Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | KC | LHP | 2 | 55 |
Grades Update: May 2021
| OFP | Role | FB | CB | SL | CH | Ctr/Cmd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 60 | 60 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 50/45 |
May 2021 Report
Evaluator: Geoff Pontes
Age: 22 yr
Height: 6-4
Weight: 215 lbs
Hits/Throws: L/L
Acquired: 2020 Round 1
RuleV: 2023
Physical Description: Physically imposing presence. Large, broad-shouldered and muscular. High level of conditioning and physicality. Concisely put -- jacked.
Delivery & Mechanics: Semi-windup; drop and drive delivery; short claw arm action, over the top slot; high leg lift, head whack, strong leg block, gets deep into glutes at foot strike generating premium velocity in all of his pitches.
Fastball: Sits 93-95 mph, touching 98 mph in game this spring. High ride fastball with the ability to miss bats at the top of the zone. Explodes out of his hand and seems to pickup steam as it enters the zone. His fastball is tough to square up leading to lots of swings and misses in the heart of the plate. Struggles to command low gloveside due to movement and action. Plus fastball that has ceiling to improve over the next few seasons. Grade: 60
Curveball: Clear fourth pitch, rarely used, change of pace pitch with slow 12-6 break. Sits 77-80 mph, mostly thrown armside in left in left matchups. Below average pitch, likely eliminated from his arsenal in the coming years. Grade: 40
Slider: Hard, tight slider, sitting 84-86 mph, up to 89 mph, with hard late bite and sweep. Heavy gyro pitch that he can manipulate to add more vertical or horizontal break. Shows two plane break consistently. Nasty swing and miss pitch that hits the zone as a strike and drops off the table. Still learning to land it low gloveside with consistency. More likely to miss a bat than skim a barrel. Double plus pitch that could baffle elite big league bats now. Grade: 70
Changeup: Hard off-speed, with late fade and tumble, more late vertical dump than armside run. Sits 84-87 mph giving him a good separation from his fastball. Throws it exclusively to righthanders with even usage to his slider. Generates lots of swings and misses. Not a dominant pitch but a valuable part of Lacy's arsenal. Grade: 50
Control and Command: Average control with fringe average command that will play up when he's on. Works the fringes well with his fastball, but the hard two-plane break on his slider makes it difficult to fully harness. Lacy has the kind of stuff that's typical of the get in the zone mantra. Hitters will have a difficult time squaring Lacy up regardless of location in the zone. Control: 50 | Command: 45
Overall: One of the best arms to enter the draft in the last few years, Lacy is a nasty lefty with big velocity and the movement to match. Will he dominate the fringes of the zone and showcase surgical precision? No, but he throws enough strikes and his stuff will limit the damage time and again. He has a clear plan of attack versus left handed and right handed hitters, and has the body and pitch mix to start. There's some effort in his delivery and many view his changeup as fringe-average versus average. There's certainly and element of relief risk, but if it does end in a bullpen role at peak he should be one of the more dominant relievers in the game. That said, we fully believe that Lacy in a mid-rotation or better starter at the next level.
OFP: 55
Role: 60 - #3 SP
Risk: Moderate
