Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | LAD | RHP | 20 | 45 |
Grades Update: Dec 2020
| OFP | Role | FB | CB | SL | CH | Cnt/Cmd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 40 | 50 | 50 | 55 | 45 | 50/40 |
Dec 2020 Report
Evaluator: Rhys White
Age: 24 yr
Height: 6-3
Weight: 200 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2018 Draft - Round 2
RuleV: 2021
Physical Description: Tall and lean with an ideal pitcher body. He has some room to fill out especially in his lower half. History of arm issues, underwent Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2017 as a junior at West Virginia.
Delivery & Mechanics: Quick motion, glove, and ball both go above the head, and then he turns towards home, with a quick leg kick and he drives towards the mound. Inverted W during stride where he gets good extension and ends up slightly towards the first base side. He gets good deception and doesn't allow the batter to see the ball very long when in the windup. From the stretch, he is much simpler and ditches the overhead motion, still gets good extension, and drive towards home plate.
Fastball: Back in college the fastball had been up to 96 before Tommy John, but since then has been closer to 91-93. He can spot the fastball in all four quadrants of the zone. The fastball is at its best when it is thrown up in the zone because of its solid carry and life. He can get opposing hitters to swing and miss when effectively spotted up in the zone. Grade: 50
Curveball: Generic curveball with a standard 12-6 shape. Will spot the curveball to both left-handed and right-handed batters. He will flip the curveball early in the count to get ahead. Later in counts, he will spot the curveball low in the zone to generate weak contact or get guys to swing over the top of it. Grade: 50
Slider: The slider is exclusively used against right-handed batters to give him a third offering against that handedness of batter. It is a sharp slider with below-average horizontal movement but above-average vertical movement. It is a power slurve as opposed to the traditional sweeping slider. The slider is at its best when he uses it to get right-handed batters to swing and miss out of the zone. Grade: 55
Changeup: The changeup will occasionally show good fade. The biggest problem is he will overthrow it and when he does that it loses sink, looking more like a below-average straight fastball. When it is thrown optimally it will show average depth. The feel for the pitch is lacking but once or twice an outing it will flash as an average offering. He almost exclusively uses the changeup against left-handed batters, where it gives him a usable third offering. Grade: 45
Control and Command: Grove does a good job of throwing strikes and limiting walks. He fills the zone with his fastball and does an average job of locating that offering where it can be best used. At times the command can struggle but that could be because he was coming back from Tommy John. Control: 50 | Command: 40
Overall: He has the ideal frame for a back-end starter but he lacks the command you would want, which will ultimately push him to the bullpen. He has what the stuff to be successful there, and he knows how to optimize his offerings to where he won't have any issues with either-handedness of batters. He has shown that he can hold his stuff for a few innings at a time which would make him an interesting multi-inning relief option in the future.
OFP: 45
Role: 40 - Spot Starter - Low Leverage Relief
Risk: Moderate
