OF – John Mayberry Jr

Name: John Mayberry, Jr.
Position: OF
Bats: RH
Throws: LH
DOB: 12/21/83 (27 as of April 1, 2011)
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 235 lbs
Drafted: 1st round, 2005 ($1,525,000 bonus)

Acquired: via trade for Greg Golson, 11/20/08

Pre Draft Report:  The son of the former big leaguer of the same name, John Mayberry, Jr. was originally selected in the first round (28^th overall) by the Seattle Mariners in 2002.  He was regarded as one of the Top 30 college recruits in the nation after his junior season and committed to Stanford during the early signing period.  Mayberry was looked at by a number of teams picking in the top 10 that year, but the college commitment and an asking price of $3MM scared off most teams, allowing him to fall to the bottom of the first round.  As late as July 2002, Mayberry appeared to be very close to signing with Seattle, but ultimately opted to honor his commitment to Stanford.

At Stanford, Mayberry was a Freshman All-American in 2003, All-Pac 10 in 2004, and a 2^nd Team Pre-Season All-American in 2005.  Over his three years as a Cardinal, Mayberry played 172 games, hitting .312/.387/.520 with 28 homers and 19 steals.  Heading into the 2005 draft, there was talk that Seattle would again take Mayberry (this time 3^rd overall), while others thought he’d fall to the bottom of the first round.  The disparity in potential draft positions arose from a drop in Mayberry’s power as a junior, which he attributed to trying to shorten his swing and to a steady diet of breaking pitches he saw (as the Stanford lineup was much weaker than during his sophomore season).  Baseball America tagged Mayberry’s upside as “a legitimate middle-of-the-order hitter with superior defensive ability both in the outfield and at first base”.    Interestingly, in its post-draft report, BA noted that Mayberry was much better defensively as a first baseman and that “all his hitting flaws are correctable, but it may take him 1,500 at-bats in the minor leagues”.  Ultimately, the Rangers picked Mayberry with the 19^th overall pick, making Mayberry a rare player who was selected in the first round on two separate occasions.

Mayberry signed quickly and began his career in the Northwest League.

Career Synopsis:  Year-by-year highlights of Mayberry’s career.  Stats are shown as Level/BA/OBP/SLG/BB rate/K rate and are inclusive of his minor league experience only:

• 2005—Short-season/.253/.341/.438/9%/24%–ranked as the #8 prospect in the Northwest League, finished one of the league HR lead, hit .239 vs. RHP.
• 2006—A/.268/.358/.479/11%/22%–ranked 10^th on the Rangers preseason list and 15^th in the Midwest League.  Reports noted his prodigious batting practice power that hadn’t yet translated to game action.  Was an all-star in the Hawaiian Winter League where he led the league in slugging percentage.
• 2007—Hi-A and AA/.235/.311/.474/9%/23%–ranked 5^th on the Rangers preseason list.  Was a midseason California League all-star before being promoted to AA.  Was named to the Rising Stars Game in the Arizona Fall League after the season.
• 2008—AA and AAA/.264/.317/.480/6%/19%–ranked 17^th on BA’s preseason list, where it noted that most of the problems he faced as a hitter, but that he still had 35-homer potential as a corner outfielder.
• 2009—AAA/.256/.332/.456/9%/26%–ranked 24^th on the Phillies preseason list.  Once again, BA pointed to struggles with hard stuff on the inner half of the plate and problems laying off soft stuff breaking away as the major impediment to Mayberry’s progress.
• 2010—AAA/.267/.328/.412/7%/20%–unranked by BA.

In addition, Mayberry has gotten 73 plate appearances with the Phillies over 2009 and 2010, hitting six homers with a 27/3 K/BB ratio.

Scouting Report: Below is an assessment of Mayberry’s raw tools, rated on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale. The grades are my estimation based on what I’ve read and those I’ve talked to. The second number is a future projection, the first number is the current assessment

Hit For Average: 45
Hit For Power: 55
Fielding: 50
Throwing Arm: 50
Speed: 50

Summary: JBerry is a finished product, and the finished result is not quite good enough to play 162 games a year, but enough that he should help as a 4th/5th outfielder in the big leagues. He doesn’t make elite contact and will strike out in the 23-28% range in the majors, but he does hit lefties fairly well, and his power is above average against southpaws, but his problems with righthanded pitching cut off the bulk of his power. He’s limited to an outfielder corner, and his range is a tick below average. He can add a bit of versatility by also playing 1B, but he’s likely not going to see much time there, especially in Philly. He’s not fast, but not a base clogger.

Upside:  Entering the 2011 at age 27, it’s do-or-die time for John Mayberry, Jr.  It’s become pretty clear what he is—a 4^th/5^th/platoon outfielder.  Adding some versatility by dusting off the old first baseman’s mitt only helps him.  Seeing the early scouting reports that touted him as a better defensive 1B than OF hopefully bodes well for success there.  Even so, there are not a ton of plate appearances to be had at 1B on this team in the near future.  Mayberry’s best chance to stick in the majors at this point is to get ABs in RF and LF against LHP.  If he doesn’t step into that role during spring training, he’ll head back to Lehigh Valley for a third season; his next step after that is likely out of the organization.

Videos:

August 2009, Philadelphia

First MLB home run, with an up close of a guy who is NOT his father, despite the announcers’ claims

Updated: 06 March 2011