July 28, 2003

Anaheim, CA - The Angels surprised some people when they drafted Dallas McPherson in the second round in the 2001 draft. They not only had him graded out as a potential first-round pick, they were on him because of his bat, not his powerful right arm.

McPherson flashed mid-90s velocity in the Cape Cod League, which led many scouts to follow his mound appearances the following spring at The Citadel. Angels scout Mark Russo, however, was on him for his lefthanded power potential, and when McPherson struggled on the mound out of the pen, Russo and the Angels were one of the few teams who stuck around to scout the bat.

Their persistence paid off. "He's a first-division power bat," one scout said. "He's in attack mode (at the plate). He has loft and thump. The ball gets off the bat with quickness."

McPherson is some kind of hot right now for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. He has hit eight home runs during a current 11-game hit streak, that also includes 10 multi-hit efforts. His average has soared to .320 by hitting .419 in July. McPherson is hitting .320-18-58 with 21 doubles and 12 steals in 275 at-bats after starting the year on the disabled list with a back injury.