Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | PIT | RHP | 39 | 35 |
Grades Update: Jan 2021
| OFP | Role | FB | CB | SL | CH | Ctr/Cmd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 30 | 55 | 40 | 45 | 40 | 40/30 |
Jan 2021 Report
Evaluator: Joe Drake
Age: 22 yr
Height: 6-4
Weight: 170 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2015 IFA, CLE
RuleV: On 40-Man Roster
Physical Description: Big frame with some muscle on it. Long limbs. Shoulders are wide, midsection might be a little soft. Big, round butt and average thighs. There's room for a little more weight here, but not much. 5-10 pounds or so. Has added considerable weight since being listed at 170, looks closer to 200. Body looks fairly mature for 21. Conditioning appears much improved this winter during the Venezuelan Winter League. Went on IL for lower back soreness in July 2019 and missed remainder of season.
Delivery & Mechanics: Uses a 3/4 arm slot; moderate effort. Really sits into his glutes and drives toward the plate. Average pace in his windup and leg kick (chest high); Long arm action that drops down behind his butt; hides ball enough to create deception; above-average arm speed. Very similar from the stretch; abbreviated leg kick and quicker pace. Works very quickly, palpable impatience when things aren't going his way.
Fastball: 89-92; Arm slot lends itself to solid tailing action. Has flashed better velo in the past, but conditioning and injuries slowed him in 2019. Struggles to locate in the zone. Reportedly touching 98 during short stints in the Venezuelan Winter League; A good sign that he's at or near full health and can return to the form we saw prior to 2019. Grade: 55
Curveball: 69-71; Big break but often lollipops in and easily taken or attacked. Humps out of the hand; most are fairly obvious. Needs quite a bit of work to be MLB-caliber. Likely to improve with increased velo. Grade: 40
Slider: 80-83; Spins a fairly tight slider with biting action. Runs it off the plate for whiffs. Used sparingly 2019 outings; should increase usage, better pitch than the curve. Likely to improve with increased velo. Grade: 45
Changeup: 79-80; Has some fade to it. Not thrown often and he struggles with location, often leaving up to be hammered. The movement and armspeed will play if he can find more feel for it. Likely to improve with increased velo. Grade: 40
Control and Command: Often struggled to find the zone. Fell behind many batters and had to come into the heart of the plate; his stuff isn't good enough to get by over the heart. Flashed good command of the fastball and slider, but it was fleeting. Has shown better control in the past, perhaps affected by previously mentioned injury and conditioning. Control: 40 | Command: 30
Overall: Oviedo has flashed better stuff in the past but did not look himself in 2019. Fastball sat under 90 and secondaries were inconsistent and showed less bite. Control and command appeared to take a step back, too. He missed the final month and a half of 2019 with a back injury which may have been sapping his stuff throughout the summer. All that said, he is reportedly touching high-90s again down in the Venezuelan Winter League with improved conditioning. If he returns to form in 2021, he has a much better shot at developing into a low-leverage reliever or better, but the 2019 iteration is not MLB caliber.
OFP: 35
Role: 30 - Up/Down Emergency Depth
Risk: Extreme
