Baseball America: Looking for Luken
By J.J. Cooper
Q:With Luken Baker being a 1B/DH only guy, what are his draft prospects in 2018?
Chris Johnson
Houston
BA:You are right to wonder just how high Baker can be drafted as a college first baseman. Only 10 college first basemen have been drafted in the first round this century. Four of those were drafted in one year, 2008, and only three have been drafted in the eight drafts since.
And the track record isn’t great for those who are picked. Allan Dykstra, Michael Aubrey, David Cooper and Justin Smoak are cautionary tales. Not one college, first-round first baseman drafted this century has made an all-star game appearance.
It gets even tougher if you are a righthanded-hitting college first baseman. Only two righthanded college first basemen have been drafted in the first round this century—C.J. Cron (18th overall, Angels, 2011) and Matt LaPorta (seventh overall, Brewers 2007). It’s fair to argue that the count is only one as the Brewers drafted LaPorta, a first baseman at Florida, as an outfielder.
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/ask-ba-looking-luken/#EwRbY5W2tMEhD3ac.99