Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | HOU | RHP | 13 | 40 |
Grades Update: Jan 2021
| OFP | Role | FB | CB | SL | CH | Cont/Cmd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 45 | 45 | 45/40 |
Jan 2021 Report
Evaluator: Joe Drake
Age: 25 yr
Height: 6-4
Weight: 195 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2017 Draft, Round 3
RuleV: On 40-Man Roster
Physical Description: Big, athletic frame that matches the listed 6'4, 195. Broad shoulders, thin waist, long limbs. Muscle in the legs and butt, but there's some room for additional weight. Suspended for foreign substance on glove. Missed time with "elbow issues" in 2019.
Delivery & Mechanics: Aggressive, animated, high-effort delivery. Movements are pronounced and abrupt. Uses an exaggerated rock step that moves into a big, pointed leg kick to the letters. Hands come set above the letters. Arm action drops down behind his body and comes around in a high 3/4s slot. Hard head-whack on the follow through. Good separation; arm is on time. Very similar from the stretch minus the rock step. Works very quickly and with an impatient intensity. Looks uncomfortable when things aren't going his way, slows his pace.
Fastball: 88-93; Solid ride, gets whiffs at the top of the zone, but runs into hard contact at the bottom. Consistently runs it by guys when it's up. Needs to spot it well to succeed, hammered when it's left over the heart. Works the edges on both sides of the plate. Uses it to set up the curveball for strikeouts, but can finish at-bats with it. Plays up due to the vertical movement. At 24 with a mostly filled out frame, there's little projection left for additional velo. Grade: 50
Curveball: 70-76; 12-6 shape. Best ones flash double-plus, excellent depth and bite; hitters are left baffled or look silly swinging through it. Can start it at the letters and still bury it, big break. Likes to try and drop it into the zone for called strikes as much as he buries it for chases. Will throw it in any count. Gets loopy and gives up loud contact when it's not tight; loses the release at times, but it's infrequent. Grade: 60
Slider: 87-89; Tight bite with a little sweep and a little depth. Used predominantly against righties, occasionally tries to back foot it to lefties. Works it glove-side almost exclusively, but leaves it over the heart at times. Plays well off his fastball and isn't squared up too often Grade: 45
Changeup: Good armspeed, solid fade and sells well. Solid separation from fastball. Used as 3rd offering to lefties. Doesn't always locate well and will leave it up. Doesn't quite have feel for it. Grade: 45
Control and Command: Nearly always around the zone and often ahead in counts. Throws fastball and curveball for strikes consistently and typically spots them well. Doesn't command slider and change quite as well. Able to dot corners for called strikes, but has stretches where he loses the release on everything. Things go poorly when he's not spotting up; doesn't have the pure stuff to let everything fly down the middle. Much less efficient on days he doesn't have his best command. Not as precise from the stretch. Control: 45 | Command: 40
Overall: Ivey is a 4-pitch righty with a banger of a curveball. While the fastball velo is less appetizing sitting 90-91, it plays up due to a good movement profile. The slider and changeup give him decent offerings to attack hitters from both sides of the plate with a different look later in outings. Combined with fringy control, the deep arsenal gives him a chance to stick at the back of the rotation, but there will be very little room for error with his underwhelming fastball. More likely a bulk reliever, but almost certainly a major league arm who will stick.
OFP: 40
Role: 40 - Spot Starter or Long Reliever
Risk: Moderate
