Jan 2021 Report
Evaluator: Joe Drake
Age: 23 yr
Height: 6-3
Weight: 185 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2017 Round 6
RuleV: 2021
Physical Description: Very athletic build, almost prototypical. Tall, strong, and lean. Broad, squared shoulders, tapered waist, thick butt and and thighs. Well proportioned. Room for some weight in the chest and arms. Live arm and live body. Stoic on the mound.
Delivery & Mechanics: Windup starts angled toward 3rd a bit rather than square to home plate. Generic delivery with moderate leg kick that meets the hands at the waist. Arm path is average, but hides the ball behind the body, coming straight up. Arm is on time and he gets good separation at foot plant. Fires from low 3/4s slot and finishes low and on the first base side. Moderate to high effort in the delivery. Leg lift all but disappears from the stretch; nearly a slide step. Works quickly, overall. Doesn't let the batter catch his breath, for better or worse. Quick, aggressive pick move he uses often against stolen base threats.
Fastball: 93-97, Averaged 94.74 in looks. Sits 95-97 early on but fades to low-mid 90s as the pitches pile up. Uses as his out pitch, willing it past hitters up in the zone. Leans on it heavily, thrown 70% of the time in my looks. Lacks obvious movement likely due to inefficient spin. Struggles to find the zone at times and has to come over the plate where it gets squared up. Happens enough that it's hard to envision him as a starter at the next level. Gets hit harder than you would expect for at lower levels for the velocity he has. Grade: 50
Slider: 85-89, Averaged 87.15 in looks. Sweeping action with a little dip. Tight, hard bite at its best that mirrors the fastball and fools hitters. Sometimes flattens out and meanders across the plate. Started throwing a version with more vertical shape in AA. Rarely thrown in the zone, usually runs off the plate glove side or buried below the zone. Occasionally, tries to steal a strike arm-side. Oscillates between fringe and above-average. Grade: 50
Changeup: 90-92. Far and away 3rd offering. Little separation from fastball. Looks more like a 2-seam than a change when it's off. Sells well with arm speed. Solid fade, more depth than run. Falls off the table when it's good. Likes to spot it on the corner arm side. Very inconsistent and clearly lacks confidence in the pitch; uses sparingly. Almost a last resort against lefties. Flashes average or better when he has the feel for it, just doesn't happen often. Flashed better movement, but same poor separation at AA. Grade: 40
Control and Command: Either has it or he doesn't, not much in between. Goes from pounding the zone to not being able to buy a strike and uncorking some wild ones that will test the catcher's abilities. Loses the release at times and can't find the zone. Can be inefficient, falls behind early in counts or throws noncompetitive pitches with two strikes. Tendency to overthrow with 2 strikes and throw a noncompetitive pitch. When he settles in, he's in the zone often and living on the black getting called strikes for punchouts. Control: 45 | Command: 40
Overall: Fireballing right-hander with a solid slider, below-average change and control that yo-yos at a moment's notice. The velocity is real, sometimes sitting 97 in the first inning, but fades and lacks movement. Relies on the fastball heavily mixing in a few sliders and a change if he has to against lefties. Fastball/slider combo isn't good enough to start without development of the changeup or a more vertical curveball. Experienced hitters will sit fastball and punish him when he comes over the plate. Best suited for relief at the moment where he can let the fastball eat and keep hitters honest with the slider.
OFP: 40
Role: 40 - Long Reliever or Low Leverage Reliever
Risk: Moderate
