Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | MIN | RHP | 13 | 45 |
Grades Update: Apr 2021
| OFP | Role | FB | CB | CH | Ctr/Cmd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 40 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50/45 |
Apr 2021 Report
Evaluator: Mike Kurland
Age: 23 yr
Height: 6-3
Weight: 215 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2018 Round 5
RuleV: 2021
Physical Description: Long legs; high waist. Frame is full with little remaining projection. Looks his size.
Delivery & Mechanics: Windup; works quick to home. Short arm action. Pivots and locks lead leg. Big follow through with back leg leading to him falling toward first base. Keeps the mechanics simple and easy to repeat. Starts with glove waist level and raises it up and over his head and back down as he goes through the windup. Knee comes up to the letters and almost meets the glove. Doesn't sit into glutes as much and generates good hip/shoulder separation. Throws from a 3/4 arm slot.
Fastball: 92-95 MPH T96. Velocity sits low to mid 90s with ride and arm-side run. Able to attack the zone with success. Keeps batters getting under it when he locates it atop the zone. Willing to throw east and west while attacking up as well. Does not put it down in the zone often. Command can get away from him at times. Really seems to attack away on RHH and attack the black. Will also attack glove side against LHH. Overall, Sands just appears to be comfortable throwing the fastball glove side. He can utilize it for strikeouts as he generates whiffs with it up in the zone on 2-strike counts. Grade: 50
Curveball: 76-78 MPH. Good break to it. 12-6 curve that can get some 1-7 movement to it at times. Able to attack RHH well with it. Able to locate outside the zone and create whiffs with it. Can be utilized as an out pitch. Oftens attacks glove side against RHH and generates chases as well as hitting the zone a good amount of the time. Induces a lot of weak contact. Compliments the fastball well. Grade: 50
Changeup: 78 MPH. Good velocity differential from the fastball. Changeup has good arm-side fade. Keeps batters guessing and off balance as it moves similarly to the fastball but comes in slower and with more of that arm-side break. Throws more often to LHH but can struggle to locate it. Grade: 50
Control and Command: Sands can hit the zone often but doesn't quite hit his spots at times. He tends to focus on the outside edges and will get a good amount of chases and called strikes. He is able to produce whiffs often and that swing-and-miss was evident at every stop and also done with every pitch. He can hit spots around the strike zone. Control: 50 | Command: 45
Overall: There's potential here. He has three pitches that are solid with the fastball flashing plus potential. All seem to move well and can cause deception and keep hitters off balance. The changeup and curve are good secondary offerings and has three pitches he can throw with confidence. He limits hard contact and is able to miss bats often which shows in the strikeout numbers. There's room for growth and it's all about how much he carries the early success from his pro debut in 2019 over to 2021 after missing 2020 to the pandemic shortened season. Can see a path to being a backend SP.
OFP: 45
Role: 40 - Backend SP #5
Risk: High
