Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | LAA | LHP | 5 | 50 |
Grades Update: Jan 2021
| OFP | Role | FB | SL | CH | Cnt/Cmd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 50 | 55 | 45 | 55 | 45/40 |
Jan 2021 Report
Evaluator: Geoff Pontes
Age: 22 yr
Height: 5-11
Weight: 180 lbs
Hits/Throws: L/L
Acquired: 2015 IFA
RuleV: On 40-Man Roster
Physical Description: Shorter lefthander with a strong, muscular, but stout build. Near maxed out, with a strong lower half with defunded thigh and glute muscles. Shorter arms and legs.
Mechanics: Very unusual operation with a high level of deception. A low side arm slot that crossfires across his body. Yan starts set in the third base side of the rubber. The motion begins from a slight side step to elevated leg lift, that forces his front side closed, before dropping down his slot and flinging it across his chest.
Fastball: Above average velocity with heavy horizontal break that makes the pitch play almost like a hard sweepy slider. His velocity fluctuated greatly early in the year ranging from 89-93 mph. By June Yan's fastball was sitting 93-95 mph with the same nasty sweeping movement. He uses the pitch almost like an out pitch, going to breaking balls and changeups early before ripping off heaters that land gloveside. At times it seems as though he has little to no idea where the pitch will land once it releases his hand, but it's around zone consistently and his misses tend not to be center cut meatballs. The lack of true command for the pitch offsets some of the offering's plus movement characteristics. Grade: 55
Slider: Mid to upper-70s offering with less sweep and more vertical drop. The pitch plays up due to the vertical movement coming from his horizontal slot, which gives it the appearance of moving horizontally before bottoming out. His usage of the pitch waned as the 2019 season progressed, and he became increasingly split heavy with usage, really only leaning on it in left in left matchups. Advanced command of the pitch, landed it for a better than 60% strike rate across three observations. He gets a fair amount of takes on the pitches leading to less swings than his fastball or offspeed. Fringe average pitch, that I'd like to see how it fairs versus more advanced hitters before moving this grade to average or below. Grade: 45
Changeup: Arguably the best pitch in Yan's arsenal. Heavy usage versus both righties and lefties, but make no mistake this pitch drives his high level of success versus right handed hitters (.171/.289/.250 across 347 PAs). Averaging 82-87 mph depending on how much sauce he puts on it. It shows some run but a ton of tumble, falling off a table similar to his breaking ball, but due to the increased velocity it's often mistaken for his fastball. Yan's best swing and miss pitch consistently, even as his fastball ticked up after the first month of the season. An above average offering on par with his fastball. Grade: 55
Control and Command: Yan's profile presents an interesting one. As the command and control profiles for his fastball and braking ball are flipped. He shows good feel for commanding his breaking ball landing it for strikes a majority of the time. His fastball while fringe average control has poor command as he often makes his catcher work harder on his fastballs than his secondaries. Factor in the changeup and you start to raise the grade, as Yan's offspeed feel is the core of his 2019 and any future he has as a starter. At the end of the day it's fringe average command with below average command. Control: 45 | Command: 40
Overall: Yan gives off heavy Cristian Javier vibes, albeit left handed from a different slot entirely. The similarities draw from the changeup and breaking ball feel, the willingness to double and triple down on the changeup and sneak 94-95 mph by you. He'll take something off his fastball one pitch and ramp it up another. It's never a comfortable at bat and it's a profile that can work in a variety of roles. Yan has a shot to stick as a starter as long as his secondaries continue to play versus better competition and he throws enough strikes. There's swing and miss, the ability to drive lots of groundball contact and raw stuff. If his opportunities to start dry up in the coming years Yan could transition easily into a high leverage role as early as 2022. One of the better prospects in the Angels system.
OFP: 50
Role: 50 - #4 - #5 Backend SP or High Leverage Reliever
Risk: Moderate
