Round 32: Billy Burns, OF, Mercer University

(from Georgia Tech's official site)

Baseball-Reference                                                                                                                 FanGraphs
Mercer Bio                                                                                                                                       MiLB

2011 Stats: 

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
2011	21	Auburn	NYPL	A-	WSN	32	130	107	21	28	3	2	1	18	13	1	12	22	.262	.367	.355	.722	38	0	7	2	2	0
1 Season						32	130	107	21	28	3	2	1	18	13	1	12	22	.262	.367	.355	.722	38	0	7	2	2	0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/5/2012.

Sean's one sentence analysis: Burns has great speed and plate discipline and a solid glove, three features to covet in a center fielder.

Thoughts from the community: "A 32-Rd. pick in the ’11 Draft, Burns put up solid numbers for Auburn last summer. Noted for his speed, defense, and plate discipline, the 22-y.o. stole 13 bases, made no errors and go on-base at a clip of .367 over 32 games (130 PA)." - Luke Erickson, Nationals Prospects (@nats_prospects)

"Athletic CF with great speed. Knows how to steal. Great defensively, but average arm. Swing that stays on top. Perfect leadoff type." - Chris Kay, former Virginia Tech and current Traverse City (Indipendent League) catcher (@chriskay2)

Previous analysis and notes: Atlanta's 16th rounder in 2008 hit .357/.473/.509 in 224 at-bats for Mercer University this year. His power is solid but unspectacular (12 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR) but his plate discipline is great (39 BB/29 K) as are his base-stealing abilities (29/32 SB this year).

According to his Cape Cod league team, the Harwich Mariners, Burns signed with the Nationals on July 19, 2011 and received a $75,000 bonus. The deal was confirmed by the Nationals on July 22, 2011.