49 2B/CF Nate Furman
Furman (along with Guy Lipscomb) was one of my favorite "Kwan-List" mid round sleepers going into the 2022 draft. The qualifiers for that list are: strong performance track record, lopsided BB/K ratio, hit/speed combo yet still ranked outside all top 200 draft lists. Furman checked all those boxes and as cherry on top was very young for his class as a true Sophomore, so CLE felt comfortable securing him in round 4 (121st overall) of the draft.
Furman starred at UNC Charlotte from day 1 and after 2 years and 420 PA there he left with a 351/482/468 slash and 71/41 BB/K.
He also got a lot of summer league action with wooden bats and against better competition. In 352 PA combined over 3 different summer leagues his bottom line is almost a copy of his college one: 344/483/453 and 66/43 BB/K
In college and summer ball combined he stole 61 bases in 70 attempts.
These numbers highlight his strengths and weaknesses. He's a consistently good contact hitter with good speed. FanGraphs grades both as potentially 70 (plus plus) at maturity. Otoh, he doesn't have any power and his EV aren't high. But, like Kwan, high end EV are less important when you consistently make solid contact. Or, as one draft profile put it: Furman consistently ranks among the elite in college baseball in terms of contact rates and chase rates. He protects the zone beautifully, even if the impact with the bat isn't quite present.
Defensively, Furman is considered a pure 2B, though some believe he'll not stick there and foresee a move to CF, so there's some Richie Palacios risk in his defense profile.
Entering his first pro season, Furman is another slasher, hit and run type prospect worth following closely. He will probably open at class A Lynchburg, but should also get significant A+ playing time if all goes according to plan.
