MLB Draft: 2016 Top High School Middle Infielders

Luis Curbelo is from Cocoa High School in Florida, but he is originally from Puerto Rico, which is the place where top middle infielder Delvin Perez calls home. Curbello stands at 6’3” and 185 pounds, which allows him to grow into his body as he gets older, as he does not turn 19 until November 10. But as he fills out, he will likely make the move over to third.

Curbelo is above average in terms of speed, but he doesn’t flash elite or even great speed. His arm plays at third, so a move over there is more likely than to second, as his size should also factor into why third is more likely than second.

At the plate, Curbelo starts wide and open, shifts his weight to his back leg with a knee to knee stride, and then shifts forward bringing his hands through the zone. Perfect Game, through their use of ZEPP, has his bat speed impact in the 98.83 percentile, despite his 30.025 mph hand speed (max) ranking in the 45.92 percentile and his 0.134 second time to impact ranking in the 49.66 percentile.

His hands aren’t that quick, they’re average among high schoolers in the 2016 graduation class according to those ZEPP numbers. But as he grows and fills in, he could become a solid and consistent hitter with some doubles power.

Curbelo is a target for round three at pick 105, even as an under slot value at 68, the talent that would still be around would outweigh any savings that can be used to other picks. He will also likely have slide over to third due to his size and because he’s not the smoothest of shortstops. He has talent, he just needs to be more consistent, and he looks like a Chase Headley type of player.

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