Eric Young Stats & Scouting Report

AB	1725
AVG	.245
OBP	.312
SLG	.332
HR	13

Full name Eric Orlando Young Jr.
Born 05/25/1985 in New Brunswick, NJ
Profile Ht.: 5'10" / Wt.: 195 / Bats: S / Throws: R
School Chandler-Gilbert CC
Debut 08/25/2009
Drafted in the 30th round (887th overall) by the Colorado Rockies in 2003.

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2B Eric Young has a good pedigree. He's the son of Brewers second baseman Eric Young, a 12-year major league veteran. Like his dad, Young has above-average speed. His bat has a long way to go and he has below-average instincts for a middle infielder. Young is a dual-sport athlete and committed to Villanova, where he plans to play both football and baseball.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Like his father Eric Sr., the Rockies' first starting second baseman and now an ESPN analyst, Eric Jr. could have played college football. Instead, he turned down Villanova and attended junior college to focus on baseball. Young has led his league in stolen bases three times in the last four years, topping the minors with 87 in 2006. Young's ability to disrupt a game with his plus-plus speed earned him a spot on Colorado's postseason roster. He embraces the value of small ball, though he does have some strength and can drive the ball if a pitcher makes a mistake, as he showed with a Futures Game home run in St. Louis. He's a tireless worker who has put in the effort to improve his defense. Young lacks soft hands and has fringy arm strength. He's just adequate at second base, where he'll make an occasional spectacular play but also get caught on his heels by a routine grounder. He has been given limited playing time in center field, and he still has a lot to learn there. At the plate, he needs to get more selective and make more contact. Young fits into the Rockies big league picture as a role player for now, serving as a pinch-runner, alternative at second base to Clint Barmes, and a double-switch candidate in the outfield.
The son of original Rockies second baseman and current ESPN analyst Eric Young Sr., the younger Young is strikingly similar to the player his dad was, albeit with more strength. His game is built on speed, as he led the minor leagues in stolen bases in 2006 while playing for Asheville and still turns in big steals totals at higher levels. Even though Young missed a month at Tulsa with a broken hamate bone in his left hand last year, he stole 46 bases for the Drillers, and then exploded offensively in the AFL, where he led the league with a .430 average, .504 on-base percentage, 37 runs and 20 stolen bases. Young has embraced the small-ball approach, but needs to become more consistent with his strike zone to take advantage of the speed tool he possesses. The biggest challenge for Young is defense. He is a stiff-fielding infielder, which led the Rockies to give him a look in center field in the AFL. He adapted quickly to tracking balls, but arm strength became an issue. He's on the 40-man roster and headed to Triple-A for 2009, where he will continue to work on center field as well as second base.
Much like his father Eric, a 43rd-round draft pick who became an all-star for the Rockies, Eric Jr. is driven to be successful. Seeing no value in sitting at home after the 2007 season, he invited himself to instructional league and offered to pay his own expenses so he could spend six weeks continuing to refine his game. Young has game-changing speed, and thanks to tutoring from his father, he uses it aggressively. He led the minors with 87 steals in 2006 and finished second with 73 last season, improving his success rate to 80 percent, up from 74 the year before. He already has made bunting a staple in his offensive game, and realizes that trying to hit for power only will get him into trouble. His plate discipline slipped in 2007, however, and he needs to tighten his strike zone in order to be a true leadoff hitter. Though Young showed better range and footwork at second base, his future could be in center field. He has a questionable arm and stiff hands, which will limit his opportunity to play in the middle infield for a contender. He'll move up to Double-A in 2008.
Young is a cult figure in Colorado and hasn't even advanced above low Class A. His dad was the Rockies original second baseman, and put himself into franchise history when he homered in the first at-bat by a Rockies player in Denver. His son, who signed in 2004 as a draft-and-follow, is opening eyes quicker than dad did, leading the minor leagues in stolen bases last season. He improved his stock with a solid turn in Hawaii Winter Baseball, hitting .287 to rank sixth in the league. He has game-changing speed and aggressiveness; the defense gets uncomfortable and pitchers can press to throw strikes. Young, who is at top speed after his first two explosive steps, is just starting to learn to read pitchers' moves and had the green light to run at will in 2006, leading to 31 caught stealings, also tops in the minors. Young's raw physical ability makes him a prospect, but so do his outstanding work habits. Young has improved at hitting the ball to the opposite field and has focused on the small game. A natural righthanded hitter, he has more power from that side and has improved with his lefty approach. He can struggle defensively at times but works to get better. He has trouble with the backhand play and has a below-average arm, but his commitment to improvement is evident by the fact he had only five second-half errors last season, and they were all throwing errors. With Cory Wimberly ahead of him, Young figures to move one step at a time and join Nelson again as a double-play tandem, this time in high Class A.

Minor League Top Prospects

If Young reaches the majors, his speed will be what gets him there. After leading the minors with 87 steals in 2006, he ranked second this year with 73. He became more efficient swiping bases, succeeding on 80 percent of his attempts, up from 74 percent a year ago. "He's a legitimate big league basestealer," Subero said. "He could go up on speed alone." Young uses his speed to get on base via bunts, though he still needs to improve his strike-zone judgment to be a tablesetter at the top of the order. He upgraded his total package by improving his defense at second base, showing better range and footwork.