South Side Hit Pen Top Prospect 54: Caberea Weaver

If Weaver can make better contact, speed will become an even bigger factor in his game.

Spinning wheels: If Weaver can make better contact, speed will become an even bigger factor in his game. (@GFVoyagers)

Caberea Weaver
Center Fielder
6´3´´
180 pounds
Age: 18
SSHP rank among all center fielders in the system: 6

Caberea Weaver was an amazing athlete out of South Gwinnett, Ga. In fact, Perfect Game ranked him as the 14th-best high school outfielder in the 2018 draft class in part due to his projectable bat and running the 60-yard dash in 6.27 seconds on a slow track. Baseball America said of him at the time of the draft, "He is an athletic, wiry outfielder with impressive athleticism that should allow him to become an above-average defender in center field. There is a lot of rawness in Weaver's current game, both offensively and defensively. At the plate, Weaver has a whippy, quick bat and present strength that should continue to improve as he fills out." The White Sox selected him in the seventh round, and it took a $226,200 signing bonus to pry Weaver from his commitment to the University of Georgia. 

In 2018 with the AZL squad, Weaver slashed .248/.367/.342 in 50 games with five doubles, three triples, one homer, 11 RBIs, eight stolen bases, 18 walks (10.0%) and 52 strikeouts (28.9%). Moving to Great Falls in 2019, he posted similar numbers by slashing .254/.317/.377 in 62 games with 13 doubles, five triples, two homers, 18 RBIs, 10 stolen bases, 18 walks (6.9%) and 85 strikeouts (32.6%). Weaver strikes out way too much, but it doesn't appear he's swinging for the fences, as he does hit the ball much more frequently on the ground. Instead, it seems he has way too many moving parts which causes his swing to get too long, common for someone of his build. Hopefully, with a little more experience and confidence, Weaver can reduce his strikeouts and thereby get full use of his speed.

Weaver has shown good range in the outfield, with just two errors in professional ball thus far. He was nearly 17 months younger than his competitors in the Pioneer League, so it wouldn't be out of the question if Weaver returned to Great Falls. However, it seems likelier that he'll begin the 2020 season with Kannapolis.