Lorenzo
Hampton Jr.

5/20/15 - Tall lean athletic body. Quickness and strength in bat with long levers. Gets good extension but has length in swing. Took a good BP this past weekend but I’ve seen him take a mammoth BP, every bit as good as Reyes, in the past. Will need to improve contact frequency by learning his strengths and weaknesses and taking advantage of those strengths. In other words, developing a better approach.

2/18/15 - Cal Berkeley commit. 6-foot-5, 205 pound outfielder with an ideal body. Tall athletic projectable.  Reminds me of Domonic Brown.  Impressive BP with a simple trigger and hands-to-ball approach. Hits them a long way and does it easy and doesn’t even use his lower half well. There’s more power in there.  Has a little ways to go for the power to play. The bat and power don’t really translate to the game yet, where a lack of rhythm has him feeling for the ball instead of exploding through it.  Not a runner despite dad’s being a former NFL running back, but has an above avg ML arm. Could become a draft. Profiles for right field. Tonight was 1 for 3 w/IBB

Tall lean athletic body with a lot of projection. Big raw power. Takes a very impressive BP. More frequent contact will help him get to his power. Athletic in OF with enough arm strength. Son of Lorenzo Hampton, former Gator running back and 1st round pick for the Miami Dolphins. 

8-1-2018: Wasn’t slated to participate in the NECBL’s home run hitting contest. Some minor injuries have limited him to 80 at-bats and four homers this summer for the Keene Swamp Bats — but Keene GM Kevin Watterson knew Hampton was capable of putting on a show for the fans in the home run derby if he could just get the chance. So when another player dropped out of the derby, Watterson lobbied hard to get Hampton to take the slot — and he succeeded.

“I was fired up. I was fired up,” Hampton said. “That was the one thing I wanted to do all summer was be in the home run derby.”

Perhaps Hampton’s loud batting practice display in Sunday morning’s NECBL prospects showcase helped influence league officials to give Hampton a shot. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound righthanded hitter, launched a couple of moon shots deep into the trees beyond the left-field fence in the prospect showcase, where his power stood out above all the other participants. It was more of the same in the home run derby, as Hampton easily outpaced the other 11 competitors with 11 homers in the first round — four more than Danbury’s Jake Frasca (Sacred Heart) and Newport’s Dalton Reed(Kentucky), who tied for second place with seven. That trio then participated in a playoff round, where Frasca launched six more homers in his allotted three minutes, and Reed out-did him with seven.

But Hampton got to seven long balls in a hurry, and smashed a soaring blast for his eighth with plenty of time to spare. As the ball soared through the air, Hampton hurled his bat high into the air and raised his arms, as a host of purple-clad Swamp Bat teammates mobbed him.

“Here, it’s kind of a graveyard anywhere other than down the line,” Hampton said. “I saw the way the wind was playing and it had to be straightaway to left to get some out. It worked out.”

Power has always been the calling card for the long-levered Hampton, who went deep nine times as a junior at Florida International this year. He spent his first two seasons at California, where he logged just 32 at-bats combined before transferring back to his hometown of Miami and receiving a waiver from the NCAA to be immediately eligible.

So now Hampton is competing in the same town where his father, Lorenzo Hampton, starred as a running back for the Miami Dolphins in the 1980s. Lorenzo Jr. had a breakout year in 2018 for FIU, hitting .278/.352/.483, though he struck out 55 times and drew 17 walks in 176 at-bats. His approach has been his main point of emphasis this summer.

“Just trying to work on working deeper counts and being a better all-around hitter,” he said. “At school this year I kind of gave away a few at-bats, and I’m just working on being more complete at the plate. Definitely just trusting my approach. A lot of times I get out of it, and that kind of hurts me. But just trusting what my coaches say and what we go over as a team and a program. I think I’m getting better at that this summer.”

He’s also working on his defense at both corner outfield spots — he said FIU coach Mervyl Melendez was really on him about his defense. He started 2018 in center field, but that didn’t work out, and he’s feeling more comfortable in the corners. If he continues to develop his all-around game, Hampton could provide big value as a senior sign next year, because raw power like his is always in demand. (A Fitt)