Mykal StokesOF - AK Goldpanners of Fairbanks
Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Height: 6'2" - Weight: 185lb
College: Orange Coast
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Tustin, California
Stokes is a veteran Panner of sorts, having toured the country with the "Midnight Sun Goldpanners" barnstorming squad that celebrated the team's 50th anniversary in 2009. This year he'll be wearing Panners red and blue for a full season of ABL league play and should be a key component of Fairbanks' outfield.
Mykal has drawn interest from several Major League clubs. He's been picked twice in the MLB amateur draft -- in the 41st round by the Yankees in 2008 as a high school senior, and in the 46th round in 2009 by the Padres -- but has chosen not to sign with either team. Instead he has opetd for junior college ball, which will allow him to continue playing as an amateur and enter the draft again. Stokes has said that he was also on the Chicago Cubs' radar at one point.
With Orange Coast, Stokes had already nailed down the starting center field job his freshman year. In early 2009, Baseball America noted his strengths and weaknesses, as well as that of his big brother and teammate Rickey. One of Mykal's strengths is his defense; his superior speed gives him a naturally larger range in the field which allows him to make difficult plays look easy. This speed also helps him on the offensive side, allowing him to put himself in scoring position.
On the flip side, Stokes has some areas of his game that need to be polished up. Despite his notably good bat speed, Stokes has some mechanical flaws in his swing that will need to be ironed out if he wants to take his offensive game to the next level. He could also stand to improve his throwing mechanics, which would give him a better outfield arm and improve on his already good defense. Finally, it's a possibility that he could develop more power at the plate as he matures physically and fills out his frame. For these reasons, it seems wise that Stokes has chosen to go the community-college route and hit the wood bat summer circuit. I think we could see Stokes develop from a projectable youngster into a legitimate four or five-tool prospect in the ABL in 2010.
Special thanks to Goldpanners.com for the profile photo used in this article.
Mykal Stokes along with his brother Ricky are the most overlooked talent in amateur basball he and his brother dominated the state juco tourney championship enroute to the championship whatever team gets either of these players will stike a goldminebecause they are both destined for long prosperous pro ball careers
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. Right now everyone's gushing over Bryce Harper. He's awesome, no doubt about it, but one thing I enjoy about writing an ABL blog is that I get the opportunity to steer clear of the feeding frenzy and write about some very solid prospects who may not be on the cover of SI.
ReplyDeleteStokes will go pro, for sure. It's just a question of how high his draft stock will reach. A good summer in Fairbanks will do him well in that department.
Speaking of Bryce Harper, there's another brother duo. His big bro Bryan is coming up for the Pilots this year. It would be epic if the two of them brought their siblings along and we had Bryan & Bryce vs. Mykal and Ricky. A blogger can dream, can't he?
ReplyDelete