Future Watch: Taylor Ward Baseball Rookie Cards, AngelsFuture Watch: Taylor Ward Baseball Rookie Cards, Rays – Taylor Ward was a first round selection in the 2015 MLB Draft as the 26th overall pick by the Angels. This 6′-1″, 185 lb. catcher hails from Dayton, Ohio. He was originally drafted by Tampa Bay in 2012 but elected to go to Fresno State instead. He followed in the footsteps of some stars like, Doug Fister, Aaron Judge and Matt Garza to name a few.

Last season he played for two teams getting 201 at-bats. He tallied three homers, 31 RBI and a stunning .348 batting average. His defense was a work in progress but his throwing arm was very good throwing out 35% of base-runners.

In Ward’s last college season he shined defensively. At the plate, he had seven homers in 59 games while batting a cool .304. Having not called the pitches in college that’s something else this backstop will work on as he hones his skills.

The catching position is one of the hardest in sports because you have to handle pitchers and then being battered by foul pitches, back-swings and other assorted maladies. They don’t say you’re putting on the “tools of ignorance” for no good reason.

Ward’s first MLB licensed autographed baseball card will debuted with the release of 2015 Bowman Draft Baseball, card number BCA-TW.

Here’s a look at Ward showing off his arm and his bat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luPVbb9EALE

According to his MLB.com draft profile:

At first glance, Ward’s skillset looks like one that belongs to a strong Major League backup. The Angels clearly think, by taking him in the first round, that he’ll hit enough to be a big league regular when all is said and done. ETA 2018

Solid all-around catchers are hide to find. He has a chance to be one of them.

Russ Cohen

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