ROBERT SPAIN
5/2/85; '07 19th; Oklahoma City Univ.
L/R; 6-4, 205
| Level |
BA |
OBP |
SA |
AB |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
K |
SB |
CS |
| 2007 NCAA |
.414 |
.470 |
.795 |
220 |
22 |
1 |
20 |
23 |
16 |
5 |
1 |
| 2007
A- |
.271 |
.323 |
.345 |
177 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
12 |
30 |
0 |
3 |
| 2008 A |
.312 |
.346 |
.460 |
250 |
22 |
0 |
5 |
15 |
40 |
0 |
1 |
| 2009
A |
.275 |
.336 |
.361 |
335 |
15 |
1 |
4 |
28 |
59 |
0 |
2 |
Spain hit .321 with two HRs as a freshman and .390 with eight HRs as a sophomore. He then had a big power surge as a junior. Like 18th round pick Marcus Davis, Spain's gaudy numbers didn't establish him as a top prospect. When big numbers fail to capture a lot of attention from scouts there's usually a reason. In this case, Oklahoma City as a team slugged .672 while their opponents slugged only .342, so it's likely they were playing against weak competition. Spain struggled early in his first season, batting only .205 in July, but came on to hit .343 in August. His plate discipline wasn't good and he didn't show much power, but college hitters will often improve after their draft year as they adjust to wood bats. Spain batted .302 against RHPs but didn't hit LHPs at all, posting just a .404 OPS against them, albeit in just 38 ABs. He had some pretty serious problems with errors, committing 17 in just 44 games, leading to an unsightly fielding percentage of .863. Spain opened 2008 as the regular 3B for Hickory. He started slowly but got hot in May, hitting .371. The error problems continued to plague him, as 16 in 62 games produced a poor .901 fielding percentage. Unfortunately, a broken wrist in late June knocked him out for the season.
Spain spent 2009 with West Virginia, playing 3B regularly during the periods when Jeremy Farrell was hurt and also serving as DH occasionally. His hitting slipped significantly, despite the fact that he hit LHPs fairly well. His fielding was almost exactly the same as in 2008: 17 errors in 63 games and a .904 percentage. He may make the transition to organizational player in 2010, although somebody will have to play third at Lynchburg and Farrell isn't able to stay in the lineup with any consistency.
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