On Sunday, Stanford third baseman Tommy Troy was selected 12th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 MLB Draft. Troy was expected to be a first round pick in the draft with the only question being where he would get selected. The fact that he also wore the number 12 as a Cardinal makes it rather fitting that he got selected where he did. As a junior this past season, Troy batted .394 for 17 home runs and 58 RBIs to go along with a .699 slugging percentage and a .478 on base percentage.
Troy’s strength lies in his all-around hitting abilities. He has the ability to hit the long ball as well as hit for contact. He’s an extremely versatile hitter that can give opposing pitchers nightmares. On top of having a fantastic bat, he’s also got really good speed, stealing 17 bases in 20 attempts this past season for a .850 stolen base percentage. His 17 stolen bases led the team by a mile as nobody else had double digit stolen bases. A real improvement from five stolen bases on 13 attempts as a sophomore.
While he’s a fantastic offensive prospect due to his all-around hitting and speed, Troy needs to shore things up defensively. He had seven errors this past season for a .937 fielding percentage. Just as a quick comparison, Adam Crampton, who was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles last season in the 9th round, had a .980 fielding percentage and only five errors in his junior year. So, there’s a lot of room for growth on the defensive side for Troy. Especially if he wants to make the transition from third base back to short stop.
Prior to Stanford, Troy played for Los Gatos High School about 30 minutes outside of Palo Alto. Known for their all-around athletic prowess, Troy becomes just the latest Los Gatos Wildcat to get drafted into the professional ranks. While he’ll be representing the Cardinal at the next level, he’ll also be representing the town of Los Gatos as well.
Overall, Tommy Troy is a fantastic prospect and one who the Diamondbacks should be really excited to add. Guys who are versatile hitters with speed are hard to come by and while his defense needs work, there’s no reason to worry too much about that at this stage. His issues at defense are things that he should be able to easily fix with time in the minor leagues. The stuff he excels at are things that you really can’t teach. It’ll be fun to see what Troy brings to the Diamondbacks organization and whether or not he’ll end up breaking some hearts in San Francisco when he faces off against the Giants.
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