AB 1430
AVG .243
OBP .314
SLG .351
HR 17
  • Full name Robert Shields
  • Born 12/07/1987 in Naperville, IL
  • Profile Ht.: 6'1" / Wt.: 195 / Bats: R / Throws: R
  • School Florida Southern
  • Drafted in the 3rd round (103rd overall) by the New York Mets in 2009 (signed for $315,000).
    View Draft Report
    Shields wasn't highly recruited despite a strong senior season in high school, when he hit 18 homers for Pasco High. He wound up at Division II Florida Southern and was having a solid college career, hitting .348 as a sophomore with nine home runs. Still, he was not a well-known commodity before he went to the Cape Cod League. In a short stint with Cotuit, he burst on the scene as a potential first-round pick. Ten games into his stint there, he was hitting .429 with two home runs, but a hurt his right wrist sliding head-first into third base. He wound up staying for five more games before shutting down his summer with what proved to be a hairline fracture and some ligament damage. Shields has had plenty of scrutiny this season as the top talent in the competitive Sunshine State Conference and has had some draftitis, as he had just five homers after hitting 17 in his first two seasons. Shields showed early-round tools with strength in his hands, average speed and middle-infield actions, but he's more likely an offensive second baseman or perhaps a third baseman in the David Bell mode rather than a true shortstop. His modest spring performance likely drops him into the third-round range, but he still has a shot to challenge the second-round record set by Moccasins alumni Lance Niekro (1999) and Brett Tomko (1995).

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