Prospect Profile Terrance Gore

Learning to hit LH is a must for Gore

When I reviewed the Royals draft last year I had an idea that Terrance Gore was fast.  Why else would they take a 5’7 160 lbs Center-fielder from the same JUCO school that they had already used their 14th round pick on?  KC scouts more than likely went down to scout D’Andre Toney and the diminutive Gore probably turned their heads with his ridiculous speed.  Coach Mike Kandor Gore’s JUCO coach let me know just how fast when I gave him a call during my draft review:

Mike Kander Gulf Coast Head Men’s Baseball Coach – “The fastest player in the country.  A good comp for Gore could be Joey Gathright and he’s the type of player that would’ve been a good fit on the 1978 Royals teams.  He brings a whole new level of speed to the game putting up times to 1st base in the 3.49 range from the right side on a bunt and consistently in the 3.7-3.8 range on a swing.  One coach in the conference who was an assistant for Florida State during the Deion Sanders years said that he never thought he would see a player with Deion’s speed on the baseball field, then he saw Gore and said he’s faster.  Terrance like Toney brings a physicality from their football days to baseball with a aggressive approach.  Also like Toney he is still pretty raw with the bat and has a below average arm but uses his speed very effectively on defense.”

That’s great stuff but not quite that shocking, lots of players are blazing fast but still struggle to convert its full usefulness on the field.  We’ve been told for years about Derrick Robinson’s impressive speed and while you can see it on display when you look at his 291 stolen bases with a 75.8% success rate and watch some of his less than stellar defensive routes in CF it doesn’t quite show off as well as we or likely Royals coaches had hoped.  Jarrod Dyson on the other hand is a player who is also fast but seems to use it quite a bit better on the bases with an 83.2% success rate in the minors, 90% so far in the majors (20 for 22) and defensively as Dyson is an excellent defender.  Dyson may never be a starting CF in the majors but his speed and his proficiency to use it should be able to give him a job as a 4/5 OF/PR which for a late round draftpick is pretty nice for any club.

How does Gore who was just named the new Fastest Baserunner in the organization by Baseball America shape up to Derrick and Dyson and other speedsters?  Quite favorably as a matter of fact, Gore besides the glowing scouting reports on his Deionlike speed is currently riding a 44 consecutive stolen base streak without being caught.  The fleet of foot Gore went 17 for 17  in the stolen base department during his 35 game minor league debut for the Royals in the Arizona League.  That was after finishing his JUCO season with 27 consecutive successful stolen bases in his last 29 games, Gore in six of  those games featured at least 2 stolen bases.  The major league record in comparison to what Terrance has done is 50 consecutive steals by Vince Coleman who set that record in 1989 for the St. Louis Cardinals.

While Gore has done most of his work so far against players that aren’t of pro level quality his ability to know timing, having speed and being able to execute at successful clip can make a players speed a major tool.  Just ask Billy Hamilton who is currently ranked #1 and #2 in the Cincinnati Reds system by Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America mostly for his 80 grade speed that helped him steal 103 bases in the Midwest League in 123 attempts this past season.  Terrance like Hamilton will have to transfer his major tool to the defensive side of the game but if he can then maybe the Royals could add another diamond in the rough.