A Close Look in at Chris Hess - North Kingstown Talent Brought Over to a Kingston Baseball Team
As a Boston Red Sox fan, I compare Chris Hess to current Red Sox second baseman and former MVP, Dustin Pedroia, as well as renowned Red Sox shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra. Hess is a fundamentally sound second baseman that leads Rhode Island's infielders, as well as his team's offense. The redshirt junior has a rare blend of power and speed. These talents are the reason why Baseball America deemed him to be the Atlantic 10's eighth best prospect for 2017. Along with teammate Jordan Powell, Chris Hess was an Atlantic 10 Second Team selection at the end of the 2016 season.
Up to today, the second baseman is one of the best statistical producers on the 2017 team and I do not see that fact changing in the future. I am still waiting for Hess to be nicknamed "Mr. Triples" because when he bats, he spends a good amount of his time at third base after his swing. In his collegiate career, the infielder has 18 triples. At the plate this season, Chris Hess is batting at an impressive .347 clip, to go with an on-base percentage of .427 and a slugging percentage of .493. Within his 50 hits, he has two triples, two home runs, and 26 runs batted in. Meanwhile, on the base paths, he has been successful on 10 of 12 steal attempts.
In a game on February 24, 2017 at Houston Baptist University, Chris Hess' RBI single in the fifth inning gave his team a 4-3 lead and their first lead in the game. On a 0-1 count, Hess did a perfect piece of hitting by going right with the fastball and launching it into right field to score Greg Cavaliere from second base. Considering all of the occurrences in the game, the RBI single went a long way towards Rhode Island's 5-4 road victory.
Defensively, he is a reliable fielder, time and time again. In the 2017 season, Hess has a fielding percentage of .957. The second baseman has a total of 61 putouts and 74 assists, while contributing on 10 double plays. His six errors on the season could extend no further than that number for the remainder of his junior campaign.
Moving forward, I fully believe that Chris Hess will see his name on the list of players who are drafted in the MLB draft. The North Kingstown native is one of the most underrated infielders and one of the best second basemen in the country.
Coming from North Kingstown high school and committing to URI over Boston College and the University of Connecticut was a monstrous decision for Hess and Rhode Island's baseball program. Evidently, Chris Hess is proof that Rhode Island baseball can bring in talented baseball players from right around their neighborhood.
