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Physical Description: Short,
stocky frame. Average build with minimal remaining projection.
Mechanics: Throws from a high-three
quarters arm slot. Max-effort delivery. Starts on the third base
side of the rubber and does not use a windup. Very quick arm.
Short, stiff arm action behind. Hides the ball well.
Fastball: 93-95 mph. Topped out at 99 mph in
college. Sat 94-96 mph after signing in 2018, but velocity was
down in 2019, often sitting 91-93 and only occasionally touching
96. Reportedly was still sitting in the low-90s in spring
training 2020, but velocity started to creep back up at the Fall
Instructional League to 92-95, touching 96. At its best, the
pitch explodes out of his hand and has late life, making it
tough to square up. Club had him work on locating the pitch up
in the zone early in 2019 after he had focused on locating it
down in the zone in college and in 2018 pro debut. After
struggling through the adjustment, particularly with his command
and needing to sacrifice velocity to locate the pitch, he
returned to locating it lower in the zone near the end of the
season, with improved results. Pitch is on the straight side
with only average life. Does not miss as many bats as it used
to. Command still needs improvement and is inconsistent from
outing to outing. Potential above-average offering.
Slider: 84-87 mph. True power breaking ball.
Pitch shows hard bite and depth though the zone. Gets over it
well and finishes the pitch. Able to throw in the zone or get
hitters to chase it out of the zone. Lost feel for the pitch
early in 2019, causing him to lean on his curveball more often,
but returned to the pitch later in the year. Even though it is
inconsistent, pitch still had an above-average whiff rate.
Potential above-average pitch with the ability to miss bats at
the highest level.
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Curveball: 80-82 mph. Good change of pace from
slider, comes in with a different shape and in a different
velocity band. Began relying on the pitch more in early 2019
when he lost feel for his slider, but leaned more on the slider
later in the year. At 2020 Fall Instructs, he used it
effectively and was able to get swinging strikes with it.
Potential average pitch.
Career Notes:
Closed for TCU all three years of college, tying the TCU career
saves record (32) and setting the single-season mark in 2017.
Was ranked a consensus top 100 player in the 2018 draft and was
projected by many as having the potential to be the quickest
player in the draft to make the majors, even as soon as the end
of the 2018 season, based on his fastball-slider combination.
Moved quickly through the low minors after being drafted in
2018, pitching just 23 1/3 innings across three levels before
beginning 2019 in Portland. Plateaued in 2019 in Double-A as he
worked on refining his pitch mix and his ascent to the majors
slowed. Participated in the Fall Instructional League in 2018,
2019, and 2020.
Summation: Potential
up-and-down relief type. Ceiling of a middle reliever. Unlikely
to develop into a late-inning option unless the raw stuff he
showed when he first signed returns. Both fastball and slider
show above-average potential at their best and his curveball has
developed into a nice compliment to give hitters another look.
Fastball command will be key to development, as well as whether
he gets comfortable throwing it up in the zone given the renewed
emphasis on that in today's MLB.
Links
Scouting Scratch 8.8.2018
Scouting Report Update 6.16.2020
Scout Chatter (11.30.2020)
Scouting Report Updates (3.1.21)
Scouting Scratch (8.3.2021) |
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