Baseball America No. 3 Nats prospect: Victor Robles

Being selected as one of the top three prospects in Nationals organization puts a player in elite company.

Outfielder Victor Robles, 18, displayed his talents for the short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays, slashing an impressive .343/.424/.479 in 38 games, drawing praise from scouts, managers, players and baseball publications.

Baseball America believes he is one of the best prospects in the minor leagues.

No. 3 Victor Robles

Baseball America editor-in-chief John Manuel said recently his publication was excited about right-hander Reynaldo Lopez. They now have that kind of fervor for Robles, and for many reasons.

"Last year we were really high on Lopez and he had a good, intriguing year last year, but he fell back a little bit," Manuel said. "This year, we are kind of on the Robles train. For me, it's always a safer bet to really go out on a limb on a hitter like Victor Robles."

The biggest reason is because Robles shines in every category. He can hit, he can hit for power, he can run, he can throw and he can play defense.

"This is a five-tool guy. He has a little bit of everything," Manuel said. "There's pretty outstanding feel for the barrel of the bat, the ability to get the fat part to the ball and square the ball up with hard contact pretty frequently. He's got that ability right now, which is a really exciting building block. Then you throw in athleticism, with some twitchiness, a burst of speed, quick first step and acceleration.

"His throwing arm is nice. The throwing arm is probably the most overrated tool, but it's fun. It's really fun to watch somebody who can really throw."

Another part of the wow factor regarding Robles is how hard he can hit a baseball, especially at such a young age. Manuel said this contact has been proven through Baseball America's computer tracking system for each hitter.

"Victor Robles was one of the most consistent, hard hitters in the Gulf Coast League on their Trackman data," Manuel said. "This was a guy with big-time exit speed velocity. Right now, it's more line drives. The scouts love to see guys that hit the ball hard and have a feel for hitting. Robles has some plate discipline, he's not afraid to take a walk, he's not afraid to hit deep in a count. He's not always jail breaker on the very first fastball he sees. Those kind of guys tend to figure out if I wait for my pitch, if I get my pitch and then you adjust your swing a little bit you wind up hitting for more power."

Manuel said Robles has displayed strength in his wiry 6-foot, 185-lb., frame similar to former Brewers star Ben Oglivie. Manuel also said one scout saw a current major league player find his power swing in the minors and believes Robles has the tools to possibly emulate that track.

"To me, the guy in the game who is the greatest example of that is Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs," Manuel said. "Rizzo's signing scout was a guy named Laz Gutierrez, who was (then) with the Red Sox. Gutierrez told me when he signed Rizzo, he was a spray hitter, comparable to Mark Grace. Rizzo realized when he got to Double-A that if he made an adjustment and kind of sold out for power, with his plate discipline and his ability to square balls up, he was going to be a 30-home run guy if he did this right. And, lo and behold, Rizzo became 30-home run guy. It was a very conscious choice on Rizzo's part. Victor Robles could be that kind of hitter."

Obviously, Robles isn't as big as Rizzo (6-foot-3, 240 lbs.), and he is still very young. Manuel says Robles needs to just be himself right now, and make that next step of playing a full season in the South Atlantic League.

"You just want him to go out and be himself, which is line drives, pole to pole, use the whole field, run like crazy and have the doubles power to the gaps," Manuel said. "He's the kind of guy you can really dream on. I am very, very excited about Victor Robles. He's got a chance to be top half of top 100, a consensus kind of guy in baseball. Let's see what he does in full season ball in 2016. He has a chance to have real significant impact potential there."

Manuel said that a couple of the managers from the New York-Penn League said that Robles "handles fastballs at high velocity, plays with passion and energy infectious to his teammates. Plus-plus arm, starting to show some maturity, ahead of the game, did not seem like a young guy."