Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | COL | 1B/3B | 14 | 40 |
Grades Update: Nov 2020
| OFP | Role | Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 40 | 55 | 45 | 40 | 55 | 30 |
Nov 2020 Report
Evaluator: Geoff Pontes
Age: 23 yr
Height: 6-1
Weight: 235 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2016 Draft - Round 4
RuleV: Eligible
Physical Description: Average height with strength throughout build. Not an athletic build, lacks projection, even improved conditioning would likely only lead to moderate gains. Bulky upper body, barrel chested, long term first base body.
Hit: Above average bat to ball contact, with line drive focused path. Open setup, up on front toe, hands set by ear flap, trigger starts from high leg lift timing mechanism. Swing is somewhat long but he does get excellent extension, hips fire slightly late, pushing a lot of contact to the middle-oppo side. His contact ability is boosted by his steep vertical bat angle at the point of contact, which keeps his launch angle variance tight. This characteristic is one of the reasons Welker has continued to run high contact rates at every stop (2017: 83.5% 2018: 77.3% 2019: 80.7%). Fringe average approach and pitch selection skills, is an aggressive swinger, but the swing and miss is offset by his strong contact skills. Grade: 55
Power: Fringe average power. Doesn't produce much lift and best contact is line drives stung up the middle. Exit velocities sit around league average, but lacks high max velocities. Slugging numbers are mostly boosted by lots of hard doubles to the gap and down the line. Likely will top out at mid-teen home run power with a fair amount of doubles. Grade: 45
Field: Below average defender at third base due to lack of lateral quickness. Lacks sufficient range for the position, despite clean infield actions and good hands. Has an outside shot at moving to second base long term with a shift happy club, but likely moves to first base full time. Average at the first base position, moves well enough around the bag with clean stretches. Grade: 40
Arm: Above average throwing arm, makes all the needed throws at third base. Accuracy is inconsistent on rushed throws. Mechanically sound, generates the needed carry. Grade: 55
Run: Well below average to poor runner, lacks quickness out of the box and is station to station on the bases. Speed is not part of Welker's game. Grade: 30
Overall: An interesting bat but a player with limitations that drag down the overall profile. Perhaps Welker carves out a niche as a second division regular at first base, but his lack of power typical for the position gives me pause. He hits left handed pitching slightly better than right handed and has shown he can hit for impact in left on right matchups. He lacks the defensive chops to project long term at any position outside first base and is already rule five eligible. His most likely outcome is a part time platoon role with an outside shot to carve out an everyday role at first base, particularly if he's able to add loft and generate harder flyball contact.
OFP: 40
Role: 40 - Below Average Player - Bench/Platoon
Risk: Low
