Black MiLB Players #14: 1B Xavier Isaac, Tampa Bay Rays
The first player at his position to be selected in the 2022 MLB Draft, Xavier Isaac has the tools to be a premier offensive force
Background + Path to Professional Baseball
Xavier Isaac is a 19-year-old first baseman in the Tampa Bay Rays organization from the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina. He was drafted with the 29th overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft out of East Forsyth High School.
He forewent his scholarship to the University of Florida, receiving a $2 million dollar signing bonus. He was a surprise pick by the Rays, as it isn’t common for high school first basemen to be selected in the first round. He was projected to be drafted somewhere between the second and fourth rounds because of his large frame and tantalizing raw power.
His professional career started during the 2022 MiLB season, playing in five games for Tampa Bay’s affiliate in the Arizona Rookie League. He played 102 games during the 2023 MiLB season, making appearances in Low-A and High-A. He went .285/.395/.521 in 433 plate appearances with 20 doubles and 19 home runs.
Player Profile
Xavier Isaac is 6’4’’, and weighs a little over 250 pounds. He has broad shoulders, thick forearms, and a somewhat tapered midsection. He isn’t a specimen by any means but one look at his frame can confirm that strength is present in spades.
Hitting
Isaac bats left-handed, standing in the batter’s box with an open stance and his hands held near his head. When watching tape the first thing that stands out is his ability to make hard contact with offerings in all quadrants of the zone. He utilizes a timing mechanism that varies between a slight toe tap and a full-on leg kick as he loads his hands into position. He has a very simple and quiet swing. He works with a mature approach and is willing to concede for a single during plate appearances.
His ability to make contact is average based on his lackluster strikeout rate and middling swinging strike rate. On the flip side, he posted a double-digit walk rate and 0.70 BB/K ratio during the 2023 MiLB season, which is a very green flag for me. It will be important to see whether he sustains similar numbers as he is promoted to the upper levels of MiLB and faces better competition.
Isaac has elite power that he frequently gets to, hitting most of his home runs up the middle and to his pull side during the 2023 MiLB season. He regularly records batted ball events over 100 miles per hour. Having recorded over 40 extra-base hits in only 100 games, there should be no question about how much pop there is in Xavier Isaac’s bat.
Fielding
Isaac is an average defender at first base. His decision-making skills with traffic on the basepaths could use more work, but that will come with more reps. From what I can tell, he’s nowhere near as bad as Ryan Howard was, so that means he is tolerable.
Baserunning
Despite his lumbering frame, Isaac is one of baseball’s more athletic first basemen. His long strides and surprising foot speed allow him to cover ground better than expected. He swiped 12 bags during the 2023 MiLB season without getting caught. While I don’t think he has that much acumen as a base stealer and is just taking advantage of Low-A batteries that can’t control the running game it would be fun if he turned out to be that good. I would be thoroughly surprised if Isaac found a way to be decent to above-average as a baserunner if he makes it to MLB simply because of his sheer size.
Conclusion
An extremely progressive organization like the Tampa Bay Rays using a first-round draft slot to take a lefty-lefty high school first baseman is out of the ordinary to the nth degree, but so far it appears that the decision has made sense. The pitch-by-pitch adjustments and raw power numbers have me excited to see how he fares versus High-A and Double-A pitchers during the 2024 season. Isaac’s combination of massive raw power and advanced approach while only being a year removed from facing high schoolers are huge green flags, especially when looking at the fact that his ability to make contact appears to be galaxies away from even being considered problematic.