This season, I have seen quite a few of the Upland High baseball games. I went to Upland (a long time ago) and still live in the area . I have been out to see Scotty Frazier pitch quite a few times, and any fan can quickly see that the team has a lot of talent outside of Frazier. Upland's shortstop, Ryan Goodman, will be playing for Cal Poly next year, CF Frankie Christian, will probably get drafted or go to college, and Daniel Roberston is sure to have a bright future down the road as well. I've been to quite a few high school games this season, and I feel Robertson's game could be up there with some of the elite offensive talent that will be taken at the top of the 2010 draft. . .and he's currently just a sophomore.
Robertson has pretty much all the tools, except for plus speed. He doesn't have bad speed, pretty much average speed down the line. Defensively, he has above average range at third, and he should improve with more work and game experience and his arm is very strong and accurate. When he is unable to range to make a play, he is leaves his feet well and make a diving stop, and he's able to use his arm strength to make the play. Robertson is also very good at coming in on a chopped ball and throwing on the run.
At the plate, Robertson is very quiet and he has good balance. He starts from a very wide base, and he doesn't really employ a stride, rather he just turns his lead foot in as he loads and then unleashes his swing. He gets good leverage with his legs, which should lead to even more power as he continues to grow. What is most impressive about Robertson's swing is that he uses the entire field, and he projects to hit to all fields for power as he matures. I have seen at least four of his doubles to the right center field gap, and one to the right field line. Daniel is listed at 6 foot 180 pounds, and he has the frame that suggest he could add another inch or two and at least 15 pounds of muscle before his draft year of 2012. This is why I see big power in the upcoming years. He has 11 doubles this season, and many of them have been to the wall or off the wall and one can easily assume some of these will be landing on the other side of the fence down the road.
The only slight knock on Robertson's offensive package is that I have seen him give away three or four at bats early in the count when he has swung at pitchers pitches, primarily on the first pitch of the sequence. Generally Robertson has a patient approach, and he has walked more than he has struck out this year(13BB/9K), but I have seen him swing at first pitch curveballs out of the zone, early in the count, which have resulted in relatively weak outs. BUT. . .this is just nitpicking.
So far this season, the Upland Sophomore is hitting 481, with an on base of 541 and an astounding 808 slugging percentage. Thirteen of Robertson's hits have been for extra bases (11 2b, and 2 HR), and he is currently leading his team with 30 runs batted in. Not bad for a sophomore. . . The sky is the limit for this kid, and I look forward to seeing how he progresses the next few years.
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