The former Dirtbag has immediately established himself this summer as one of the elite prospects in baseball. Early this month, Baseball America tabbed Evan Longoria as the hottest prospect in the minors, stating “…the Long Beach State product has exceeded the wildest expectations as a pro thus far.”
Drafted third-overall in this year’s MLB Amateur Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Longoria promptly agreed with Tampa Bay on a $3 million bonus and commenced his tear through the minor leagues soon after.
Longoria made his minor league debut with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the New York-Penn League on June 20. In his first professional at-bat, Longoria drove in his first RBI.
In his second game Longoria announced his presence with authority, with five hits against the Aberdeen Ironbirds. Through his first eight games, Longoria slugged four home runs and knocked in 11 runs. Longoria was promoted after he scorched the NY-Penn League with a .424 batting average, .487 on-base percentage, and a .897 slugging percentage.
The Devil Rays soon re-assigned Longoria to the Visalia Oaks of the California League, and Longoria just kept on hitting. During a hot streak, the third baseman reached base in his first 22 starts, he hit an impressive homerun to left field off Greg Reynolds, the 6-foot-7 pitcher who was drafted ahead of Longoria by the Colorado Rockies.
Longoria soon proved the California League was no more of a challenge than the New York-Penn League, by batting .327, with a .402 on-base percentage and a .618 slugging percentage in 28 games. The Devil Rays then promoted Longoria again, this time to Double-A.
Longoria joined the Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League on Aug. 4. Like past times, Longoria started off with a hit. He is currently on a five-game hitting streak, slugging five homeruns through nine games.
Overall, Longoria has batted .320/.369/.614 with 17 homeruns across three levels in the Devil Rays’ minor league system. At this pace, the former LBSU third baseman figures to make his MLB debut in 2007.
While at Long Beach State, Longoria led the Dirtbags in batting average (.353), games started (56), hits (71), homeruns (19), slugging (.602), RBI’s (43), and was second in runs (42).
Before last season, Longoria played summer ball in the Cape Cod League where he was given the league’s Most Value Player award, after hitting eight homeruns and knocking in 35 RBI’s. He was a first team summer All-American by Baseball America, and was a representative of the East All-Star team for the Cape league.