The 2021 MLB Draft was bursting at the seams with guys whose strikeout rates had big league scouts keeled over and nauseated. Too many “premier” bats in last year’s class were plagued with extreme swing-and-miss concerns. Batted-ball data doesn’t matter if the ball isn’t, well, batted. The 2022 class appears much healthier in that respect. Leading the charge may be Alabama shortstop Jim Jarvis, a sight for sore eyes and a throwback to yesteryear.
Jarvis is not an imposing presence on the field. Standing just 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, he’s not the type of player who’s going to step into the batters box and strike fear into the opposition. But what he lacks in thump, he more than makes up for with pestering consistence and unrelenting grit.
Indeed, Jarvis can be a menace. In 214 plate appearances last season, he struck out just 16 times. His 7.4 percent K-rate ranked among the best in the SEC. But folks aren’t talking about Jarvis like maybe he deserves. After all, his .237 average with 0 homers certainly isn’t a line that jumps off the page. But Jarvis ran a .250 BABIP in 2021, an outlandishly unlucky rate, especially in college baseball.
Jarvis has turned his game up to a new level this summer. After struggling to make an impact at the plate with a composite bat for the Crimson Tide, Jarvis took his talent to the Cape Cod League. Conventional wisdom would suggest switching to a wood bat would further suffocate Jarvis’ power. That has not been the case. Over 151 plate appearances for Wareham Gateman, Jarvis is running a .287 average, slugging .453 with 4 homers. He’s added 8 stolen bases for good measure. He’s added loft, focused more on extending pull-side and seems to be taking a more authoritative approach at the plate. Jarvis is turning a corner.
What makes Jarvis so interesting is his approach at the plate. Up until the point he gets to two strikes, Jarvis will give you everything he’s got. He uses all fields and there’s definitely bat speed there. Most of his power is to his pull-side, but he can get into one deep into the opposite-field gap. When it comes time to battle however, Jarvis chokes up a full four inches on the bat. His swing becomes extraordinarily short and compact. While he sacrifices any over-the-fence juice he may have, it’s what has allowed the Alabama shortstop to avoid striking out in his college career. Jarvis essentially becomes Funko Pop Joey Votto.
Jarvis is at a bit of a crossroads heading into the 2022 season. On one hand, the power he’s shown on the Cape has caught scouts’ attention and he’s certainly raised his draft profile. But strikeouts are up a bit too, something to be expected when a player is placing an emphasis on impacting the baseball. If Jarvis can showcase this power in the SEC in 2022 whilst keeping the strikeouts down, he’s got the upside of a Top 100 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
In terms of the full scouting report, evaluators believe Jarvis is at least a plus runner with an above average arm. He’s “super rangy” with good hands and the ability to stick at shortstop as an average glove. He’s the type of player that creates chaos for the opposition, out of the box hot with the chance to hit a ton of hustle singles and stretch doubles. He’s shown a knack for stealing bases too, a part of his game the Alabama coaching staff is yet to fully employ.
At the end of the day, Jarvis’ trajectory resembles that of 2021 2nd round pick Ryan Bliss, another SEC infielder, Bliss hailing from Auburn. Bliss was also a spark-plug hitter with some burgeoning, sneaky pop and some dynamic ability elsewhere on the diamond. A fellow diminutive infielder, Bliss ran a 12.6 percent K-rate in 2021 for the Tigers.
Should Jarvis find more luck on balls in play and hit for the power he’s shown capable of, he’s the type of big conference performer with an advanced approach we could hear called early on day two next July.
