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Selected out of Arizona State by the New York Yankees in the fourth round (134th overall) of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. … Wore No. 9 during his college career in honor of Roger Maris.

2009 Highlights
Started with the Trenton Thunder and was called up Scranton in the middle of June even though he was only batting .268.  Got off to a hot start in Scranton but then went into a 3-for-38 slump in July. He managed to finish the season at .235 with 10 doubles, six home runs, 29 RBI in 70 games.

2008 Highlights:
Batted .255 with 20 doubles, three triples, 10 HR and 71 RBIs in 132 games with Double-A Trenton, setting career highs in games, runs (68), doubles, home runs and RBIs. Hit in 13 straight games from April 15-30, batting .373 (19-for-51) with five doubles over that stretch.
2007 Highlights:
Combined to hit .270 (131-for-485) with 69R, 19 doubles and 41RBI in 126 games with Class A Advanced Tampa and Double-A Trenton. Had a 14-game hitting streak from 5/23-6/7 and hit in 22-of-23 games from 5/23-6/18. Was transferred from Tampa to Trenton on 6/22.
2006 Highlights:
Made his professional debut after earning All-Pac-10 honors at Arizona State University. Played in three games with Gulf Coast Yankees before being promoted to Class-A Staten Island. With Staten Island, batted .302 in 44 games and helped lead the Yankees to their second straight NY-Penn League championship. He combined to bat .311 with 28 runs scored in his first professional season.

High School: Was a 2003 graduate of Issaquah High School in Issaquah, Washington. He was coached in baseball by Rob Reese and in basketball by Jeff Patrick. Colin was a four year letter winner and starter in baseball and a two year letter winner in basketball, a three-time KingCo 3A first-team outfielder and was a two-time all-state selection. He shared the Washington state 3A MVP honors with Washington freshman pitcher Tim Lincecum.

Held opponents to a 1.40 ERA as a pitcher in 2001 and played in the American Legion Summer league for Food Giant/Lakeside and won the Washington State American Legion State Championship two times and advanced to the Legion World Series in 2002. After missing half of his freshman season, he returned to help lead the Issaquah Indians to the 2000 3A Washington State Championship where he faced his brother, Conor, at the plate in the state championship game against city rival Skyline High.

He hit .459 his junior year which was the third best hitting performance in the school’s history.

He led Issaquah to fifth and third place finishes his junior and senior years respectively. He was named to the All-KingCo First-Team as starting the center fielder for three straight years and was named first-team All-State his senior year. Named team MVP three times (2001-03) by his teammates. Led Issaquah to a 76-26 record (.745) over his career and hit .405 (30-for-74) with six doubles, five home runs and 21 RBI during his senior year. He also pitched in 2003, going 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA in 21.0 Innings Pitched. Colin played in the 2003 All-American High School game which was televised by Fox Sports and went 1-for-2 with a RBI.

He was a participant in the Washington All-State Baseball Series and the KingCo All-Star game and named to the PowerBar High School Baseball Top 50 after the 2002 Area Code Games.

He was rated as the No. 70 prospect for 2003 draft by TeamOneBaseball.com and No. 15 high school prospect for 2003 draft heading into 2003 season by Baseball America.

Major League Draft: Selected in the 50th round in 2003 draft by the Cincinnati Reds (1467 overall) but opted for college.

Personal Information: Majored in BIS with an emphasis on business and sociology. His parents are Jed and Janet Curtis of Sammamish, Washington. He has one brother named Conor. Curtis is a survivor of testicular cancer after being diagnosed in 1999. He received a signed book by cyclist Lance Armstrong after being diagnosed with cancer.

Was a summer league teammate (Food Giant) of Arizona outfielder Derrick Decatur during prep career. His favorite major league baseball team is the Seattle Mariners and favorite player is Derek Jeter Nickname is C2 and wears No. 9 because of Roger Maris.

College: Arizona State Sun Devils
2004 (Freshman): Started in 57 of ASU’s 59 games and hit .300 (57-for-190) with 11 doubles, five home runs and 36 RBI. Was named All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention and was named a midseason Freshman All-American by Baseball America. Was second on the team with 12 stolen bases, ranking fifth in ASU freshman history. Ranked eighth in the Pac-10 with 11 SB and eighth with 38 walks. Went 2-for-4 with season-high five RBI and a three-run home run against New Mexico State on (5/3). He recorded at least one hit in 38 of 57 games and had 15 multi-hit contests. Went 3-for-4 in season finale against Cal State Fullerton (6/5).

Played for the Orleans Cardinals in the Cape Cod Summer League and hit .223 (35-for-157) with seven doubles, three home runs and 20 RBI.

2005 (Sophomore): Earned All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors and was second on the team hitting .342 (89-for-260) with 52 runs, 14 doubles, one triple, two home runs and 45 RBI. Ranked second on the team and fifth in the Pac-10 with 17 stolen bases. Was named to the College World Series All-Tournament Team and was the recipient of the Jim Henderson Courage Award and the Bobby Winkles Award at the annual ASU Awards Banquet.

Invited to the USA Baseball National Team Trials and was named to the Tempe Regional All-Tournament team after hitting .545 (6-for-11) with six runs scored and three RBI in the regional while starting in all 67 games in the outfield. He recorded at least one hit in 52 of 67 games and had 28 multi-hit contests. Led all players in the College World Series with nine hits and overall hit .474 (9-for-19) with two doubles and three RBI in the CWS. He hit .400 (16-for-40) in the NCAA Tournament and hit .316 (30-for-95) in Pac-10 play. Was a .402 hitter (35-for-87) with runners in scoring position.

Played summer baseball for the Orleans Cardinals in the Cape Cod League and was named the league’s No. 23 prospect after hitting .323 (32-for-99) with six doubles. Helped lead the Cardinals to the Cape Cod League Championship and was amed the MVP of the East squad during the CCBL All-Star game. He was also named to the postseason All-Star team.

2006 (Junior)
Earned First Team All-Pac-10 Honors. Was a Wallace Award Watch List winner. Was a first preseason All American by Baseball America. Led the team with 80 hits and also had a team-leading 21 game hitting streak early in the season. Batted .335 (80-for-239) with 60 runs, 15 doubles, five triples, six home runs and 54 RBI.

Scouting Report:
Batting and Power:
He’s got great balance and is a very disciplined hitter. He has a great understanding of his strengths and limitations and makes adjustments quickly. Is one of the more accomplished hitters in the organization.

Curtis is extremely adept at driving the ball to the opposite field. He’s constantly working on pulling more inside pitches to improve his power production. Possessing great aptitude and showing an ability to make quick adjustments had the Yankees really excited about his future. Curtis is a very selective hitter at the plate and is the type of disciplined hitter who could draw more walks than strikeouts. In college, he worked on improving his pitch recognition in an effort to get more pitches to drive.

He is normally very patient at the plate, although he did tend to swing at a few too many pitches outside of the zone in the early going. He has serious home run power in batting practice and he is just now learning how to transfer that into the actual games.

Base Running and Speed.

Curtis is a good base runner who seems to be more aggressive in hit-and-run situations and grabbing the extra base on base hits. His aggressiveness has not shown in stolen base opportunities. Curtis has the speed, athleticism, and knowledge to steal double-digit bases but he hasn’t shown that willingness. He is probably the fourth fastest prospect in the organization behind Brett Gardner, Justin Christian, and Austin Jackson.

Defense.

He was a center-fielder in college and has enough range and defensive ability to man that position in emergency situations at the major league level. He has enough arm strength to fill the same role in right field. His range and arm project to play better everyday in left field at the major league level.

YankeesDaily’s Take and Projection:
He can play all three outfield positions an has the versatility offensively to safely project as a solid reserve outfielder. He doesn’t have that one great tool that would make him a top prospect but his combination of baseball aptitude, solid bat, and developing power gives him the look of a late-bloomer. He has enough power in his swing but needs to transfer his batting practice power to game situations. Hitting for average has always been his strength. He’s pretty obsessed with trying to turn on the inside pitches for home runs.

The Yankees have waited for the ’06 fourth-rounder Colin Curtis, a left fielder with a career .375 slugging percentage, to increase his power output but it never happened. The 24-year-old played very well in the Arizona Fall League, batting .397/.472/.731 and leading everybody in slugging. He’s Rule 5 eligible now, having not been added to the 40-man roster.

Colin Curtis at bat from Mike Ashmore’s Youtube page:

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