SHELBY FORD

12/15/84; '06 3rd; Oklahoma State Univ.
S/R; 6-3, 190

Level
BA
OBP
SA
AB
2B
3B
HR
BB
K
SB
CS
2004 NCAA
.301
.410
.570
249
13
3
16
28
30
6
2
2005 NCAA
.370
.479
.578
211
17
3
7
28
35
12
3
2006 NCAA
.319
.406
.573
213
12
3
12
21
34
7
5
2006 A
.265
.329
.444
223
16
3
6
14
51
4
3
2006 A-
.400
.483
.520
25
3
0
0
3
3
1
0
2007 A+
.281
.360
.433
360
26
7
5
34
68
14
0
2008 AA
.285
.338
.458
319
23
10
4
20
49
19
5

Ford is an offense-oriented infielder.  He played at Texas Christian before transferring for 2006.  Although his statistics look good, he was only the fourth best hitter on his team in his senior year.  Ford continued a pattern in 2005-07 of the Pirates overdrafting players in the early rounds.  Baseball America did not have him listed in the top 200 draft prospects, and Allan Simpson of BA said there were several college infielders still available that he thought should have been picked ahead of Ford.  Ford's 2006 stats may be a little misleading, though, because he got off to a miserable start by trying too hard to hit HRs, then came around when he concentrated more on hitting line drives.

Ford signed shortly after the draft and got off to a hot start at Williamsport, earning a quick promotion to Hickory.  He did only OK there, showing some power but weak plate discipline.  He tailed off in August, so maybe he was tired.  He hit much better against LHPs (.914 OPS) than RHPs (.721), although the former is a very small sample size.  In 2007, he started off slowly, posting only a .687 OPS in the season's first half.  He got hot in late June, however, and had an OPS of 1.001 after the midpoint.  Unfortunately, he went on the DL with back problems in late July and didn't return.  The problem was eventually diagnosed as a muscle strain, which is better than some other types of back problems.  Defensively, Ford is very steady although his range is not great.  He had only five errors in 2007 and was voted the top defensive 2B in the Carolina League.  (So was Rob Mackowiak—you have to keep in mind that there are only eight teams in the league and 2B is a low priority position in the minors, as most major league secondbasemen move there from SS.)

Ford figured to be the regular 2B at Altoona in 2008, but missed most of the first two months with hip flexors.  He also missed about half of July with another injury.  In his two healthy months, he posted an OPS of .853 (June) and .891 (August).  It doesn't look like he'll have more than very good gap power and he'll need to draw more walks than he did in 2008 to have a decent OBP.  He hasn't shown any consistent platoon split over the years.  His numbers for 2008 overall were solid and not dominant, but you have to wonder what he'd do if he stayed healthy a whole year.  He's a tall, lean guy who doesn't looks especially fast, but he hits a lot of triples and is obviously a good base stealer.  If he's healthy he should open as the regular 2B for Indianapolis in 2009.

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