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Physical Description:
Undersized frame. Sturdy lower half with marginal remaining
projection in his upper body. Not that tall, looks heavier than
his listed weight of 167 pounds. Athleticism has slightly
decreased as he has physically matured.
Mechanics: Throws from a three-quarters arm slot.
Starts in the middle of the rubber, sliding to the first base
side before he comes forward. Does not use a wind-up. Loose,
quick arm. Rotational delivery. Medium-high leg kick. Stiff,
violent arm action that is short back and then quick forward.
Arm can get out of sync and come through early because of how
quick it is. Does not stay closed consistently and falls off
hard to the first base side. Worked to streamline delivery
in the low minors. Used to have a lot more moving parts.
Fastball: 94-96 mph. Tops out at 97 mph. Live arm.
Pitch shows good carry and life and has a high spin rate. Showed the ability to hold 94-95 mph into the 6th inning in 2023,
an improvement from past seasons, but tends to lose fastball
command as he works deeper into games. Fastball will show
bat-missing ability in the zone. Command and control are works
in progress. Still needs to show he can consistently throw
strikes, especially as he works deeper into games and gets more
fatigued. Control has improved over the last few years and is
ahead of command, but both will come and go within outings.
Struggles to command to his arm side and will yank the pitch to
the glove side when his arm gets out ahead of the rest of his
delivery. Potential plus offering with refined command.
Curveball: 75-79 mph. Long, 11-to-5 break. Pitch shows
tight rotation and depth. Really snaps it off confidently and
will throw in any count to hitters from both sides of the plate.
Advanced feel and has shown the ability to land it in the zone
or bury it down and away when looking for whiffs. True major
league-quality out pitch with significant bat-missing potential.
Potential plus offering.
Changeup: 84-88 mph. Deceptive arm
speed. Flashes late drop where it falls off the table at its
best. Will throw in any count to hitters from both sides, but
primarily used as put-away pitch against left-handed hitters.
Pitch is somewhat inconsistent and at times will be on the firm
side. Potential above-average offering. |
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Slider:
84-88 mph. 10-to-4 shape with varying length. Has shown some
ability to spin it, but shape is inconsistent. Still needs
refinement and lags behind his other secondary pitches, but does
show flashes. Potential fringe-average offering.
Career Notes: Opening day starter in the DSL in 2019.
Participated in the Fall Instructional League in 2019 and 2020.
Had a breakout 2021 season with a strong showing in the FCL and
in Low-A, jumping from the back end of the SoxProspects rankings
into the top 15 by season's end. Participated in the Fall
Performance Program in 2021. Name was misspelled "Wilkelman" on
official rosters until April 2022 due a misunderstanding caused
by its pronunciation. Was not protected from selection in the
2022 Rule 5 Draft and sources indicate he was very nearly
selected. Was added to the 40-man roster in November 2023 to
protect him from selection in the Rule 5 Draft. Struggled early
in 2023, but changes to his off-field habits including getting
more sleep and focusing differently on between-starts work led
to a significant improvement. Participated in 2023 Fall
Performance Program. Participated in the Red Sox Rookie
Development Program in January 2024.
Summation:
Potential back-end starter. Ceiling of a quality mid-rotation
starter. Still has a wide variance of outcomes; will show four
pitches, including a fastball and curveball that stand out, but
delivery and command are more like that of a reliever. Potential
for three above-average-to-better pitches, but still a long way
to go in development and must significantly improve command and
control to reach his ceiling. Needs to throw more strikes and be
more efficient with his pitches to last deeper into games. Does
not have the typical size you look for in a starter. Has
simplified his delivery over the course of his career, which
should make it easier for him to keep his arm in sync with the
rest of his body, but still has considerable effort in his
delivery. If command does not improve, that, along with his size
and delivery, could push him to a short relief bullpen role, but
with his stuff, he could thrive in such a role or even in a
multi-inning role.
Links
Scout Chatter (9.14.2021)
Scouting Report Update (3.4.2022)
Countdown to Spring Training (3.7.2023) |
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