High school prospect catches Phils' eye

It was the bat flip heard round the world (wide web).

Sports Illustrated, USA Today, ESPN, and MLB linked last month to the video of Tyler Stephenson tossing his bat into the air, punctuating his home run in a high school baseball game.

The 18-year-old from Georgia is the top-rated catcher in the Major League Baseball draft that will begin Monday. Stephenson is projected by several mock drafts to go to the Phillies with the 10th overall pick. And he is more than just a bat flip.

"I didn't know it would be this big," Stephenson said this past week in a phone interview. "I am the most lay-low kind of kid. A lot of people were surprised about it. Everyone was saying 'Where did this come from.?' "

The flip came in the state quarterfinals against rival Milton High, which had eliminated Stephenson's Kennesaw Mountain last season in the state playoffs. Stephenson said he had been intentionally walked eight times in the three-game series. Milton's fans were getting to him. The righthanded hitter lifted the homer to left field and casually tossed the bat into the air as he moved to first. Then it went viral.

"I just got caught up in the emotions and everything. It just kind of happened," Stephenson said. "For a good solid week, I had kids tagging me in news articles and videos and all this stuff. I didn't know something could be like this."

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was at the game, according to a report by FanGraphs.com. The team invited Stephenson to Philadelphia this weekend for a workout at Citizens Bank Park. He has had similar workouts with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, and Atlanta Braves.

The power-hitting catcher said he homered in each of those major-league parks and hoped he could do the same for the Phillies.

It would be a surprise if the Diamondbacks used the first overall pick on Stephenson. The Rangers pick fourth and the Braves 14th. Stephenson's high school is roughly 30 miles north of Atlanta. He grew up a Braves fan. Taking batting practice at Turner Field was amazing, he said.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder is big for a catcher. His size is similar to that of Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, who is 6-5 and 230 pounds. Wieters attended Georgia Tech, the same school that Stephenson is committed to. Stephenson said he models his game after that of Wieters, who was drafted fifth overall in 2007.

"We're both big catchers. We're physical, and we can swing the bat," Stephenson said. "There's not many 6-foot-4 catchers that have played. He's done very good at it."

Stephenson started catching when he was 6. He remembers his baseball coach asking the players who wanted to catch. Stephenson thought the equipment looked cool. He gave it a shot and has been catching ever since.

The catcher started calling his own games as a freshman at Kennesaw Mountain. He has learned what pitches to call for in certain counts and how to pick up a batter's tendencies. It's not as easy as it looks, he said.

He worked on his hitting a lot last summer with the help of his summer league coach. The righthanded batter's fast swing and upper- body strength translates into power. Unlike other top high schoolers, Stephenson does not take private hitting lessons. He tries to keep it simple.

"This year, I've felt really good at the plate," Stephenson said. "Confidence. Knowing what pitches I can hit and drive. Being more selective. I've had a really good season hitting-wise."

The draft process, Stephenson said, has been crazy at times. But he said he has had fun with it. It will end on Monday, when his name is called in the first round. Stephenson was invited to attend the draft in Secaucus, N.J. He declined. Stephenson plans to watch it at home with his family and some teammates. It will be low-key, he said. There will not be any bat flips.

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Here are some mock-draft predictions for the Phillies' first-round pick, the 10th overall.

   Publish            

Publication   Date   Player   Pos.   School

Baseball America   June 5   Dillon Tate   RHP   UC-Santa Barbara

Sports Illustrated   May 27   Tyler Stephenson   C   Kennesaw Mountain H.S. (Ga.)

ESPN   June 4   Kevin Newman   INF   Arizona

USA Today   June 4   Chris Betts   C   Wilson H.S. (Calif.)

FanGraphs   May 28   Tyler Stephenson   C   Kennesaw Mountain H.S. (Ga.)

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