Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | COL | LHP | 19 | 35 |
Grades Update: Nov 2020
| OFP | Role | FB | CB | CH | Cnt/Cmd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 30 | 50 | 50 | 40 | 40/30 |
Nov 2020 Report
Evaluator: Geoff Pontes
Age: 20 yr
Height: 6-2
Weight: 192 lbs
Hits/Throws: L/L
Acquired: 2016 IFA
RuleV: Eligible
Physical Description: Tall, lean, high waisted, and broad-shouldered, projectable frame, looks like he could add 10-15 pounds of good weight in the coming years as his body matures.
Delivery & Mechanics: Starts his full delivery from a wide stance with his hips open to the plate. Starts his motion, pronating his front leg, turning his hips, contracting into a moderate leg lift, before driving and delivering from a three-quarters arm slot. Gets around the ball on all of his pitches, leading to a lot of cut in his movement profile. Timing is an issue, arm lags at times, hips will fly open, will lose release point. Despite some timing issues, it's a fluid operation and his athleticism shows in how easily he finds velo. Incredibly fast worker, moving through at bats at a rapid fire pace. This trait almost certainly works to the determinant of his strike throwing.
Fastball: Has been up to 97 mph in the past from the left side, averaging 94.5 mph at 2020 instructs. He has an above-average release height at six feet and gets average extension on the pitch. His average spin is in the 2300-2350 range but it's inefficient and he doesn't get much rise on the pitch. He cuts it predominantly but will get some run on his best fastballs. It's double plus velocity for a left-handed starter and plus for left-handed reliever so the pitch will play despite below average movement. Improved command of the pitch is needed, it's around the zone but he consistently misses spots. Grade: 50
Curveball: Olivarez's best swing and miss pitch based on 2019's observation with Grand Junction. Sits 76-79 mph with the pitch, getting moderate vertical drop and some late horizontal break. Spin rates in the 2500-2600 rpm range, but there's a fair amount of gyro spin limiting his vertical dump. Controls it when he's on, tending to be around the zone. That however was not the norm as he was prone to bouts of poor command of the pitch. Grade: 50
Changeup: Good velocity separation between the changeup and fastball with an average velocity of 82-83 mph. Doesn't do a good job of selling the pitch, despite good velocity separation and a strong ability to kill lift. Below average but there's some room for growth into fringe-average. Grade: 40
Control and Command: Olivarez's control and command came and went during his first season stateside. Inconsistency of his strike throwing was the defining characteristic of his control and command profiles. When he's on he'll spot his fastball and curveball for strikes, driving swings and misses. When he's off he misses badly to all parts of the plate with all of his pitches. Control: 40 | Command: 30
Overall: An interesting arm in a system devoid of upside throwers. Plus velocity from the left side and the makings of a swing and miss pitch in his curveball. His changeup has some interesting elements, and projection but he has to improve his arm speed and deception on the pitch. Below average control and command overall hurts his ability to stick as a starter. However, there is one element of Olivarez's game that could easily be improved to boost his overall profile: Slow down. To watch Olivarez throw is a non-stop catch and throw session. His average pitch time was under 10 seconds in certain outings. If he could slow down to a moderate pace it might go a long way toward improving the profile. At present he looks like a fringe low-leverage reliever long term.
OFP: 35
Role: 30 - Up/Down Emergency Depth
Risk: Extreme
