Overview of Corey Collins

Corey Collins comes in as one of the more exciting high school catchers in this year’s class. As a current student of North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia, Collins clocks in at 6’3″, 215 pounds. At 18 years old, the left-handed hitting catcher is set to graduate this coming season. Additionally, he has already verbally committed to attending the University of Georgia.

Collins has been a member of several national showcase teams during his high school career. Most recently, Collins was a part of the National Showcase last year. In addition, he played for the Preseason All American Southeast All Region Team this spring.

Last June, Collins injured his throwing elbow during the Prospect Development Pipeline League. After getting nerve transportation surgery this past offseason, Collins opened up the 2020 season behind the dish, but also saw a significant amount of time at first base.

Strengths

One of the things that makes Corey Collins so highly touted is his offensive abilities. Scouts note that Collins has a lot of power in his swing and the ability to hit at a high contact rate. On the scouting scale, Collins received a grade of 55 in the power department. More often than not, he is very aggressive at the plate and tends to pull a lot of his pitches. Scouts believe over time with more development, Collins could develop into an above-average raw power hitter.

Additionally, scouts note that Collins is very agile considering his strong, athletic build. Behind the dish, scouts have noticed that he does a very good job of blocking wild pitches and has decent overall defensive abilities. In addition, considering his build and makeup, scouts were surprised at some of the speed that he has shown. In particular, his ability to get from home plate to first base in a quick amount of time.

Beyond both of those things, Collins rates well in the arm strength department as well. He received a grade of 55 in that category from scouts. Scouts have observed that he has very strong hands and is able to typically throw the baseball directly to where it needs to go.

Weaknesses

While Collins is a very good hitter, scouts are a bit worried about his over aggressiveness at times. They believe that sometimes he loses sight of the strike zone and that causes him to swing at the wrong type of pitches. Granted, Collins is in high school and still has quite a development period ahead of him, so this is something that can definitely be corrected.

Additionally, there are some concerns that he might not end up being a long-term catcher. Some scouts believe that Collins could eventually turn into an outfielder. Potentially giving a team an option at the left field position. That would especially be true if a team likes his offensive skills and believes that the move could benefit him in the long run.

MLB Comparison

The easy comparison here for Collins would be Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs. Schwarber came up throughout the organization as a catcher, but has more recently been used in left field. Schwarber is smaller than Collins (coming in at exactly six feet tall) and slightly heavier (235 pounds). In addition, both Collins and Schwarber hit from the left side.

If Corey Collins sticks as a catcher, then a great comp would be Jason Castro of the Los Angeles Angels. Castro is the same height and weight as Collins and also hits from the left side of the plate with high on-base and slugging skills. Last season over 79 games with the Minnesota Twins, Castro had a .332 on-base percentage and a .435 slugging percentage.

In addition, there are similarities in their overall approach at the plate. Based solely on video, both Collins and Castro have a lot of swing in their hips after their follow through on the baseball. Additionally, both catchers tap their right leg on the ground in the same way.

If Collins is able to harness his power and work on his aggressiveness, then he could certainly replicate those type of numbers in the big leagues. Only time will tell if Collins ends up being a primary catcher, splits time behind the dish and at first base, or transitions into a full-time left fielder.

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