If some major league teams had their way, Charlie Blackmon would be working on the mound instead of patrolling the Colorado Rockies outfield. Blackmon was drafted as a pitcher twice, once out of high school and once out of junior college, before spending one season as a hitter at Georgia Tech. That one year was enough to get him taken in the second round of the 2008 draft, and, after Dexter Fowler's abdominal injury, Blackmon got the call to the big leagues in his fourth professional season.

Given all the time he had spent on the mound, Blackmon was raw when he was drafted, but he was also athletic, a proverbial "five-tool" outfielder. Combined with his great work ethic and makeup, he was able to start turning those tools into baseball skills rather quickly, and he has been hitting well since turning pro. After missing the first two months of 2010 because of a hamstring injury, Blackmon put together a good finish to the year in Double-A, posting an .843 OPS. That earned him an invitation to the Arizona Fall League, where he continued to perform well. And this season, he was on fire at Triple-A (admittedly in a great hitting environment) when he was summoned, hitting .337 with 10 homers and 12 steals.Lefty-hitting Blackmon has a short, solid stroke with a nice bat path. He is more of a line-drive hitter who can hit the ball to both gaps with authority, thanks to his strong wrists and forearms, but he does have high-teens power potential. Blackmon also makes good contact and has solid bat control, striking out less than 14 percent of the time over his past two seasons, which bodes well for his ability to hit for average at the big league level. One of the other positives is that Blackmon has not demonstrated any platoon splits, and his swing is geared to hit both left- and right-handed pitching. His one weakness is a willingness to expand the zone a bit too much, with the results of that being more along the lines of weaker contact as opposed to swings and misses.Despite his 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame, Blackmon is actually an above-average runner -- one opposing pitcher called him "sneaky fast" -- and he's capable of swiping 20 bags. That speed also helps cover up some shaky routes in the outfield on occasion. Blackmon is capable of playing all three outfield positions, as the ex-pitcher has the arm to play right field and his long strides can cover a lot of ground in center.Blackmon is a good example of why scouts like to get multiple looks at players whenever possible because he's a player who has grown on me. When I got my first extended look at him, I had him pegged as a fourth outfielder, albeit a very good one. However, after seeing him more late last year and this year, I've upgraded him to a player who can stick as a big league regular.Now that it looks as if he's going to see regular playing time, Blackmon has the chance to be one of those quietly effective across-the-board contributors who won't hurt you in any one fantasy category and who help you a bit in batting average, homers and steals.

Top 11 for '11