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Physical Description: Tall,
sturdy frame. Minimal remaining projection. Looks the part.
Solid athlete.
Mechanics: Throws from a
high three-quarters arm slot. Varies mound position and arm slot
depending on the handedness of the hitter, starting on the first
base side against right-handed hitters and third base side
against left-handed hitters. Does not use a wind-up. Medium leg
kick. Repeats delivery well. Short, stiff arm action with a stab
in the back. Solid-average arm speed. Hides the ball.
Fastball: Throws multiple variations, including
a four-seam, a sinker and a cutter. Four-seam works 94-96 mph.
Touched 99 mph out of the bullpen in the 2021 Arizona Fall
League. Four-seam lacks movement and does not miss as many bats
as you would expect given its velocity. Sinker sits 92-93 mph.
Primarily tries to pitch up with four-seam and keep sinker down
to generate weak contact early in counts. Began mixing in cutter
late in 2021, but used the pitch sparingly in outings scouted in
2022. Cutter sits in the same velocity band as his sinker.
Overall, good control, but command is fringe-average at present.
Command should get to at least average at peak. Potential
above-average offering with refined command.
Slider: 83-87 mph. Pitch will show hard, late, vertical
break at its best. Advanced feel and confidence. Will throw in
any count to hitters from both sides of the plate. Will vary
shape, with some more vertical with longer break and some more
horizontal with tilt. Has shown bat-missing ability in the minor
leagues, but there are questions about how well that will
translate to the major league level. Potential above-average
offering.
Changeup: 89-91 mph. On the
firm side and lacks separation from his fastball. At its best
will show late drop. Not a big swing-and-miss pitch, mostly
designed to get hitters off-balance and generate weak contact.
Potential average offering. |
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Split-Finger Fastball: Reportedly started
throwing at the 2020 Fall Instructional League, but hard to
separate from changeup at times.
Career Notes:
Grew up in the Ft. Myers area. Signed away from a commitment to
Florida Southwestern State. Spent three seasons in short-season
ball before splitting 2019 between Low-A and High-A. Missed time
in 2019 with a finger injury that lingered and impacted his
stuff throughout the year. Was left unprotected and went
unselected in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. Traded from Toronto to the
Mets in January 2021 as part of a trade for Steven Matz. Was
then traded to Boston as a part of the three-team Andrew
Benintendi trade in February 2021, just two weeks later. Was
added to the 40-man roster in November 2021 to protect him from
selection in the Rule 5 Draft.
Summation:
Potential multi-inning bridge relief arm. Ceiling of a back-end
starting pitcher. Could be very effective in a bulk role, in
which his lack of strikeout potential with his fastball would
not be as much of an issue. Slider misses more bats than his
changeup at this point, but still does not at a very high level.
Margin for error is slim, as he has to rely on commanding his
pitches and generating weak contact. To stick as a starter
long-term, needs to make strides with his command and improve
his slider to the point where it can be counted on as a
consistent bat-missing pitch at the major league level. Can
effectively tunnel his fastball, sinker, vertical slider and
changeup, with all moving in similar ways, but could stand to
mix in more of his cutter or a horizontal slider to give hitters
a different look. Very competitive. Really thinks about pitching
and is always trying to refine his craft.
Links
Scouting Scratch (8.3.2021)
Scouting Scratch: Breaking Down the Arizona Fall League
Contingent (10.27.2021)
Scouting Scratch: Red Sox 2021 Rule 5 Preview (11.18.2021) |
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