Alan Roden

With an open, crouched stance and the barrel resting on his shoulder with a stance reminiscent of Sean Casey, the 6-foot, 210-pound Creighton first baseman delivered 25 doubles this year with four home runs in the pitcher’s park of Charles Schwab Stadium, home of the College World Series. Roden’s most impressive stat of the spring is the fact that he only fanned eight times in 194 at-bats. Roden was the second toughest hitter in Division I to strike out. Scouts seem to be less enamored with Roden, as he’s a contact-first first baseman with a somewhat stiff swing and he hasn’t been challenged much by top-level competition. Between Creighton and his stint last summer in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, Roden has rarely seen premium velocity. Almost assuring contact every at-bat, his team-leading .387 average is no surprise and his numbers will likely intrigue analytically-inclined teams. Playing mostly first base, Roden is comfortable playing right field as well, adding some versatility to his profile. Roden has a chance to get selected in the eighth-to-10th-round range.