The Baltimore Orioles selected Preston Palmeiro, the son of four-time MLB All-Star and 500-home run club member Rafael Palmeiro, in the seventh round of the MLB draft.
Preston, 21, is a left-handed bat and right-handed glove who made a name for himself as a first baseman at North Carolina State.
Baseball America‘s Michael Lananna provided a brief overview of Palmeiro’s skill set:
As a junior at NC State, Palmeiro flashed one of the nation’s steadiest swings from the left side of the plate. According to D1Baseball.com, Palmeiro batted .337 with a .412 on-base percentage, 55 RBI and 20 doubles during the 2016 season.
However, questions have lingered regarding the youngster’s power. This past season, Palmeiro jacked just nine home runs and slugged a rather average .539.
But even though Palmeiro doesn’t possess power that conjures up memories of his father’s, he has superb vision at the plate.
“He understands what the pitcher is going to throw,” NC State catcher Andrew Knizner said, per the News & Observer‘s Joe Giglio. “And he only swings at strikes. He just knows how to take the right pitches.”
Considering his father churned out 3,020 hits and boasted a .288 batting average over the course of a 20-year career, it’s not surprising Preston is so disciplined with the bat in his hands.
Palmeiro will need to develop a bit more power if he hopes to one day make an impact on an every-day basis, but there’s no doubt his refined skill set lends itself to a prosperous career down the line.
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