Jonathan India Addresses His December 2018 FanGraphs Scouting Report

Jonathan India was highly regarded when our 2019 Cincinnati Reds Top Prospects list was published in December 2018. Drafted fifth overall out of the University of Florida earlier that summer, India was ranked fourth in the system, with Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel assigning him a 50 FV. Two months later, the reigning SEC Player of the Year came in at no. 75 in our Top 100.

He’s gone on to have a solid career. India made his major league debut on Opening Day 2021, proceeded to win Rookie of the Year honors, and he has since been a lineup mainstay in both Cincinnati and Kansas City. This past November, the Reds traded India to the Royals, along with Joey Wiemer, in exchange for Brady Singer. Assuming more of a super-utility role with his new team, India’s performance has taken a considerable step back. After putting up 2.9 WAR last year, he’s batting .237/.324/.352 with eight home runs, an 89 wRC+, and -0.3 WAR, though he’s been much better since the start of August (113 wRC+). Over four-plus big league seasons, India has 71 home run, a 104 wRC+, and 7.9 WAR.

What did his December 2018 FanGraphs scouting report look like? Moreover, what does he think about it all these years later? Wanting to find out, I shared some of what our former prospect-analyst duo wrote and asked India to respond to it.

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“India was a well-known prep prospect in South Florida, but the combination of a solid, but not spectacular, tool set and seven-figure asking price sent him to Florida.”

“That would have been 2015, 10 years ago,” replied India, who spent his prep years at American Heritage School in Delray Beach. “I wasn’t mentally ready, I guess. I wanted to go to college, learn how to be on my own, learn how to be a man. So, it was really about personal development. There was no baseball involved. It was more that I wanted to grow up and enjoy college. Live life.”

“His first two years were about as expected; India got regular at-bats but didn’t have any performative breakthroughs. In his draft year, India lost bad weight and added some strength, made some offensive adjustments, and exploded, torching the best conference in the country.”

“I was just growing up, man,” the 5-foot-11, 200-pound Royal recalled. “It’s called maturing — my body was maturing. As far as [exploding in his draft year], I was just enjoying the game. Everything was going my way that year. Just in general, defense and offense, I was playing well. Adjustments… I forget, man. That was seven years ago. It was different. It was just different.”

“It wasn’t until mid-way through the season that he seemed like a sure first round pick. He eventually looked like a consensus top 10 pick in the weeks leading up to the draft.”

“Again, I just had a really good year,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention to [draft rumors]. I didn’t really care about that. I actually didn’t even know that the Reds were on me. If I remember correctly, I was picked one pick before I thought I was going to get picked. I thought I was going to go sixth to the Mets. I’d met with the Mets. I mean, I met with basically every team, but I was surprised by the Reds.”

“India has 55 raw power — 60 for some scouts — and is a 55 defender with a 55 arm at third base… He played some shortstop at Florida and could be a limited-range fill-in there, with a chance to fit at second base if needed for longer stretches.”

“I played third and short at Florida; I never played second until the big leagues,” he explained. “My expectations were probably third. I played third in the minor leagues, although I only played one full year in the minors [in part because the pandemic cancelled the 2020 minor league season]. It went quickly.”

“We see India continuing to tap into his power, with something like a 50 hit tool and 55 power, with slightly more strikeouts than league average, but has the ability to be a hit-over-power type of player if he and the Reds choose that kind of approach.”

“Were they saying that I was a power hitter in college?” asked India. “I don’t know about that one. I do know that I’ve never tried to be a power hitter. I’m not big enough. I just try to be a hitter.”

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Previous “Old Scouting Reports Revisited” interviews can be found through these links: Shane Baz, Cody Bellinger, Matthew Boyd, Dylan Cease, Matt Chapman, Erick Fedde, Kyle Freeland, Max Fried, Lucas Giolito, Tyler Glasgow, Randal Grichuk, Ian Happ, Jordan Hicks, Jeff Hoffman, Tanner Houck, Matthew Liberatore, Tyler Mahle, Sean Newcomb, Bailey Ober, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Joe Ryan, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien.