Dennis Raben (Credit: AP)
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Biographical Data | |
| Player Name: | Dennis Raben |
| Position: | Outfielder |
| School: | University of Miami |
| School Type: | College |
| Academic Class: | Junior |
| Birthdate: | 07/31/87 |
| Height: | 6'3" |
| Weight: | 220 lbs. |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Left |
| Report Date(s): | 04/16/08 |
| Game(s): | Florida Atlantic |
Focus Area |
Comments |
| Hitting Ability: | After a steller Cape Cod campaign, Raben hasn't been able to duplicate those efforts with Miami. He's got a long swing and is often too passive at the plate. |
| Power: | He's got above-average raw power, but it's average at best, in games. Because of his passivity, he hits in negative counts too much, making it difficult to get pitches to drive. |
| Running Speed: | He has well below-average speed.. |
| Base running: | He is a station-to-station base clogger. |
| Arm Strength: | He has a solid average arm that should play fine in right field. |
| Fielding: | He'd make an average right fielder and gets good jumps and reads on balls. |
| Range: | It's good enough. Worst-case, he'd be fine as a left fielder or at first base. |
| Physical Description: | Raben has a big, thick frame, though he's fairly athletic. |
| Medical Update: | A back injury forced him out of the first 11 games, but he appears healthy now. |
| Strengths: | Above-average raw power. |
| Weaknesses: | He hasn't looked like the player in the Cape and his overall hitting ability makes some wonder if he'll make enough contact to tap into that raw power consistently. |
| Summary: | After an All-Star campaign in the Cape, scouts were eager to see what Raben would do for an encore, especially since the outfield group this spring is relatively weak. Unfortunately, he's been disappointing since coming off a back issue. He's got a long swing and takes too many pitches, often hitting in negative counts. His raw power from the left side will still get him drafted fairly early, but maybe not quite as soon as it once seemed. |