2027 MLB Draft: College Top Prospects Watchlist

Bates is a smooth operator on the dirt with loose hands, athletic actions and the ability to make every play in all directions. He projects a shortstop moving forward thanks to his fluidity, internal clock, and rhythm that can be tough to find.

Offensively, it’s a smooth, left-handed swing with a gap-to-gap approach, some loft and patience, taking the barrel to the zone and going with pitches instead of forcing to his pull-side. That said, when Bates cheats and/or ambushes in batting practice he’s shown solid average raw power and he’ll get pitchers over the right-field fence. Scouts want to see the body get bigger and stronger as the draft approaches to help ease questions surrounding the direction of the frame. They want to see what the player looks like a bit closer to final physical form. There’s projection in the bat as Bates has the lean, wiry body evaluators look for.

Bates was an extremely popular name in the 2024 Draft but went unselected as most Stanford commits do. He’ll be a premium name to watch in college baseball over the next three years.