Ben Revere Stats & Scouting Report

AB	3138
AVG	.284
OBP	.319
SLG	.343
HR	7

Full name Ben Daniel Revere
Born 05/03/1988 in Atlanta, GA
Profile Ht.: 5'9" / Wt.: 175 / Bats: L / Throws: R
School Lexington Catholic
Debut 09/07/2010
Drafted in the 1st round (28th overall) by the Minnesota Twins in 2007 (signed for $750,000).

View Draft Report

A few months after Revere starred as a defensive back, receiver and kick returner on Lexington Catholic's 3-A state championship football team as a junior, he won a state championship with the baseball team. His father John played football and baseball at Eastern Kentucky, and his brother J.R. played both sports at Georgia Southern, winning a I-AA national title as the Eagles' quarterback in 2000. A four-year starter in baseball, Revere has a career .487 batting average and a state-record 27 triples. He has struck out 19 times in 433 high school at-bats. The 5-foot-9, 175-pounder opened eyes at last year's East Coast Showcase when he turned in the best 60-yard-dash of the event (6.28 seconds) and showed some pop at the plate. While his speed is his best tool, Revere has a sound approach at the plate and a knack for turning on fastballs and pulling them with authority. He gets good extension in his swing and projects for average power as a pro. He needs to refine his bunting and use the whole field more effectively. Revere's speed could allow him to become a plus defender in center field, but presently he makes mistakes that he can usually outrun. He needs to improve his reads and could take better routes to the ball. He has a below-average arm. Revere is considered signable in the top five rounds, and should easily find a suitor by then.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Revere's $750,000 bonus remains the lowest for a healthy first-rounder since 1997. The Twins took him because he was the top player on their board, not to save money, and he has justified the decision by batting .328 in the minors. He played in the 2010 Futures Game and reached the big leagues for the first time in September after an errant pitch broke his jaw a month earlier. Revere's raw speed and quickness are as good as any Minnesota farmhand, and his speed is the most playable. He outruns his mistakes in center field and runs the bases with abandon, though he still can become a more efficient basestealer. Revere also is the system's best hitter, making contact easily and showing good feel for the barrel. While the Twins once projected him to have average power, they no longer have that conviction and he'll have to fend off power stuff inside. He has improved in terms of bunting and drawing walks, understanding that his focus is getting on base. His well below-average arm is his biggest weakness. The Twins see Revere as a potential top-of-the-order catalyst with Brett Gardner upside--a singles hitter who draws walks and steals bases. Minnesota's outfield is too crowded for him to jump to the majors full-time in 2011, so he'll get regular playing time in Triple-A.
Revere's father John was a 19th-round pick in 1972, and his brother J.R. was a 49thround pick of the Rockies in 2001. Ben was the first Revere to ink a contract, though, signing for $750,000, the second-lowest first-round bonus of the decade. Since signing, he has made the Twins look smart, batting .337 with nearly as many walks (80) as strikeouts (85). Revere is the best pure hitter in the organization and one of the best in the minors. He lashes line drives from pole to pole when he's locked in, and handles lefthanded pitchers well. His hand-eye coordination and plus-plus speed allow him to make contact and beat out even routine grounders for infield hits, and he also has shown gap power. He can be a disruptive force on the basepaths and has plus range in the outfield. Revere's power and arm grade out as below average, and his arm has had to improve to even get to that point. He may have a well below-average arm when all is said and done. His power is strictly to the gaps, and he'll have to keep proving he can handle hard stuff in. His routes and jumps in the outfield are rough, though he has the speed to make up for them. He has had left knee problems, missing two weeks after getting fluid drained last July. His overall game still needs polish, but Revere has a chance to be an impact leadoff hitter. With Denard Span ahead of him and Aaron Hicks behind him, the Twins have other center-field options, making him possible trade bait. He'll advance to Double-A this year.
Revere was far from a consensus first-round talent in 2007, but Minnesota special assistant Joe McIlvane got on him early as a potential first-round bat. The Twins took him 28th overall and signed him for a below-slot $750,000 bonus. He justified their faith by leading the minors in batting (.379) and winning low Class A Midwest League MVP honors in 2008. The Twins drafted Revere because of a strong conviction he would hit, and he's the system's best hitter. He has surprising gap power in his compact, muscular frame and lashes line drives to all fields. He has explosive speed and steals infield hits. While he has room for improvement at small ball, he's a solid bunter and improving basestealer. Revere started 2008 in extended spring training to work on his short game, which still needs polish. He also started on a throwing program that improved his arm strength, though it remains below average. He'll be an asset in center field but is still working on his reads and jumps. While he has fast-track hitting ability, Revere has work to do smoothing out some of his rough edges and the Twins like to preach patience. Fully recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery in August, he'll be part of a prospect-laden high Class A Fort Myers outfield in 2009, along with Joe Benson, Chris Parmelee and Rene Tosoni.
Revere has a lot to live up to. His father John played (and coached) football at Eastern Kentucky and played baseball there, while older brother J.R. was a two-sport athlete at Georgia Southern at the turn of the decade. Revere wasn't a consensus first-rounder, but the Twins believed in him, drafted him 28th overall and signed him for $750,000. That was the lowest guarantee for a first-round hitter since Adam Kennedy got $650,000 from the Cardinals in 1997. Revere was the fastest player in the draft, covering 60 yards in around 6.3 seconds. He swings the bat with authority and conviction, lashing line drives to the gaps. He has all the tools to be an above-average center-field defender. His confidence and work ethic push his makeup into the elite range. If the power doesn't develop, Revere's ceiling will be a bit limited. His arm is just fringe-average, though that's not much of a liability for a center fielder. If Revere hits his ceiling, his overall game could resemble Ichiro's, minus the game-changing arm. He has a chance to move quickly and will start the season in low Class A.

Minor League Top Prospects

If you asked FSL managers, Revere's picture could be slapped onto a roll of Tums. He caused more heartburn than anyone else in the league because of his ability to scratch out base hits, then cause all kind of havoc on the bases. He led the league with 145 hits and stole 45 bases. Revere has tremendous speed, though he's still learning to steal bases after getting caught a league-high 17 times. He uses his quickness to bunt for hits and beat out infield grounders, and he's nearly impossible to strike out. He showed gap power in the past but had only 19 extra-base hits in 121 FSL games. Revere has gap-to-gap range in center field. He sometimes is slow to read the ball off the bat, but he takes good routes and has the speed to outrun mistakes. His arm is below average, though arm strength isn't a huge concern in center field.
Revere went from the surprise of the draft's first round in 2007 to the MWL's most decorated player in 2008. He led the minors in hitting (.379) and also topped the league in on-base percentage (.433) while winning its MVP and prospect-of-the-year awards. Managers rated him the top hitting prospect and the most exciting player in the circuit, as well as the owner of its best strike-zone discipline and best speed. The only negative was a minor knee injury that limited him at times and required arthroscopic surgery in August. Though he's a mere 5-foot-9, 166 pounds, Revere isn't a slap hitter. He has excellent bat control, strokes line drives to all fields and could develop double-digit home run power. "He never swings and misses--ever--and I've seen him hit the ball 400 feet in batting practice," an American League scout said. "He has some strength and squares every ball up." Revere made progress as a basestealer, succeeding on 29 of his final 32 attempts after getting caught 10 times in the first two months. He could further utilize his speed by improving the frequency and quality of his bunting. He also can get better jumps in center field, where he projects as a solid defender, albeit with a below-average arm.
Revere was the surprise choice of the first round of the 2007 draft, going 28th overall to Minnesota despite the consensus among other clubs that he was a third- to fifth-round talent. The Twins signed him for a below-market $750,000, but the reason they took him is that they loved his speed, athleticism and makeup, and they feared he might be gone by the time they chose again with the No. 92 pick. Revere did his best to justify Minnesota's faith in his pro debut, leading the league in runs (46) and triples (10) and finishing second in steals (21). Unlike some first-round picks, he doesn't play with any sense of self-entitlement. "He looked like a walk-on trying to just make the team," another scout from an NL club said. "I mean, he was flying around everywhere every day. Someone needed to tell him that it's a thousand degrees here in the summer. But none of that seemed to matter. He did a little bit of everything." Revere's plus-plus speed stands out the most, but he's more than a one-tool prospect. He taps his elbows together as he loads his swing quickly and unleashes a short, compact swing that generates gap power to all fields. He also showed an advanced approach at the plate, bunting well and delivering as a situational hitter. While his arm is below average for a center fielder, Revere makes up for it with outstanding range and closing speed on balls hit into the gaps.