We move on to number 98 in our top 100 countdown with UC Santa Barbara center fielder Tommy Jew.
As a freshman in 2017 he hit .295 in 52 games (190 at-bats) with 27 runs scored, 4 home runs, 30 RBI and 9 stolen bases. That was after missing the first four games of the season, and primarily batting from the sixth spot in the lineup.
Before last year, he redshirted in 2016 but spent the summer in the West Coast League where he hit .298 with 20 RBI and 7 stolen bases in 33 games (114 at-bats).
After a big freshman season, he played in the highly competitive New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) this past summer.
In 32 games (116 at-bats) he hit .328 with 28 runs, 8 home runs, 21 RBI and 10 stolen bases in the regular season.
He was selected to play in the All-Star Game and went 2-2 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI.
Those numbers were good enough for him to be named the Top Pro Prospect and Rick Ligi League MVP in the NECBL. Jew was also named the third best prospect in the NECBL by Perfect Game.
That’s the type of recognition that will get the scouts attention.
He is draft eligible after the upcoming season, but I’m guessing scouts want to see him repeat the success of this past summer.
The 6-foot-1, 185 pound outfielder showed he belongs among the best in college baseball with his freshman and summer performances.
He has the tools you want to see with a young outfield prospect as he can hit for power and steal some bases.
Jew played both middle infield positions in high school and is still listed as an infielder on the UC Santa Barbara website. However, as far as I can tell he’s only played center field.
He certainly profiles as a center fielder, and I think that his ticket to the big leagues.
We’ll see if Jew can build on this momentum in the spring as a redshirt sophomore for the Gauchos.
