Cleveland Guardians 2023 prospect scouting report: #27 INF Nate Furman

The speedy, high contact 2022 draft picks draws a lot of concerns to a certain current Guardians outfielder..

Build & Background

Compact middle infielders build. Good strength for his fame. Good, twitchy athlete. Draft eligible sophomore in 2022. High marks for makeup. 

What Furman does well

Simple, quick and compact swing. Minimal stride. Generates good bat speed for size and effort level. Very direct, smooth hand path that’s direct to the ball. Has a good, adjustable bat path. Shows ability to stay on plane with good posture. Not afraid to hit the ball to all fields. Very patient approach with good strike zone awareness. Busts out of the box quickly and shows plus run times. Good times to first and good runner underway. Solid fielder at second and around the bag. 

Spencer Morris @ProspectSpencer

Nate Furman with a well struck sac fly the other way. Just an awesome hit tool on this guy, hand path is gorgeous.

Where Furman needs to improve

Cleveland will have work with Furman on his overall actions at second. Will need to see if his arm plays best at second or if he has the strength to be a more versatile defender. Added strength, use of lower half and stride could marginally bring up his power. Increase in defensive versatility would take pressure off the bat. There will be questions about competition faced in college.

Joe Doyle @JoeDoyleMiLB

Wrote about Charlotte 2B Nate Furman today, a guy who's really piqued my interest for the 2022 Draft. A bit of a budget Sal Frelick. Slasher. All fields. Elite bat-to-ball ++ zone awareness. 70 runner. Dangerous on bases. I've got him clocked twice 4.03s to 1B. Might be 30 juice.

Joe Doyle @JoeDoyleMiLB

2021 saw some really strong second base talent taken at the top of the draft. Over at @ProspectsLive, we loved ECU's Connor Norby and Wright State's Tyler Black. The 2022 MLB Draft definitely has some headliners at the position too. https://t.co/Np9B8ioRkA

Intangibles

High energy type player. Plays like his hair is on fire. High marks for makeup for work ethic and as a teammate. 

Future

There’s a lot of tools and skills in Furman’s game that remind of Steven Kwan. It’s easy to look at his walk to strikeout rate in college and draw the conclusion. He has a good chance to hit for good averages and get on base at a high rate. He should be able to show off his speed off the bat as well. His future defensively will be a question worth answering, if he stays at second and how much pressure that will put on his bat. If he can add anywhere else on the infield or outfield to his ability, that gives him an easier path and can reduce the need to add power. His floor should be pretty good if he ends up trying out different positions, but if he makes any marginal power gains, he could profile as a high on-base/speed type starter at second. He should be ready for High-A Lake County, but could start at Low-A Lynchburg because of the roster logjam or to get him a little more ready for pro pitching. 

Role: 40 - Ceiling of an average/on-base/speed second baseman, floor of utility infield/outfield type