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Physical Description: Athletic
frame with minimal remaining projection.
Mechanics: Throws from a three-quarters arm slot.
Drop-and-drive delivery with considerable effort. Medium leg
kick. Long arm action behind with a point and stab.
Fastball: 95-97 mph. Tops out at 100 mph.
Average pitch characteristics and struggles to miss bats even
with premium velocity. Command and control need refinement.
Potential above-average offering.
Slider:
88-90 mph. 11-to-5 shape. Has depth and bite when he gets over
it and snaps it off, but is very inconsistent. Can struggle to
land the pitch in the zone at times and relies on hitters to
expand the zone on it. Below-average control. Potential
fringe-average offering.
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Changeup: 87-89 mph. Flashes late dive, but
inconsistent. Threw sparingly in 2023, but incorporated more in
2024, almost exclusively against left-handed hitters. Potential
below-average offering.
Career Notes:
2022 Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year. Was set to
participate in the 2022 Fall Performance Program that was
canceled due to Hurricane Ian.
Summation:
Potential high-minors relief arm. Ceiling of a middle reliever.
Pure relief type with intriguing pitch characteristics, but
struggles with command and control and consistency. Fastball has
good velocity, but lacks quality and secondaries lack
consistency. Has upside if he can find a go-to off-speed pitch
and refine his command, but right now looks like a volatile
relief arm.
Links
Red Sox select Alex Hoppe with sixth-round pick (7.18.22) |
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