John Wooten

John Marvin Wooten

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6'3", Weight 190 lb.
• School East Carolina University
• High School Eastern Wayne High School

• Born January 19, 1991 in Goldsboro, NC USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

OF John Wooten has played in the minor leagues. His father Marvin Wooten spent two seasons as a pro while his mother was a tennis player at East Carolina.

He hit .301 as a high school freshman, .321 as a sophomore, .551 as a junior (winning All-State) and .531 as a senior (again All-State). He was drafted out of high school by the San Diego Padres in the 20th round of the 2009 amateur draft, but chose to go to college instead of signing. In 2010, he hit .311/.371/.477 with 39 runs, playing mostly SS (24 G) and 1B (18 G). He spent the summer in the elite Cape Cod League, hitting only .211 for the Harwich Mariners. Playing primarily first base as a sophomore at ECU, he produced at a .298/.366/.392 clip with only one homer in 245 at-bats. Back with Harwich in the summer of 2011, he did somewhat better (.245/.297/.364). As a junior in college, he hit .338/.392/.502 with 50 runs in 59 games. He was All-Conference USA as an infielder (again starting at 1B often, also playing 21 games in LF and 9 in RF). He was 4th in the conference in hits and total bases (119) and tied for 4th in home runs (9). He was drafted again, this time by the Oakland Athletics, in the 37th round of the 2012 amateur draft. The scout was Neil Avent.

Signing with the A's, Wooten began his pro career with the Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York-Penn League in 2012, hitting a solid .286/.326/.401 in 67 games, driving in 39 runs as the team's principal right fielder. He did well enough that he was given a few games in the Midwest League at the end of the year, where he hit .188 in 17 at-bats for the Burlington Bees. He tied Cameron Perkins and Preston Tucker for 7th in the NYPL in RBI.

The A's Midwest League affiliate became the Beloit Snappers in 2013 and he spent the entire year with the team, getting into 133 games with a batting line of .257/.333/.430. He showed good power with 22 doubles and 20 homers, scored 76 runs and drove in 69, all of these excellent numbers for a late-round pick of whom little was expected. He was 4th in the MWL in dingers and tied for 8th in runs. He played mainly right field again, but also got in some playing time at third base and first base. Now considered somewhat of a prospect (Baseball America did not put him on their list of the top 20 MWL prospects), he was traded to the Washington Nationals on November 25th in return for major league reliever Fernando Abad.

Sources

• 2013 A's Media Guide
• ECU page
• Cape Cod stats