Darren Baker

Baker is best known as the three-year old Giants batboy who ran onto the field during Game 5 of the 2002 World Series and was scooped up by J.T. Snow at home plate to save him from a potential collision. The son of then-Giants and current Astros manager Dusty Baker, Darren has worked to create a baseball legacy independent of his childhood fame. A 27th-round pick of the Nationals out of high school, Baker started four years at Cal, was a Cape Cod League all-star and had his best season this spring. He hit .327 with a .401 on-base percentage and was tied for eighth in the nation with 28 stolen bases through the end of the regular season. Baker is a smart, instinctive player who knows his game and doesn’t try to do too much. He stays in the strike zone, rarely swings and misses and sprays the ball to all fields with a contact-oriented swing. Baker is extraordinarily skinny and has almost no power (he hit only one home run in four years at Cal) but he began driving the ball harder this spring and has a chance to be an average hitter. Baker’s best tool is his speed. He is a borderline plus-plus runner and has the advanced instincts to be an efficient basestealer. He is an above-average defensive second baseman who moves quickly around the keystone, and some teams think his speed and instincts will allow him to play center field. His fringe-average arm precludes him from playing shortstop. Baker’s ability to hit, run and play up the middle have teams interested on the draft’s second day. His high baseball IQ gives him a chance to play above his pure tools.