Stanford Baseball: Charlie Bates Ranks Among Top College Prospects

Stanford baseball had one player selected in this year's MLB Draft, and that was Trevor Haskins, whom the St. Louis Cardinals selected in the 15th round. The Toronto Blue Jays also signed catcher Charlie Saum as an undrafted free agent, though he was in the process of transferring away from Stanford for the 2026 campaign.

In the 2024 MLB Draft, the Texas Rangers selected former Stanford catcher Malcolm Moore with the 30th overall pick, and it looks like the Cardinal may have to wait until 2027 to get another player closer to the first round. According to Baseball America, Stanford doesn't have any players currently on their top college prospects for 2026, but freshman Charlie Bates is on their list for 2027.

Baseball America has him ranked as the No. 30 college prospect in the '27 class, while noting his "impressive hand-eye coordination and a present feel for the barrel" as some of the reasoning for his ranking.

The 19-year-old played in 25 games with Stanford in his freshman year, batting .270 with a .320 OBP, one home run and seven RBI. He also swiped five bags in seven tries and spent nearly all of his time in center field for the Cardinal.

New position for Charlie Bates in 2026?

This summer, playing for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the Cape Cod League, Bates made it into an additional 32 games and hit just .196 with a .311 OBP, but his walk rate went from 5.2% during the spring to 13.4% during the summer, which is a very intriguing development to keep an eye on heading into 2026. His strikeout rate also climbed, going from 19.6% to 29.4%.

Bates also played some center, but was stationed primarily at shortstop in the Cape, which is also where Baseball America expected him to end up. Temo Becerra manned shortstop for the Cardinal in 2025, but following the season he entered the transfer portal, landing with University of Texas at Austin.

This should allow Bates to slide right onto the infield and become a big part of the Cardinal program in 2026. With two seasons until he's eligible to be selected in the MLB Draft, the most important thing he can do is just keep taking steps forward.

He doesn't have to go out and hit 15 homers to make himself a top prospect. Instead, using his bat-to-ball skills to collect some extra base hits while showing solid swing decisions and playing good defense is enought to get noticed. That feels much more attainable than finding a power stroke, though adding some pop would never hurt either.