Josh Horton Stats & Scouting Report

Full name Joshua Ryan Horton
Born 02/19/1986 in Chapel Hill, NC
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 215 / Bats: L / Throws: R
School North Carolina
Drafted in the 2nd round (90th overall) by the Oakland Athletics in 2007 (signed for $380,250).

View Draft Report

Among the second tier of college position players, Horton has the best combination of performance and tools. He was a second-team All-American as a sophomore, when he won the Atlantic Coast Conference batting title with a .395 mark and helped carry North Carolina to the College World Series. He struggled in the Cape Cod League last summer, however, and has an unorthodox approach at the plate. What he does best as a hitter is use his hands to square balls on the barrel and use the whole field. He has excellent strike-zone awareness and lets balls travel deep in the hitting zone. He's an average runner and an adequate defender with a chance to stay at shortstop, though his range will never be a plus. He has a solid-average arm, though he struggles with accuracy occasionally. Scouts who like him compare him to Adam Kennedy as an offensive-minded doubles machine who can stay in the middle of the field. Other teams have little interest in drafting him in the top five rounds.

Top Rankings

Horton has a wide base of tools, but his reputation for being a winner pushed him into the second round of the draft in 2007 and the A's signed him for $380,250. His track record speaks for itself. Horton played on back-to-back College World Series teams, was a second-team All-American as a sophomore and won the Atlantic Coast Conference batting title with a .395 mark. Horton has an unorthodox approach but has a knack for hitting and benefits greatly from his ability to control the strike zone. There isn't much power, but Horton uses his quick hands to square up balls on the barrel and uses the whole field consistently. He struggled in the Cape Cod League in 2006 but showed the ability to make adjustments with wood bats in his pro debut. He's an average runner and has a chance to stay at shortstop, though his range will never be anything more than average. Horton has solid-average arm strength, but he doesn't get on top of the ball at times, throwing off his accuracy. He had some soreness in his left hand that limited him during instructional league but will likely move straight to high Class A to begin 2008.