When the Angels used the 16th overall pick of the 2016 draft on Virginia catcher Matt Thaiss, they were convinced they were getting one of the top hitters in the country.
The left-handed-hitting Thaiss led his college team in batting (.375), home runs (10), RBIs (59), slugging (.578) and on-base percentage (.473) that season. His advanced plate discipline and power to all fields “led us to believe he’ll be an above-average hitter or better,” then-scouting director Ric Wilson said.
Five years into a professional career that began with a $2.15-million signing bonus, things haven’t gone quite as expected.