Featured Image Courtesy of Tim Campbell/MiLB
@dodger_poke
Long, lanky, athletic, versatile, talented, hard-working, tough, disciplined, and powerful are qualities that every organization looks for in every prospect. All professional prospects have at least a certain combination of those skills, but it’s rare to find one that has them all, so when the Dodgers drafted Devin Mann in the 5th Round of the 2018 Draft, they knew they had an exciting young player that fit the description.
Columbus to Louisville
Mann grew up in Columbus, Indiana where he had a standout prep career at Columbus North High School under the direction of Ben McDaniel, a coach that is well known in both the High School and travel ball circuit. As a Bulldog, the long, lanky, and athletic Mann was an All-State shortstop as a Senior, was honorable mention All-State during both his Sophomore and Junior seasons, was a 2-time all-conference selection, and was the 2 time Area Player of the Year. During his sophomore season, he hit .532, which was a single-season record for Columbus North and he finished his career with the highest batting average of any Bulldog in the history of the program at .449. He also finished as the career leader in runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, and stolen bases. As I said, he is versatile, and he has a rare combination of skills that allow him to do it all, and his prep career showcased all of those talents.
After his record-setting prep career, the long-lanky Hoosier had several options as to where he wanted to play college baseball and eventually chose Louisville. Under the direction of Dan McDonnell, the Cardinals have become a College baseball power and have made 5 appearances in the College World Series, have won 9 Regional Championships, and have won 10 Regular Season Conference championships. It’s a program that breeds winning, and has produced 93 draft picks since the arrival of McDonnell, two of which are fellow Dodgers Will Smith and Bobby Miller.
At Louisville Mann made 19 starts as a Freshman and hit .303, hit 8 home runs, and had 44 RBIs in his first year on campus. As a Sophomore, in 2017, on a College World Series team, he hit 8 home runs, had 44 RBIs, and started 64 games. During his final season at Louisville, his Junior year in 2018, he had 7 home runs, 17 doubles, 52 RBIs, stole 15 bases, hit .303, and walked 59 times. Mann had proven to be more than just a basket full of potential, he had shown to be a full bushel of production and the Dodgers drafted him in the 5th round of the 2018 Draft after his Junior year.
Mann, the Dodgers Got a Good One
Mann started his career in 2018 with the AZL Dodgers but was advanced to Great Lakes in June, who was the Low A affiliate at the time. The next year, in 2019, he was assigned to High A Rancho Cucamonga, then, after 2020 got canceled due to Covid, he spent all of 2021 in AA Tulsa which is where he is at now. The long, lanky Hoosier finished 2021 on a tear as he hit .323 for the month of September, hit 8 home runs, and had 17 RBI and 49 total bases. In the 2nd to the last series in Amarillo, he hit multiple home runs in 3 games in a row, and, at one point during that stretch, hit 6 home runs in 10 at-bats. He finished 2021 hot and has continued that momentum into this year as he is hitting .264 with 8 home runs and has an OPS of .881. Here is what he had to say about that the adjustments he’s made and how it has paid off.
Yeah, it was nice to make some adjustments and start figuring out the pitching in AA, and how everyone has a scouting report on you. You know, last year I had some struggles early on but it’s nice to have worked through that and figured some things out and it’s nice to have been consistent up to this point so far and I’m just looking to keep that going.
Having a very versatile and certainly complete set of skills, Mann has been asked to play every position other than pitcher and catcher since he’s been a Dodger. Here’s what he had to say about that.
Yeah, that’s definitely been something new. I played 2nd in college and I always knew I had the ability to play all over the place and last year, you know, with the outfield and moving around and having that versatility, I think it was a smoother transition than I expected, escpecially with the outfield. But, it’s part of my game that I embrace and it just gives me more versatility to be able to play everyday wherever the team needs me.
Although Mann has the skills to play every position on the field, he has come back home this year to 2nd base, the position he played in College. Here’s what he had to say about finding a home at 2nd base this year and getting comfortable there.
Yeah, I mean I definitely love 2nd base, it’s my favorite position and that’s where I think I’m most talented at and I think it’s given me the time to work on my craft at that position and I think I’ve gotten a lot better over there too, and I’m just excited that I get to play over there again.
Feature Cut
As stated earlier, between September 9th and 11th of last year, 2021, Mann hit multiple home runs in 3 consecutive games at Amarillo. The following is a video of each home run and what you’ll notice is his plate coverage East and West, and his ability to cover both the top and bottom of the zone. and how he can hit multiple types and speeds of pitches out of the yard as well.
With such a tall and lanky frame, Mann has great plate coverage and can reach the outside corner very well. But, as you see in the picture on the left, he can also stay inside and behind balls and shoot them the other way when he needs to as well. Another one of the things that I think separates him is his reach. He has such long arms, that, if he’s fooled on something on the outer half, he can keep his hands back and still reach those pitches and get the barrel out to create solid contact, as you’ll see in the 2nd hit in the video.
Here’s another example of the reach Mann has and his ability to cover the outside part of the plate, and how he can get the barrel out on off-speed pitches. He continually shows the ability to hit every kind of pitch on the outer half with power. The picture on the left shows how well he stays behind the ball and how well leveraged he gets on balls on the outer half. The video shows it in action and was from just a couple of days ago.
OK to LA
Mann has spent the last 2 seasons in AA Tulsa and really started to take off about halfway through last year. Although he certainly can play just about anywhere, and at a professional level, he is definitely home at 2nd base and is having a very good year. He has a unique set of skills when considering his tall and lanky frame combined with his excellent athletic ability, and it gives him a very high ceiling, one that is higher than most. So, it’s going to be very exciting to watch him develop through the system and watch where his journey lands, one that hopefully winds from the Minor League back roads of OK, all the way to the Major League Freeway in LA.
