Ronnie Dawson Stats & Scouting Report

AB	8
AVG	.125
OBP	.222
SLG	.125
HR	0

Full name Ronnie Silas Dawson
Born 05/19/1995 in Grove City, OH
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 217 / Bats: L / Throws: R
School Ohio State
Debut 04/14/2021
Drafted in the 2nd round (61st overall) by the Houston Astros in 2016 (signed for $1,056,800).

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Dawson has the build of a football player with a 6-foot-2, 225-pound body and muscular arms, so it's not a surprise that he was a linebacker/running back who earned second-team all-Ohio honors in high school. But Dawson was an even better outfielder, hitting .578 as a senior so he wisely focused on baseball. He stepped right into the Buckeyes' lineup as a freshman and has been a fixture ever since. Dawson has an intriguing power/speed combination with the chance to hit for average power while also stealing 10-15 bases. Dawson posts average times coming out of the batter' box but he's an above-average runner. Ideally, Dawson would play center field, but he's been limited to left field with the Buckeyes and it's unlikely that he can move to center regularly as a pro. Dawson may not hit enough to be a big league regular in left field, but his combination of power, speed, athleticism and steady improvement gives reason to believe that the best may be yet to come.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Track Record: Dawson was both a football and baseball star in high school. He could have played either in college, but he chose baseball and quickly proved it was a wise choice as he became an immediate contributor and eventually the star of the Ohio State lineup.

Scouting Report: At Ohio State, Dawson was a left fielder. But given a chance to play center field, Dawson has blossomed. He's only an average runner, but his reads and routes are excellent, allowing him to be an above-average center fielder who earns some plus grades. His arm is fringy. Dawson's swing and approach have changed, and scouts are less enamored. His swing has gotten steeper and more pull-oriented. Dawson has above-average power to do damage, but evaluators are concerned that his current swing will limit his hard contact rate and fringe-average hitting ability unless he tones it down.

The Future: Dawson is an interesting collection of tools and skills. As a lefthanded-hitting center fielder with power potential he could develop into an everyday regular, but he still has plenty of offensive refinement ahead. He'll return to Double-A Corpus Christi to start 2019.
When Dawson was in high school, he served as a bat boy for the Columbus Clippers, working with future Indians stars like Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. A football/baseball star at Licking Heights High in Pataskala, Ohio, Dawson went on to be a three-year starter at Ohio State. Dawson's introduction to pro ball in 2016 was a difficult one and he showed similar struggles in the first half of 2017. As of early June, he was struggling to stay above the Mendoza Line, but improved plate discipline and a tweaked swing path helped him take off. Dawson's strong enough that he can drive the ball even when he doesn't completely square pitches up. He hit over .330 in the second half of the season, but it's his power that has a chance to be plus. Like many lefthanded hitters, he's yet to figure out how to consistently stay in against lefties (he hit .210 against them). Dawson is an average runner who is a little better than that underway and he's shown some knack for basestealing, although it's unlikely he'll be a significant threat at the big league level. Defensively he's limited to left field and will return to Buies Creek in 2018 and attempt to build on an excellent second half of the 2017 season.
Dawson wrapped his career at Ohio State with a bang by winning the MVP award at the Big Ten Conference tournament, where he hit .577 with six doubles, a home run and four steals to lead the Buckeyes to victory. He became the highest drafted OSU position player since the Tigers made Ronnie Bourquin a second-round pick in 2006. Dawson's introduction to pro ball at short-season Tri-City did not go smoothly. He projects as a power-speed left fielder with the chance to hit 15-20 home runs and steal 15-20 bags, but for that to happen, he has to be an average hitter, and that remains in question. Dawson starred in football as well as baseball in high school, so the Astros believe he still is catching up with pitchers as he focuses on baseball exclusively. He is an average runner out of the batter's box but an above-average runner underway. Defensively he is limited to left field. Dawson will join a prospect-laden outfield at low Class A Quad Cities in 2017.

Draft Prospects

Dawson has the build of a football player with a 6-foot-2, 225-pound body and muscular arms, so it's not a surprise that he was a linebacker/running back who earned second-team all-Ohio honors in high school. But Dawson was an even better outfielder, hitting .578 as a senior so he wisely focused on baseball. He stepped right into the Buckeyes' lineup as a freshman and has been a fixture ever since. Dawson has an intriguing power/speed combination with the chance to hit for average power while also stealing 10-15 bases. Dawson posts average times coming out of the batter' box but he's an above-average runner. Ideally, Dawson would play center field, but he's been limited to left field with the Buckeyes and it's unlikely that he can move to center regularly as a pro. Dawson may not hit enough to be a big league regular in left field, but his combination of power, speed, athleticism and steady improvement gives reason to believe that the best may be yet to come.