Dominic Keegan Stats & Scouting Report

AB	375
AVG	.285
OBP	.371
SLG	.435
HR	9

Full name Dominic James Keegan
Born 08/01/2000 in Methuen, MA
Profile Ht.: 6'0" / Wt.: 210 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Vanderbilt
Drafted in the 4th round (134th overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2022 (signed for $397,500).

View Draft Report

A 19th-round pick of the Yankees last year, Keegan opted to return to Vanderbilt for his senior season. That did give him a chance to catch more, something he’d done rarely since a blood clot before his sophomore season required surgery to remove a rib. On a Vanderbilt team where a lot of hitters struggled this year, Keegan was a consistent force as a cleanup hitter. He hit .371/.458/.646 and had a 1.035 OPS for his career. He has plus power potential to go with an average bat. He’s gotten better and better at making consistent hard contact. Keegan’s bat is far ahead of his glove. He’s a fringy defender at first base, where he’s primarily played at Vandy, and below-average at catcher. He did play 24 games in 2022 as Vanderbilt’s backup catcher, but his blocking and throwing are both below-average at best. Keegan struggles to smother balls in the dirt. Too often they carom well away from the plate. His transfer is reasonably quick, but his throws often bounce, leaving him with 2.0-2.1-second pop times. As a first baseman/backup catcher/DH with a track record of hitting in the SEC, Keegan looks to be a quality senior sign.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

BA Grade: 50/High

Track Record: For four years at Vanderbilt, all Keegan did was hit. He toyed with catching in college but generally found himself playing first base whenever the Commodores’ best pitchers were on the mound. The Rays were willing to give Keegan a chance to catch every day after drafting him in the fourth round in 2022, and while he has moved slowly, he has rewarded that faith by steadily improving defensively while showing a polished bat.

Scouting Report: Keegan has worked hard to improve his catching, and it’s paid off. He’s an above-average receiver and has become a fringe-average blocker on balls in the dirt. He works well with pitchers. His big hurdle behind the plate is his throwing. His arm is average, but he takes a long time to make the exchange and get rid of the ball, leading to plenty of below-average pop times on throws to second base. He threw out 30% of basestealers during the regular season at Low-A Charleston and High-A Bowling Green, but he gave up 35 stolen bases in 40 attempts in 13 games in the Arizona Fall League. Offensively, Keegan has been a consistent performer, but considering his four years of experience at Vanderbilt, he’s been playing at a level or two below his hitting ability while his glove tries to catch up. He’s rarely fooled and draws walks with a contact-heavy approach, though there is plus raw power that could lead to more power down the road.

The Future: Catcher remains a question mark for the Rays both in the short and long terms, though that’s been true for much of the 21st century. Keegan is the next Rays’ minor leaguer who could get a shot. He has shown the desire to put in the work to improve defensively, and his bat is above-average for a catcher, but he still has plenty of work to do to get to St. Petersburg.

Scouting Grades Hit: 50 | Power: 45 | Run: 40 | Field: 45 | Arm: 40

Draft Prospects

School: Vanderbilt Committed/Drafted: Yankees ’21 (19)
Age At Draft: 22
A 19th-round pick of the Yankees last year, Keegan opted to return to Vanderbilt for his senior season. That did give him a chance to catch more, something he’d done rarely since a blood clot before his sophomore season required surgery to remove a rib. On a Vanderbilt team where a lot of hitters struggled this year, Keegan was a consistent force as a cleanup hitter. He hit .371/.458/.646 and had a 1.035 OPS for his career. He has plus power potential to go with an average bat. He’s gotten better and better at making consistent hard contact. Keegan’s bat is far ahead of his glove. He’s a fringy defender at first base, where he’s primarily played at Vandy, and below-average at catcher. He did play 24 games in 2022 as Vanderbilt’s backup catcher, but his blocking and throwing are both below-average at best. Keegan struggles to smother balls in the dirt. Too often they carom well away from the plate. His transfer is reasonably quick, but his throws often bounce, leaving him with 2.0-2.1-second pop times. As a first baseman/backup catcher/DH with a track record of hitting in the SEC, Keegan looks to be a quality senior sign.
Keegan had a loud summer in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League and was one of the better performing hitters in the country early this spring. Through 53 games, Keegan hit .361/.441/.673 with 14 home runs to power the middle of Vanderbilt’s lineup. Listed at 6 feet, 210 pounds, Keegan is a bit undersized as a first baseman and he’s just fringy defensively at the position, but he has caught in the past—although this spring CJ Rodriguez has been the team’s primary catcher. Scouts are worried about his defensive profile at the next level because if he can’t catch he’s likely limited to first base as a below-average runner with a fringy arm, but they haven’t been able to see him catch much at all recently. He’s shown all-fields power this spring, though it has come with some swing-and-miss tendencies (27 K%), and he has struggled to catch up to 93-plus mph fastball velocity. Because of that there are scouts who think he’ll be a better college hitter than pro hitter, but in a class light on college bats, Keegan’s performance could be loud enough to go at some point in the fourth-to-10th-round range—especially if a team thinks he has a chance to catch.