Jan 2021 Report
Evaluator: Geoff Pontes
Age: 22 yr
Height: 6-4
Weight: 195 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2017 Draft, Round 2
RuleV: 2021
Physical Description: Tall, strong muscular frame, looks like a grown man at 21. Strong lower half, broad shoulders, long arms and legs. The type of body that will likely require maintenance as he ages. Underwent Tommy John Surgery May 2019, has been back throwing since last spring and will likely be a full go for camp in 2021.
Mechanics: Classic overhead delivery, moderate leg lift mechanism, hand break at waist before drive, classic three quarters arm action, slight fall off at release. Elite arm speed. Repeats well from full windup, but struggles to stay on time from the stretch, which will lead to arm lag and trouble throwing strikes.
Fastball: Hard fastball that Sauer can rise, run and cut. Sits 93-95 mph with average vertical break and spin (2300 rpm), low release height and whippy arm play up deception. Conversely his three quarters action cuts his fastball, leading to less vertical rise than you'd like with his release height. Controls the zone from the windup, but his fastball control and command backup from the stretch. It's fringe average control overall as he tends to work around the zone, locates East to West, and his misses tend to come when he works high. A promising pitch, but one that needs refinement. Grade: 50
Curveball: Another high velocity breaking ball sitting 83-85 mph on average. Higher spin and higher efficiency than slider, but still a slurvy offering with below average drop. Gets more vertical and less horizontal than slider. Similar plan of attack to slider and changeup when it comes to location, often attacking the outer part of the plate. Another pitch that grades average due to its plus velocity. Grade: 50
Slider: Plus slider velocity at an average of 88.2 mph. More of a slow cutter than a slider really, with some vertical lift. Swing and miss pitch, but still learning to locate it, particularly in on the hands of lefties. Inconsistent feel but some encouraging characteristics. Grade: 45
Changeup: Does a good job of killing rise on the changeup while generating above average run (15.5 hMov). He's still learning feel for the pitch but he's able to land it for strikes and it's his go to secondary versus lefties. Lacks separation from fastball with an average of 5-6 mph difference. Further development and feel are needed for the pitch to play a average as he'll struggle to pronate and the offspeed plays like a soft fastball. Grade: 45
Control and Command: Still learning feel for his arsenal, and it doesn't help that the last time we laid eyes in Sauer he was a 20 year old in full-season ball weeks away from Tommy John Surgery either. Neither his strike throwing or zone location are refined at this point. He struggles to repeat his motion from the stretch and due to this his command of his entire arsenal suffers. He's also easy to hit when locating his fastball in the bottom of the zone, but struggles to land strikes at the top. Despite these struggles he'll have flashes of brilliance where he lands all over the zone and generates swinging strikes on well landed pitches. It's the inconsistency that comes with inexperience that plagues Sauer more than deep rooted stroke throwing problems. Control: 45 | Command: 40
Overall: Sauer has great stuff, and with further refinement there's a legitimate rotation ceiling. What pitcher emerges this spring is a bit of a mystery. However, if Sauer shows the same high octane stuff with further refinement to his sequencing and pitchability we could be looking at a potential breakout. Sauer doesn't throw anything under 84 despite possessing two breaking balls no an offspeed. The alone can play in a variety of roles. I view Sauer as a raw ball of clay capable of being molded into something with real rotation potential.
OFP: 45
Role: 40 - Spot Starter or Long Reliever
Risk: High
