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Physical Description: Tall, lanky build. Has
some remaining projection. Athletic, looks the part.
Mechanics: Throws from a high-three-quarters
arm slot starting on the third base side of the rubber. Effort
in delivery. Violent head whack. High leg kick and drives off
his back leg, landing on-line to the plate. Average stride
length. Quick, loose arm. Long arm swing back during which he
shows the ball before whipping his arm forward.
Fastball: 92-96 mph. Fringy command and control.
Four-seam is 94-96 but on the flat side and grades out poorly
metric-wise. Used primarily as a change-of-pace pitch. Also
throws a sinker in the 92-94 mph range. Lower fastball quality
that will struggle to miss bats against more advanced hitters
and plays below its velocity. Potential average offering.
Slider: 83-87 mph. Short, 10-to-4 shape.
More horizontal than vertical. Uses this pitch most often,
pitching backwards. Has advanced feel and confidence in the
pitch. Has shown the ability to land it in the zone or bury it
down and out of the zone when looking for a whiff. Will flash
bat-missing potential. Potential above-average offering.
Curveball: 76-79 mph. Long, vertical, 11-to-5
shape. Has used the pitch less often in 2024 than in previous
years. Solid change-of-pace offering that shows some depth when
he gets over it, but he does not always get on top of it. Feel
has come and gone in some outings in 2024.. Potential average
offering. |
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Changeup: 88-90 mph. At its best, will show
late dive, but other times it looks like a fastball he took
something off of. Rarely used the pitch prior to 2024, but has
started to utilize the pitch more this year to varying
effectiveness. Not a pitch he lands in the zone, but can be
effective as a pitch to generate chases down and out of the
zone. Potential below-average offering.
Career
Notes: Participated in the Fall Performance Program in
2021. Was set to participate in the 2022 Fall Performance
Program that was canceled due to Hurricane Ian. Stuff took a
significant step forward in 2023 as he rose from being viewed an
off-the-radar type repeating the FCL all the way to High-A and
top 30 prospect status. Did not break camp with an affiliate in
2024 after experiencing weakness in his pitching shoulder during
camp.
Summation: Potential up-and-down,
multi-inning relief arm. Ceiling of a solid, multi-inning middle
reliever. Lacks the fastball quality or changeup to stick as a
starter, especially given the effort in his delivery. Has tried
both a sinker and four-seam, but neither has been especially
effective and he throws them less than 30% of the time. Has
struggled to miss bats with his fastball in the low minors,
which will become even more of an issue against advanced bats.
Slider is his best pitch and has come on strong in 2024, but
curveball has taken a slight step back. Changeup has gotten
better, but is still a work in progress. Slider is a good enough
pitch to carry him to the high minors, but will need to find a
second offering to complement it. If he takes a step forward
with another pitch, projects as an intriguing relief prospect,
as his velocity could jump further in short bursts. To have any
chance to stick in the rotation, needs to make major strides
finding a fastball that can miss bats and getting more
consistent with the changeup. Pitches with emotion and swagger
and extreme confidence.
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