Born: June 27, 1994
New Castle, IN
Height: 6-6
Weight: 205
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Drafted: 1st round, 2013
How Acquired: Draft
High School: New Castle HS (IN)

Photo © Kelly O'Connor

SoxProspects.com Links
Ball, Denney adjusting to pro life in GCL (8.22.13)
2013 Top 40 Season in Review
ESPNBoston: Ball getting his feet wet (3.30.14)
Scouting Scratch: Trey Ball and Rafael Devers (4.2.14)
2014 Top 40 Season in Review
Scouting Scratch: Trey Ball (3.24.15)
Pitching coach's prediction for Trey Ball... (4.8.15)
Podcast Ep. 87: Trey Ball Interview (10.26.15)
2015 Top 40 Season in Review
The Write Up (5.3.17)
Scouting Scratch: Trey Ball (7.19.17)

Contract expired (Nov. 2019)

Physical Description: Tall, lanky left-hander with great athleticism. Minimal projection remaining. Has filled out since he entered the system and looks listed 6-foot-5, 215 pounds.

Mechanics: Efficient, low-effort delivery. Loose arm with little wasted motion. Throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a high leg kick. Short arm action and average arm speed. Starts his delivery with his glove high and in front of his face. Doesn’t use a wind-up, stepping back and going into his high leg lift before coming forward to the plate. Has some deception in his delivery, keeping the ball hidden behind his body until late.

Fastball: 90-92 mph. Tops out at 94 mph. Pitch is straight and lacks life. Below-average command and control. Struggles to miss bats. Hasn’t added the velocity that was expected given his projectability since he signed. Average potential. Will also show a two-seam fastball at 88-90 mph with some arm-side run.

Slider/Cutter: 83-87 mph. Has developed greatly since he began throwing the pitch in games in July 2015. Now will rely on it in outings more than his fastball at times. Shows confidence in the pitch and willing to throw it in any count and to both right and left-handed hitters. Shows bite and late horizontal movement. In the upper end of the velocity range, the pitch looks more cutter-like, but on the lower end it has more depth and tilt. Has shown the ability to locate the pitch when ahead in the count and bury it down-and-in against right-handed hitters. Needs to improve consistency with pitch from outing to outing and within games. Pitch will flatten out when left up in the zone. Projects as an average-to-better offering.

Changeup: 80-84 mph. Has shown advanced feel for the pitch in the past, but struggled at times with the pitch in 2017. Throws from the same arm speed and slot as his fastball. Late fade when kept down in the zone. Average potential.

Curveball: 72-75 mph. Didn’t start throwing until his junior year of high school. Below-average potential. Work in progress right now. Inconsistent within outings. At its best, has tight rotation with good shape, but was often on the loose side and rolled to the plate. Doesn’t consistently finish the pitch. Used primarily early in counts to steal a strike. Rarely uses late in counts.

Career Notes: Committed to the University of Texas before signing. Two-way player in high school in Indiana and was also a first-round talent in the outfield. Really struggled in first 11 starts of 2014 (1-7, 7.27 ERA, 71 hits, 17 walks, and 29 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings), but significantly improved over his final 11 (4-3, 2.70 ERA, 40 hits, 22 walks, and 39 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings). Missed the start of the 2016 season with a knee injury. DH'd into two games at the end of the 2018 season. Worked as an outfielder in 2018 Fall Instructional League.Suffered an abdominal and oblique injury in spring training 2019, followed by a  sprained ankle, causing him to miss the almost the entire 2019 season.
 
Summation: Projects as Triple-A depth that could develop into a major league middle reliever. Stuff hasn’t developed as anticipated since he signed.  Lacks any above-average pitch. Has moved to the bullpen where he can focus on his fastball/slider combination and not have to worry about holding velocity deep into outings, and his lack of consistency and command can be minimized.