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Daily Prospect Profile: Drew Maggi

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Drew Maggi has shown some impressive speed in his short pro career.

I’ve seen Drew Maggi a lot since he’s been drafted, whether that was in State College in 2010 after he signed, in Spring Training before the 2011 season, and in West Virginia this year.  Throughout all of the times I’ve seen him, I’ve been impressed the most by his athleticism.  The 6′ 0″, 185 pound Maggi is very fast.  That shows up in the numbers with his 29 stolen bases this year, but all you need to do is watch him on the field, especially when he’s legging out a triple with ease.

Maggi was drafted as a sophomore out of college, and signed for $468 K as a 15th round pick.  He was drafted as a shortstop out of Arizona State, although he was more of an athlete than a true shortstop.  That’s not saying he can’t play the position, as his speed gives him good range.  It’s just saying that, like many other areas of his game, Maggi is raw defensively fielding the position.

So far this season, Maggi has hit for a .255/.351/.338 line in 411 at-bats.  He’s shown excellent plate patience, with an 11.2% walk rate and a 15.3% strikeout rate.  He’s also shown some great hitting potential, with 27 multi-hit games, including five in the month of August so far.  The problem is that his hitting hasn’t been consistent.  For example, he started off the month of August by going 14-for-34.  He then went on an 0-for-15 slump, before going 3-for-5 last night.  That’s been the story of his season.

Maggi is definitely a prospect, and a shortstop prospect in a system thin on shortstop options.  That said, he’s raw.  He profiles as a Chase d’Arnaud type, although he wasn’t as polished as d’Arnaud was out of college.  His best asset is his speed, which gives him good range on defense, and makes him a weapon on the bases.  Maggi got off to a slow start on the bases this year, with a 5-for-14 stolen base rate through mid-May.  Since that time he’s gone 24-for-31 on the bases.  It’s improvements like that which will take Maggi from being a raw athlete to a true shortstop prospect.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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