Nick Plummer Stats & Scouting Report

AB	29
AVG	.138
OBP	.194
SLG	.379
HR	2

Full name Nicholas Raymond Plummer
Born 07/31/1996 in Lathrup Village, MI
Profile Ht.: 5'10" / Wt.: 200 / Bats: L / Throws: L
School Brother Rice
Debut 04/15/2022
Drafted in the 1st round (23rd overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2015 (signed for $2,124,400).

View Draft Report

Over the span of one week last summer Plummer went from a national unknown to consideration as one of the top prospects in the draft class. Plummer made a very loud national debut at the East Coast Pro event and carried that success through the rest of the showcase circuit. A bout with mono caused him to lose some weight but he showed no ill effects this spring. The Kentucky recruit is expected to be the first first-round pick from Michigan since catcher David Parrish was picked in 2000. Perhaps more notably, he'll become only the third Michigan high school player taken in the top five rounds this century. Plummer has one of the most advanced approaches among this year's high school hitters with a relatively simple setup, bat speed and some leverage that gives him plus pull power. Generally his swing is geared more to driving the ball up the middle with a compact stroke that gives him good plate coverage. He does a good job of recognizing breaking balls already. At 5-foot-11, he's compactly but solidly built. Plummer projects as a potentially plus hitter with average to plus power. An average runner, few evaluators see him sticking in center field for long as a pro. His below-average arm leads most to believe he'll end up in left field.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Track Record: When the Cardinals drafted Plummer 23rd overall in 2015, he was the first Michigan high schooler to go in the first round since 1997 and the first position prep since Derek Jeter in 1992. Plummer’s time with St. Louis was marked with disappointment. A wrist injury wiped out what would have been his full-season debut in 2016, and he had not advanced past Class A before the pandemic wiped out 2020.

Scouting Report: Plummer began to realize his upside potential in 2021 by hitting .280/.415/.479 with 15 home runs at Double-A and Triple-A. His on-base percentage ranked inside the top 20 in the minor leagues, but it wasn’t enough for the Cardinals to retain him, so he headed for minor league free agency at age 25. The Mets signed him to a one-year major league deal. Plummer is a 5-foot-10, lefthanded hitter with enticing bat speed and athletic ability. Plummer spread out his batting stance in 2021 after previously using a leg kick, and the results were palpable. He hit the ball where it was pitched, took his walks and set personal bests for offensive production across the board. His best position is left field, but he is capable at all three spots and has a below-average arm. He runs well but isn’t a big basestealing threat.

The Future: While Plummer’s tools may be short to profile for everyday play, he has the components to succeed as an extra outfielder. He and Khalil Lee will vie for MLB outfield at-bats in 2022.
Before the teen's first full professional year could begin, it was over. In June, Plummer had a second surgery on his hand to address an injury that had twice kept him from playing. During spring he had the hamate bone removed, and later a tear within the hand had to be repaired. Those surgeries meant he would spend all of 2016 rehabbing and building strength so that he could start back at the same spot for 2017. The Cardinals hope the injury is just a delay, not a sidetrack. Plummer became the first Michigan prep player drafted in the first round since 1997 (Ryan Anderson) and only the second since Derek Jeter (1992). He signed for a $2,124,000 bonus, one of the top six in club history, and the Cardinals realized he would also require an investment of time. Plummer had 39 walks in his pro debut, carrying over a studious, patient reputation he earned in a high school league that started hitters with a 1-1 count. He's got a short swing and solid pitch recognition that does well against even the velocity monsters he faced in Rookie ball. Set for a short-season club, he's got the build and bat to fit at center and will get a run there; it's just getting a slower start.
Michigan's prep ranks have produced the likes of Hall of Famer John Smoltz and future Cooperstown immortal Derek Jeter, but Plummer in 2015 became the first Michigan prep picked in the first round since Ryan Anderson (1997) and the first position player since Jeter ('92). He did so despite a bout of mononucleosis in the spring that helped push him to St. Louis at No. 23, but he signed for $2,124,400, the fifth-largest draft bonus in franchise history. Despite his background, Plummer stands out as a polished hitter with an advanced approach. For example, he led the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League with 39 walks (and 43 runs scored) in his debut. That approach stood out in the summer of 2014 on the showcase circuit, where his above-average bat speed, short swing and pitch recognition helped him dominate some of the best arms in the 2015 draft class. Plummer will have to keep adjusting to advanced velocity and breaking balls, but he has the skills to hit for both average and power. He must work hard to maintain his body and slightly above-average speed to have a chance to stick in center field, and his below-average arm means his fallback position is left field. The first high school hitter St. Louis has drafted in the first round since Pete Kozma in 2007, Plummer may hit his way to an assignment at low Class A Peoria in 2016.

Draft Prospects

Over the span of one week last summer Plummer went from a national unknown to consideration as one of the top prospects in the draft class. Plummer made a very loud national debut at the East Coast Pro event and carried that success through the rest of the showcase circuit. A bout with mono caused him to lose some weight but he showed no ill effects this spring. The Kentucky recruit is expected to be the first first-round pick from Michigan since catcher David Parrish was picked in 2000. Perhaps more notably, he'll become only the third Michigan high school player taken in the top five rounds this century. Plummer has one of the most advanced approaches among this year's high school hitters with a relatively simple setup, bat speed and some leverage that gives him plus pull power. Generally his swing is geared more to driving the ball up the middle with a compact stroke that gives him good plate coverage. He does a good job of recognizing breaking balls already. At 5-foot-11, he's compactly but solidly built. Plummer projects as a potentially plus hitter with average to plus power. An average runner, few evaluators see him sticking in center field for long as a pro. His below-average arm leads most to believe he'll end up in left field.

Minor League Top Prospects

Plummer played high school baseball in Michigan, where hitters get three balls and two strikes. The Cardinals drafted him No. 23 overall and signed him for $2,124,400. Plummer, who is old for his draft class and turned 19 in July, had an unusual pro debut in the GCL, with 42 percent of his plate appearances ending in either a walk or a strikeout. Plummer shows excellent plate discipline. He recognizes breaking balls and doesn't expand the strike zone, with a patient approach that led to a 17 percent walk rate. Yet Plummer also tended to get beat on pitches in the zone. He has a quick swing, but it's an uppercut that's not in the hitting zone that long, so he struck out 25 percent of the time. Plummer isn't that big, but he's thick and strong, and he drvies the ball with good exit speed and uses the whole field. Plummer doesn't have a prototype center fielder's build, but he has slightly above-average speed and did well at the position in the GCL. Scouts who saw him as an amateur were more split on whether he would stay in center or move to a corner. If he does move, left field is more likely because of his below-average arm.

Scouting Reports

BA Grade: 45/High

Track Record: When the Cardinals drafted Plummer 23rd overall in 2015, he was the first Michigan high schooler to go in the first round since 1997 and the first position prep since Derek Jeter in 1992. Plummer&#39s time with St. Louis was marked with disappointment. A wrist injury wiped out what would have been his full-season debut in 2016, and he had not advanced past Class A before the pandemic wiped out 2020.

Scouting Report: Plummer began to realize his upside potential in 2021 by hitting .280/.415/.479 with 15 home runs at Double-A and Triple-A. His on-base percentage ranked inside the top 20 in the minor leagues, but it wasn&#39t enough for the Cardinals to retain him, so he headed for minor league free agency at age 25. The Mets signed him to a one-year major league deal. Plummer is a 5-foot-10, lefthanded hitter with enticing bat speed and athletic ability. Plummer spread out his batting stance in 2021 after previously using a leg kick, and the results were palpable. He hit the ball where it was pitched, took his walks and set personal bests for offensive production across the board. His best position is left field, but he is capable at all three spots and has a below-average arm. He runs well but isn&#39t a big basestealing threat.

The Future: While Plummer&#39s tools may be short to profile for everyday play, he has the components to succeed as an extra outfielder. He and Khalil Lee will vie for MLB outfield at-bats in 2022.
Track Record: When the Cardinals drafted Plummer 23rd overall in 2015, he was the first Michigan high schooler to go in the first round since 1997 and the first position prep since Derek Jeter in 1992. Plummer’s time with St. Louis was marked with disappointment. A wrist injury wiped out what would have been his full-season debut in 2016, and he had not advanced past Class A before the pandemic wiped out 2020.

Scouting Report: Plummer began to realize his upside potential in 2021 by hitting .280/.415/.479 with 15 home runs at Double-A and Triple-A. His on-base percentage ranked inside the top 20 in the minor leagues, but it wasn’t enough for the Cardinals to retain him, so he headed for minor league free agency at age 25. The Mets signed him to a one-year major league deal. Plummer is a 5-foot-10, lefthanded hitter with enticing bat speed and athletic ability. Plummer spread out his batting stance in 2021 after previously using a leg kick, and the results were palpable. He hit the ball where it was pitched, took his walks and set personal bests for offensive production across the board. His best position is left field, but he is capable at all three spots and has a below-average arm. He runs well but isn’t a big basestealing threat.

The Future: While Plummer’s tools may be short to profile for everyday play, he has the components to succeed as an extra outfielder. He and Khalil Lee will vie for MLB outfield at-bats in 2022.