The Pittsburgh Pirates have drafted Colorado Mesa University outfielder Bligh Madris in the ninth round of the 2017 MLB draft. Madris wasn’t in the Baseball America top 500, and there wasn’t a lot of information readily available on him, although Jonathan Mayo said that he heard Madris had a “good feel to hit.”
Madris showed that this past year, hitting for a .422/.513/.757 line with 17 home runs in 218 at-bats. He also stole 14 bases in 18 attempts. That comes in a small division, so the stats should be taken with that disclaimer, but it’s good to see when paired with the brief scouting report.
While Madris didn’t rate as a top 500 prospect, Baseball America did have him as the 12th best prospect in a three star class in Colorado. They noted that he was one of the most dominant hitters in Division II baseball, with a power-oriented swing, and a sound understanding of the strike zone. They called him a value pick in the later rounds if the offense translates to the next level.
Madris is 6′ 2″, 200 pounds, and a redshirt sophomore. He missed most of the 2016 season with a hand injury, and returned well from that this year. The injury came when he squared to bunt, getting hit with a pitch in the left finger. He had surgery to fix a broken metacarpal head in his finger, and missed the rest of the season. He’s athletic, playing football in high school, along with baseball. He will be an interesting bat to follow to see if the results in pro ball can get anywhere close to the numbers he put up during the 2017 season at CMU.
