This is what mlbdraft.com (the most detailed draft board I’ve found) had to say.

Utley. Gwynn. Damon. These are the names most often mentioned when discussing the offensive talent that oozes from the lefty-swinging Ackley. His stance reminds one of Johnny Damon, he hits like Tony Gwynn as far as average and plate discipline, and has many projected him out to become another Chase Utley overall. Think .320+ BA, 20+ HR power, 20+ SB ability via above-average speed, and excellent defensive skills… and that gives you an idea of how highly touted of a player the NC native is. Another player that comes to mind is Nick Markakis.

The youngster has an ongoing issue that has to be considered when discussing his capabilities, and that is his right elbow/Tommy John surgery that Dr. James Andrews performed this past July. Ackley throws with his right arm, and the injury has bothered him for sometime, forcing a move to 1B to save the arm some wear and tear. Ackley is normally an outfielder, but took quite well to 1B, and may wind up sticking there. There are some who see him as a 2B’man, but most see an eventual return to the outfield. His recovery is expected to be full, but one never knows the implications… long term.

One thing is for sure, the kid can hit, and he’s a gamer. Another positive is his affinity for wood bats, as he was crushing his fellow collegians in the highly regarded Cape Cod Summer League before having his surgery; to the tune of .415/.586/.707/1.293 in 12 games (41 AB’s) for the Harwich Mariners. Small sample size, but the scouts all see it… he can flat out rake…

I’m not so worried about him fitting in CF either if 2nd seems a good possibility as well. It sounds like his bat could play at any position anyway.

No more eugenics talk.

The nature of genetic inheritance means that while tall parents are more likely than average-height parents to have taller-than-average offspring, their children are more likely to be shorter than themselves vs. the children of average parents (at least on a statistical basis, barring oddities like pituitary disorders, etc). So while Yao Ming’s father might reasonably expect to have a tall son, it wasn’t a good bet that the son would be taller than him. Of course he was, but flukes do happen; if Yao had had brothers we wouldn’t expect them to be equally tall. And of course there are other factors beyond genetics — how do we know Yao Ming’s father reached his genetic potential? How good was his nutrition when he was a growing child? How good was his mother’s nutrition when he was in the womb? What other environmental factors might he have been exposed to? This is the fundamental intellectual failure among eugenicists (be they English Victorians, German Fascists, or Chinese Socialists): there’s a lot more to human potential than just genetic makeup.

Of course, Yao Ming is married to pro basketball player Ye Li, who at 6′3″ is an inch taller than his mother. That may be simply a matter of not having to look too far down when agreeing to whatever it is she’s telling him to do. Or perhaps, regardless of the odds, the quest for the Chinese übermensch continues.