Hunter Dozier Right at Home in Texas League
SPRINGDALE, Ark. - When a Major League team drafts a young man in the first round it comes with inherent expectations of that player eventually fitting in to the championship puzzle at the big league level. For the Kansas City Royals, those expectations fall on Hunter Dozier, whom they selected with their eighth overall pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft.
Standing at 6-foot-4, Dozier's 220-pound frame indeed poses an imposing threat in the batter's box. The 22-year-old was born in Denton, TX and did not stray very far to play his college baseball. Dozier attended Stephen F Austin State University in Nacagdoches, TX where he garnered attention for his play on the diamond.
A broken collarbone during his junior year of high school limited collegiate recruitment for Dozier, but that did little to slow him down during his time at Stephen F Austin University. The tall right-handed hitter left the university as the school's all-time leader in hits and doubles and was the Southland Conference's highest drafted player in history. Furthermore, he became his school's only first-round pick to date.
While the current Kansas City Royal prospect made an impact as a true freshman for the university as he ranked fourth on the Lumberjacks with a .315 batting average, it was 2012 when Dozier turned heads in the Southland Conference.
During his second season, Dozier became the school's first shortstop to be named First-Team All-Southland Conference. He started all 59 games as Stephen F Austin's shortstop and during that time he set the school's single-season records with 24 multi-hit games and 22 doubles.
The sophomore led the team and ranked in the top 10 in the conference in batting average (.357), slugging percentage (.595), on-base percentage (.431), runs scored (43), hits (81) and homers (10). Additionally, he led his club with 29 walks and eight stolen bases.
While rising up draft boards for his play at shortstop, and eventually drafted for his promise offensively, Dozier showed fortitude on the mound as well as he took to the mound in his pitching debut on April 10 of 2012 against Louisiana Tech. Less than a month later, Dozier made yet another appearance on May 5 tossing a perfect inning, with a strikeout, against Rice, the fifth-ranked team in the country.
After the Royals drafted him with the eighth overall selection in 2013, Dozier hit .308 with 30 doubles through 69 games, while splitting time between Rookie-level Idaho Falls and Low-A Lexington in his first taste of professional baseball.
Dozier entered the 2014 season ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the Kansas City Royals' organization according to Baseball America. He is described by Baseball America through a scouting report as having an advanced feel for hitting and being able to sort out pitches early in the count to get into favorable situations.
The Texan was assigned to the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks to begin the 2014 season, where he posted a .295 average and promptly earned a promotion to Double-A Northwest Arkansas on June 19. Despite the mid-season promotion, Dozier still ranks in the top four among team leaders in RBI (39), runs scored (36), doubles (18) and walks (35).
After his promotion, Northwest Arkansas' new third baseman immediately made an offensive impact by posting a six-game hit streak during his first nine games with the Naturals; he also hit safely in seven of his first nine games with four multi-hit contests during that stretch while hitting at a .315 clip (12-38). During his time in Northwest Arkansas, Dozier has 10 doubles thus far to go along with four homers while consistently manning third base for the Naturals.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark. For more information including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.
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