2009 FBS Breakout Player: Jay Bruce

Team: Cincinnati Reds
Bats: Left

Position: OF

Considering the way that some top prospects fall on their face when they come to the majors (yes you, Alex Gordon), Jay Bruce's rookie season was a fairly successful one. In just 108 games, Bruce was able to pound out 21 homers and drive in 52 runs. The one bad part of his first campaign was his .254 batting average, which was considerably lower than was expected, and he struck out 110 times in those 108 games, which kind of was expected. There is a whole bunch of good news though, if you are thinking of drafting Bruce. First, he will just be turning 22 right when the season starts. That means that there is plenty of time for him to adjust to life in the majors and improve. With the expectations of being a top prospect, I'm sure there were times that Bruce was pressing to be the best that he could and tried to over do it. Second, his average over his final year and a half in the minors was always over .300, highlighted by his final 49 games at AAA in 2008 when he hit .364. Even more good news is that he hit 10 homers over that limited action. Bruce has all the makings of a .300 hitter with 30-35 homers, and well over 100 RBI. He might not quite hit that level in 2009, but he should get close, and if he did meet those numbers not many of us would be surprised.

Prediction: .293 average, 29 homers, 96 RBI, 4 steals, 90 runs scored