RHP Connor Foley

Age: 20

B: Right T: Right

HT: 6/5 WT: 235

Hometown: Jasper, IN

2024 Stats: 14 G, 63 IP, 37 H, 33 ER, 49 BB, 82 SO, 4.71 ERA, 1.365 WHIP

After pitching specifically out of the bullpen his freshman year, Foley entered the starting rotation for the Hoosiers in 2024. It’s been a smooth transition for the right-hander, but it has come with some bumps in the road. The biggest challenge Foley has faced is maintaining velocity late in games. When he was in the bullpen, he sat 93-95 MPH while touching 99 MPH. During our live looks of him, he sat in that 93-95 range for the first two innings, and then the velocity started to fall off inning by inning. He was 91-94 MPH in the third, 90-93 MPH in the fourth, and 89-92 MPH in the fifth and sixth. Scouts were hoping to see his velocity hold late in games. Outside of the velocity, concerns, the fastball had good ride to it, and he generated a good amount of whiff and chase.

The other issue for Foley is his already spotty command and control waivers even more the later he gets into games, especially with the fastball. As his command started to falter, he lost confidence in his fastball, and it became a heavy diet of offspeed pitches, which seemed to lead to more walks and hit batters. The slider grades about average and has some good bite to it from time to time. He was really able to create deception with his low-80s changeup and kept hitters off balance, as it had a good separation from his fastball. It was easily his most effective pitch.

If Foley can’t find a way to keep his velocity maintained later in games and stick as a starter, he likely ends up a reliever. Regardless, if he can find his way back to 93-95 MPH while topping out around 98, there could be the makings of a pretty good late-inning reliever. Especially if he can get more consistency with his slider shape and improve his changeup.

Foley is a massive presence on the mound with his large frame but is still fairly athletic. He is mostly filled out with not a ton of room for growth. There is a chance a team could take a shot on him in the top 125 picks, given how intriguing his arm is, and a team might think he can develop as a starter at the next level. And in the worst case, there could be a fairly good reliever there.