Eric Eiland Stats & Scouting Report

AB	1006
AVG	.215
OBP	.314
SLG	.281
HR	2

Full name Eric Eiland
Born 09/16/1988 in Houston, TX
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 220 / Bats: L / Throws: L
School Lamar
Drafted in the 2nd round (88th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007 (signed for $384,750).

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After a brilliant performance at the Area Code Games last summer, outfielder Eric Eiland generated buzz as a possible first-round pick. Billed as the best high school athlete to come out of Houston since Carl Crawford, Eiland didn't live up to that tag while battling left hamstring problems. The injury robbed him of his plus speed and restricted his spring. Eiland was raw at the plate to begin with, and it's likely that a club will draft him and evaluate him in summer ball before deciding whether to sign him. A reported $1 million price tag may mean that he winds up at Texas A&M.

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Eiland naturally gets lumped in with Toronto's other premium high school draftees from 2007--Kevin Ahrens, Justin Jackson and John Tolisano--but he was different in one key regard: He had much less baseball experience because he was a two-sport star at Houston's Lamar High. An all-state safety, Eiland drew significant interest from college football programs and turned down a Texas A&M baseball scholarship to sign with the Blue Jays. His inexperience meant that he stayed behind in extended spring training until mid-May last year. While he hit just .233 and didn't homer in 74 games in low Class A, he showed a solid array of secondary skills. Most notably, Eiland went 23-for-24 in stolen-base attempts, as he has plus-plus speed and advanced instincts on the basepaths. He puts his speed to good use in center field, where he could develop into a Gold Glove defender. Eiland also showed an uncanny knack for the strike zone, drawing 37 walks in just 249 at-bats, which was good for a .334 on-base percentage, 12 points higher than the Midwest League average. Built like an NFL cornerback, Eiland possesses the raw strength to hit for power, but he needs to make more consistent contact and stay through the ball better to maximize his potential with the bat. Regarded as a potential four-tool center fielder as an amateur, Eiland still grades as a below-average thrower, even with a revamped arm action. It's going to take time for him to attain consistency with his swing, but his upside will buy him some patience.
A brilliant performance at the 2006 Area Code Games thrust Eiland into the mix as a possible first-round pick for 2007. An up-and-down senior season ended that talk, though, as he battled left hamstring problems that robbed him of his speed and even forced the natural center fielder to right on occasion. The Blue Jays took Eiland, an all-state safety who drew significant Division I football interest, in the second round and signed him away from a Texas A&M commitment for $384,750. While Eiland is the least-refined early-round pick of general manager J.P. Ricciardi's tenure, he has supreme body control and exciting tools. He has a below-average arm, but the other four tools are present, and one club official likened his body type to that of an NFL cornerback. A 70 runner on the 20-80 scouting scale, Eiland shows the potential to be a plus center fielder. He has a longer way to go with the bat, though he has good bat speed and no glaring flaws in his swing. The Jays will stress adding a more pronounced load and staying through the ball, two techniques to help him add game power. He also needs to figure out how to make consistent contact after whiffing 62 times in his first 51 pro games. If everything clicks, Eiland will become an all-star, though he may move more slowly at first than Toronto's other high school picks from the early rounds of the 2007 draft.