Matt Wieters
Orleans 2006
Catcher
Georgia Tech
Some players come to Cape Cod as relative unknowns and make a name for themselves. Others come as big names but struggle to live up to the hype.
A select few come in as top prospects, take care of business and leave as certified top prospects.
That was Matt Wieters.
And business was good.
After a College World Series run with Georgia Tech in 2006, Wieters made a late but heralded arrival in Orleans on June 26. He was already thought of as the top prospect in his class, and he quickly reinforced that status.
After going 1-for-8 in his first two games, Wieters went 3-for-4 with a home run in his third start and never looked back. He finished second in the league with a .307 average and tied for second in home runs with eight. He tallied 13 extra-base hits and drove in 25. His .417 on-base percentage was second in the league and his .535 slugging percentage ranked third.
In short, he was everything scouts and fans hoped he would be.
Wieters was selected as an all-star starter and he was picked for the postseason all-league team. Not surprisingly, he was also voted the league’s top prospect, and it’s not a stretch to anoint Wieters the league’s best prospect of the decade.
After the Cape
Wieters was drafted by the Orioles with the fifth overall pick in 2007. He quickly became the best prospect in baseball and needed just a year-and-a-half to arrive in Baltimore. He hit .288 with nine home runs for the O’s in 2009.
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