With their extensive use of the bullpen and double switches over the past several years, the Giants have provided opportunities for and made extensive use of utility players.
While not well know outside of the Bay Area, Joaquin Arias produced nicely in a utility role rotating between 2B, 3B and shortstop and has WS rings to show for it. I think Arias success also shows that the expectations for and value of a utility player at the MLB level are not measured in the same manner by some organizations.
In 2014, Matt Duffy played a utility role into a key spot on the roster into the post-season and earned a ring. In 2015, when every other option had failed by early May, Duffy, who made the roster as a utility guy mostly for 2B and short and pinch hitting, was given a chance at 3B. His hitting got him the chance. His hitting and improvement in the field made him, perhaps, the most valuable Giant in 2015, batting 3rd in the line up and finishing second in the ROY voting. He made a very good argument to be ROY.
Locally, Duffy is now viewed as a potential star at 3b, a position mostly foreign to him before May of 2015.
It should also be pointed out that the ROY winner, Kris Bryant, played positions other than 3B this year.
Kelby Tomlinson, a shortstop in college and Milb, hit his way into the Giant's line up at 2B as a replacement for an injured Joe Panik in 2015 and is working this off-season to become a true utility guy. He actually may be working to show his skills for 31 teams. His speed, versatility and ability to hit for average gives him a chance he would never have had but for a Panik injury and his ability to adapt, with his bat keeping him in the line up as he learned 2B.
For the HS player in question, the talent to be a skilled utility guy, at any level, starts with the ability with the bat, in my view. With that said, I very much agree that "utility" is quite different in HS vs college vs Milb vs MLB. As I have posted before, one of our son's Milb teammates and friends played every position at Stanford except catcher, pitcher and 2B ,and was a starter in a different position in each of his 4 years, 3 of which involved trips to Omaha. He was drafted as a...2B.
If a HS players shows well at a showcase with the bat, especially with good hand and bat speed through the zone, good college coaches will notice, especially if the player is not set on D1. If the ability with the bat is combined with some speed, athleticism and arm strength, most good college coaches won't miss him. In my view, if there are weaknesses with the bat at the HS level, it will be a challenge to showcase or be recruited unless the HS player can excel in other areas to show a good college coach he can fill a spot and contribute.