Just a few days into the 2023 summer, James Tibbs had already made his mark on manager Jamie Shevchik and the Whitecaps organization.

While Shevchik made his usual early season lineups featuring left-handed batters against right-handed pitchers and vice versa, Tibbs disagreed with the decision.

The left-handed batter approached Shevchik behind the turtle during batting practice and asked: How am I supposed to figure out how to hit a left-handed pitcher if you don't play me against lefties? If I'm gonna be good, I need to hit both.

“That really stood out to me as what type of kid he is,” Shevchik said.

After that day, Shevchik put Tibbs in the lineup almost every day the rest of the way. Though starting slow, Tibbs progressed into the team's Most Valuable Player, batting .303 with an .862 OPS while perfecting his craft against both left- and right-handed hitters.

A year later, Tibbs is eligible to be selected in the 2024 MLB Draft, where he’s projected by many to be picked in the first round when the draft kicks off Sunday in Arlington, Texas.

As a prospect, Tibbs is as good as it gets when it comes to pure hitting. In a draft class full of established collegiate bats, his three years at Florida State and his successful summer in Brewster put him up there with the best of the best.

According to multiple draft experts, he profiles as a left fielder on the professional level, but he played primarily right field in college and even some first base in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Offensively, Tibbs adds immense value to an organization.

“I would think whoever takes him is probably thinking they're getting a left fielder, who's capable of hitting .270 to .280, with 25 homers a year,” Jim Callis, a senior writer for MLB Pipeline, said of Tibbs.

Tibbs was a highly touted player out of Marietta, Georgia, earning First Team All-State honors in his sophomore and senior seasons at Pope High School. But it was in Tallahassee where he first evolved into a professional-grade player.

With the Seminoles, he immediately found a role in the lineup, playing 110 games across his first two seasons. Tibbs’ jumps from his freshman to sophomore year were evident in his offensive statistics, increasing his batting average .039 points (.300 to .339) and increasing his OPS from .964 to 1.153. Though Tibbs was also making significant strides in the weight room as well.

According to FSU strength and conditioning coach Jamie Burleson, Tibbs squatted around 360 pounds in his first fall workouts in 2021. At the end of his collegiate career, he was up around 525 pounds.

Burleson also noted that in his time in the garnet and gold, Tibbs’ neutral grip bench press increased over 100 pounds and his body weight shot up from around 190 pounds to the 200-210 range.

“The way he goes about his business on a daily basis and does it the right way, I've kind of looked at him as he's been professional the last couple of years, just growing and maturing as a young man as well,” Burleson said.

Tibbs’ relentless work ethic carried over to his time in Brewster. Burleson said that Tibbs, along with FSU and Brewster teammate Jaime Ferrer, would text the strength coach weekly while on the Cape, asking questions about lifts and making modifications as needed to match playing every day.

While keeping up with his training routine, Tibbs blossomed in the batter’s box. After his batting practice chat with Shevchik, Tibbs quickly snapped out of his slow start. By trusting the process, he soon figured out how to perfect his swing against all pitchers.

“I watched the kid kind of grow up a little bit throughout the course of last year,” Shevchik said. “He struggled in the beginning, but was out here for the right reasons: to get better.”

As one of the few players who stayed for the entire duration of the 2023 summer, Tibbs was able to work through issues and make mechanical adjustments along the way. His 142 at-bats ranked third in all of the CCBL. The more at-bats with a wooden bat, the more opportunities to grow as a hitter.

Tibbs’ great summer culminated in an All-Star appearance and a Home Run Derby Championship, where he displayed his power in front of a flurry of scouts and league officials.

“Guys knew him when he was in high school, he had two monster years at Florida State, but the fact that he went up and produced with wood bats like he did last summer, just gives you even more confidence,” Callis said. “It's part of the reason he's gonna be a first-round pick.”

If his summer performance wasn’t enough to push Tibbs into the first round, his junior season at Florida State likely did the trick.

“From the minute he came back in the fall he was a different guy,” FSU assistant coach Ty Megahee said. “I mean, he was a professional hitter at that point.”

Tibbs drew from his Cape League experience and two prior years in Tallahassee to have an exceptional junior season. The Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year recorded a 1.264 OPS with 28 home runs and 95 RBI. From his freshman season to his junior year, Tibbs dropped his K% by 20.5%.

While Tibbs helped lead a potent Seminoles lineup deep into Omaha, he performed at his best in the Tallahassee Super Regional. With FSU leading UConn 1-0 in the best-of-three series, the Seminoles needed one more win to clinch a trip to the College World Series.

In a back-and-forth affair, Tibbs stole the show. He recorded five hits, six RBI and three home runs — including a 12th-inning go-ahead shot — to push the Seminoles by the Huskies. With 14 total bases on the day, Tibbs had turned in one of the all-time great college baseball performances.

“That type of performance, on that type of stage with the pressure and the things that go into it. You walk out of the park that day thinking, ‘This guy's got it, man. He's gonna go on and do this for a long time,’” Megahee said.

Tibbs’ next step in having a lengthy career in baseball is being selected in the draft. While multiple outlets have scattered projections, there’s a consensus among most — the former Whitecap won’t have to wait long to hear MLB commissioner Rob Manfred call his name.

Joe Doyle, a senior analyst for Future Stars Series Plus, sees Tibbs going No. 21 overall to the Minnesota Twins. While he has Tibbs later than some other draft experts, Doyle is confident in Tibbs’ ability to quickly move through an organization.

“I would think that James Tibbs is probably going to be one of the faster movers in this draft,” Doyle said. “I think there's a chance Tibbs could see Major League Baseball by the end of 2025.”

Other experts have Tibbs going even higher. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN has him slotted at No. 10 to the Washington Nationals. D1Baseball’s staff sees him going at No. 12 to the Boston Red Sox. Callis has Tibbs going at No. 14 to the Chicago Cubs with a possibility of going even higher.

“He's a pretty complete package as a hitter, one of the best hitters in the college class. And I think there's a chance he could go on the top 10 picks maybe on a little bit of a discount deal,” Callis said.

No matter where Tibbs is selected on Sunday, his impact made on Brewster is substantial. As the reigning team MVP, Tibbs now graces the cover of the 2024 Whitecaps yearbook, leaving an imprint on the organization and Shevchik that will last far beyond draft day.

“I don't say this very often, but I'm going to follow Tibbs for the rest of his career,” Shevchik said. “He's the guy that you always want to root for.”

Photo credit: Whitecaps 2023 Media Staff