP awards.
Dingcong’s 2017 season has set him up for what could be a really exciting 2018 season. It’s obviously a big year for him, but if he repeats those numbers, he’ll be hearing his name called on draft day.
You can check out the rest of the Top 100 by clicking here.
