OF Dasan Brown, 3rd round (88th overall) - Toronto Blue Jays - SIGNED - $797,500
OF Dasan Brown (Oakville, Ont.) was the top Canuck selected in the draft. Photo: Amanda Fewer.
With their third round (88th overall) pick, the Toronto Blue Jays have selected OF Dasan Brown.
Hometown: Oakville, Ont.
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Height/Weight: 6’ 1” 190 lbs.
College Commitment: Texas A&M University
Teams: Ontario Blue Jays, Canadian Junior National Team
Coaches: Joey Ellison, Greg Hamilton
Previous Teams: Oakville A’s, Hamilton Cardinals
Previous Coaches: Jim Tani, Joe Ianuzzi, Sean Travers, Mike Steed
Slot Money: $678,600
Scout: Kory Lafreniere
Twitter Handle: @dasani_brown3
Most influential person in my baseball life, besides my father, Raynes Brown: “My hitting coach Eddie Largy.”
Good genes: His father Raynes Brown played cricket in Jamaica for his high school.
Scouting Report(s)
Baseball America
One of the fastest players in the 2019 class, Brown is an 80-grade runner who routinely posts sub 4.1-second home-to-first times from the righthanded batter’s box. With centerfield athleticism and instincts, Brown has tremendous upside as a defender in the middle of the outfield, tracking balls well with dynamic athleticism that will allow him to make plays other outfielders wouldn’t dream of getting to. Brown has average raw arm strength, but needs to improve his throwing accuracy. Offensively, Brown is incredibly raw and scouts believe he would be a two-year rookie ball sort of player who you would need to teach how to hit. He has some bat-to-ball skills that he showed off with the Canadian national team against pro competition this spring, but he’s mostly a fastball hitter who has a line-drive approach and rarely elevates the ball. When he does, it’s with little impact ability as Brown has well below-average raw power in his 5-foot-11, 170-pound frame. A Texas A&M commit, Brown could be a player who teams prefer to see go to school, develop physically and prove he can hit, but if he does figure out the offensive game and take the next steps, he has exciting upside and is one of the more impressive athletes in the class.
Baseball America
By: Carlos Collazo
The top Canadian prospect in the 2019 class, Brown is a dynamic athlete with 80-grade speed who could rival Mississippi prospects James Beard (Loyd Star HS, Brookhaven, Miss.) and Jerrion Ealy (Jackson (Miss.) Prep HS) as the fastest runner in the class. There are some similarities with Brown to 2018 Canadian prospect Denzel Clarke, who was also an athletic, but currently unrefined, baseball player, though Brown likely edges Clarke in the athleticism department.
Teams are currently getting a look at Brown with the Canadian Junior National team in Florida, where the club plays against professional players. His speed is his most obvious tool, and it plays on the bases, where he routinely clocks 70- and 80-grade home-to-first times, and in the outfield, where he covers huge swaths of ground and makes highlight-reel plays. Brown does possess some bat-to-ball skills, but there’s a lot of work left to do in regards to his overall hitting ability. Right now, he’s a fastball hitter who lacks a real plan of attack at the plate, and he has bottom-of-the-scale raw power.
There’s a lot to like given Brown’s ability as a runner and defender, but for a team to take him they will have to be convinced he’ll figure out the offensive side of the game and be patient with him in Rookie-ball. Brown is committed to Texas A&M.
Perfect Game
By: Vincent Cervino
Dasan Brown is one of the top Canadian draft prospects out of high school as the centerfielder is super athletic, with good speed and loud bat speed and overall hitting tools. The Texas A&M signee really impressed in centerfield, taking correct and efficient routes to the baseball even when he had to track down fly balls in the alleys. He reads the ball well right off the bat and has keen spatial awareness and speed to not only get to a lot of difficult batted balls, but potentially stick in centerfield at the next level.
The offensive tools are there to be successful but the overall profile is a bit raw offensively. The bat path is a bit top hand heavy with his hands very close to his body but his twitchy, uber-fast hands are enough to consistently get the barrel of the bat out in front. There’s good present bat speed for Brown and he turned in a solid performance in this look, smoking a hard hit ball through the four hole on the right side of the infield. The best run time recorded on Brown on this day was an average time when he slowed up so there’s likely at least above-average run there when he’s busting it down the line. As with the majority of the Canadian team, Brown will be young on the draft and his combination of centerfield traits and athleticism should entice at least heavy consideration for an early pick.
2019 season with Canadian Junior National Team, Dominican Summer League Tour: Batted .236 (9-for-39) with two doubles, two triples, six RBIs ... Tripled, singled drove in three facing Rockies ... Run-scoring double against the Mets ... Doubled facing the Yankees ... Doubled in a run against the Pirates ... Tripled and stole a base facing the Mariners ... Two hits in win over Royals … Extended spring: Hit .212 (7-for-33) with a triple and three RBIs, with .589 OPS. Was 4-for-5 stealing bases against pro catchers … Spring training: Batted .333 (8-for-24) with a double, triple, homer and two RBIs … While the game was not on TV like most springs, Brown had a day to remember against the Toronto Blue Jays, as he led off lining out to centre fielder Billy McKinney facing reliever Danny Barnes, who pitched in 47 games for Toronto last season; singled to left field in the third against Andrew Sopko, who pitched in 26 games last year at double-A Tulsa and class-A Rancho Cucamonga, acquired from the Dodgers in the Russell Martin trade, tagged a 2-2 pitch to left centre for a two-run homer in the sixth against Joey Murray, who pitched at class-A Vancouver last season, beat out an infield single to shortstop Jordan Groshans facing Josh Hiatt, who was selected in the 18th round last year ... He also charged in to make a diving grab and roamed into the gap for another catch in front of 30 scouts.
2018 season with Canadian Junior National Team, Dominican Summer League trip: Batted .200 (2-for-10) with a double ... Extended spring: hit .143 (2-for-14) ... Selection camp: Batted .200 (3-for-15) with an RBI ... U18 Qualifier: Batted .280 (7-for-25) with a double, homer and four RBIs.
2017 season with Canadian Junior National Team: Made debut with Junior National Team program in October 2017 at Fall Instructional League Camp.
Honours: Three-time participant in Tournament 12 at Rogers Centre ... Competed at Pitch/Hit/Run finals during All-Star festivities in 2012 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Canuck prospect Dasan Brown ready for what’s to come after MLB draft