Speaker 1: Any switch to him understanding, Jem just sent her feel
Speaker 1: and it's gone, Wow.
Speaker 2: His first big league swing is gonna be a grand slam,
Speaker 2: a home lone swing.
Speaker 3: Good time to look to them, Soup. Welcome back to
Speaker 3: The Call Up, your go to podcast in the future
Speaker 3: starts in Major League Baseball.
Speaker 2: We've got a picture heat sheet today.
Speaker 3: We're giving the pictures some love here on the episode
Speaker 3: Arm Late and Elijah Evans. We got arms from all
Speaker 3: different levels that we're gonna discuss today, and it feels
Speaker 3: like we've been due to give the pictures a little
Speaker 3: bit of extra love, and we're gonna be doing plenty
Speaker 3: of that today.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we got a fun list, man. We did hitters
Speaker 4: last week. We had some some promotions to get to
Speaker 4: it's some other things. We only really had time for
Speaker 4: hitters in the heat sheet. Today, we're just gonna focus
Speaker 4: solely on the pitchers. I got a list of like
Speaker 4: twelve arms here, I think thirteen arms here that are
Speaker 4: all really shoving right now, from top down from triple
Speaker 4: A all the way down to single A. So it's
Speaker 4: a fun group here and we'll jump right into it.
Speaker 4: Man with with a guy and Owen Murphy that we
Speaker 4: were really excited about and talked a lot about in
Speaker 4: twenty twenty five and twenty four. Actually even really is
Speaker 4: when we I think for you, he really popped up
Speaker 4: on the radar fully and then had surgery, went down,
Speaker 4: comes back late last year and then into this year,
Speaker 4: like he basically just skipped double A. They essentially used
Speaker 4: double A as like his like getting back in the
Speaker 4: groove process, and even though he wasn't actually performing great
Speaker 4: in Double A, pretty quickly goes to triple and now
Speaker 4: his past handful starts in trips man Murphy looks like
Speaker 4: he could end up being a piece here for Atlanta
Speaker 4: as they kind of push for it play the playoffs
Speaker 4: later this season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he saw the command, which has never really been
Speaker 3: the case too much for Murphy be a bit of
Speaker 3: the hindrance in the early going of the season, and
Speaker 3: he saw some free passes being handed out at double A,
Speaker 3: and in the first start in triple even a little
Speaker 3: bit the command wasn't totally there, and then of late
Speaker 3: it seems like he's been mostly locked in.
Speaker 2: There's one other outing where he walked five in Triple A.
Speaker 3: But also it's pretty common we talk about the different
Speaker 3: baseball and especially with Murphy, where.
Speaker 2: This is somebody with a huge part of his game is.
Speaker 3: The low release, high carry fastball that he owns, and
Speaker 3: I think for those types of guys, you maybe feel
Speaker 3: like your vert gets gets knocked down just a little bit,
Speaker 3: and then you start to nibble a little bit, maybe
Speaker 3: you don't trust stuff in the zone as much with
Speaker 3: that triple A baseball, I don't see that being the
Speaker 3: case with Murphy, And actually he's maintained kind of the
Speaker 3: same level of vert at north of eighteen inches of
Speaker 3: induced vertical breakoats to nineteen inches on average from a
Speaker 3: five to six release sight is really really good carry.
Speaker 3: And the other aspect is since coming back from TJ,
Speaker 3: similar to JR. Richie, like at first the vlow wasn't
Speaker 3: totally totally there, and we're seeing it build up. And
Speaker 3: before the injury, Murphy had seen a bit of an
Speaker 3: uptick and then unfortunately went down with the elbow issues.
Speaker 3: So I think what's interesting with him too is Murphy's
Speaker 3: really been effective in the low nineties because the fastball
Speaker 3: shape is so good and because of the deception and
Speaker 3: even before that injury, having ticked up just one mile
Speaker 3: per hour being more in the ninety two ish range
Speaker 3: seemed to make a big difference for him, and now
Speaker 3: sitting right in that same area and touching to ninety
Speaker 3: three to ninety four, I think is helping him big
Speaker 3: time to be able to get a lot of whiff
Speaker 3: within the zone. So the fastball is the name of
Speaker 3: the game for him, but the development of the secondary's
Speaker 3: off of that, I think has also been a huge
Speaker 3: help too, and I think that's been a big focus
Speaker 3: for him. The change up has developed and come along
Speaker 3: as a solid offering for him. He's got a cutter
Speaker 3: and a slider that he will go to, and then
Speaker 3: a bigger curve ball as well. So it's a much
Speaker 3: more complete arsenal compared to where he was at, maybe
Speaker 3: before the surgery, even where he was very dependent on that.
Speaker 2: Fastball and the fastball shape.
Speaker 3: When you look at the characteristics from release to the
Speaker 3: carry to the velocity in general too, it's very similar
Speaker 3: to what we saw from Christian Javier, And as you saw,
Speaker 3: Javier was able to have a lot of success with
Speaker 3: that fastball despite super high usages. So the fact that
Speaker 3: we're seeing Murphy round out the arsenal as well on
Speaker 3: top of it, I think puts him in a really
Speaker 3: good spot. I think it's mostly residual effects with the
Speaker 3: command from the elbow surgery, and I do think we're
Speaker 3: going to ultimately see him settle back in to being
Speaker 3: the strike thrower that we've seen in the past.
Speaker 4: And as much as you never want to see young
Speaker 4: guys get surgery and have to miss time, right like
Speaker 4: he did it at such a young age where he's
Speaker 4: still twenty two, it's gonna be twenty two till the
Speaker 4: end of the season. So having the time where he's
Speaker 4: now really focused on the arsenal adjustments, like you talk
Speaker 4: about becoming a more well rounded pitcher beyond that fastball,
Speaker 4: and still being at such a young point in his
Speaker 4: career with the surgery already passed him, right, he's in
Speaker 4: the rear view mirror. Maybe the command is slightly lagging
Speaker 4: behind still because of that, but like we've seen him
Speaker 4: work through that and get to a point where now
Speaker 4: he's still very young in Triple A and in his
Speaker 4: past six games, man, like you're looking at his last
Speaker 4: thirty five innings of work, it's forty two strikeouts at
Speaker 4: eight walks. So since those little blips in command, like
Speaker 4: you're on a stretch there of good command. He's punching
Speaker 4: guys out at a high clip. He's been effective. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 4: he hasn't had like any shutout crazy outings, but he's
Speaker 4: giving up, you know, one to two runs to start
Speaker 4: striking out six to eight guys and giving you a
Speaker 4: quality outing for six to straight at this point.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's what it's going to bode well for you.
Speaker 3: Fastballs up a tick and a half this year he
Speaker 3: was averaging. I think part of it was a little
Speaker 3: bit slower. He was every twenty inches of last year
Speaker 3: actually was just crazy. But at nineteen this year, you're
Speaker 3: going to make that exchange for a tick and a
Speaker 3: half to go from ninety and a half to ninety
Speaker 3: two point one, which is where he's at this year.
Speaker 3: And in the fastball and change up strike rate have
Speaker 3: been really good. It's been the breaking balls that I
Speaker 3: just think that feel hasn't totally come back yet, and
Speaker 3: it already started starting to look like it is.
Speaker 2: So I'm excited. Murphy is a guy that would have
Speaker 2: been the top one hundred prospect for US had he
Speaker 2: not gone down with the injury.
Speaker 3: He was right about to be added to our list
Speaker 3: last year and then you know, now we're going to
Speaker 3: see him. I think, even if he doesn't quite crack
Speaker 3: the list, be a guy that's going to be part
Speaker 3: of that Brave's rotation and at least profiles is a
Speaker 3: solid back end of the rotation piece moving forward, maybe
Speaker 3: as as early as the end of this year if
Speaker 3: they need somebody, But you know, I think realistically in
Speaker 3: the fold next.
Speaker 4: Year, yeah, and they could use continual help. I think
Speaker 4: with the back of the rotation, the Braves are still
Speaker 4: sort of piecing it together. And even though it's not
Speaker 4: this year, they've got other guys who were on deck
Speaker 4: and ready to go this year. But like like you said,
Speaker 4: going into next year, I think he can be a
Speaker 4: legitimate piece for that rotation moving forward.
Speaker 2: And we'll see.
Speaker 3: I think with the trades that they could make too,
Speaker 3: he could be trade bait. I just want to float
Speaker 3: that too, because I think plenty of teams will have
Speaker 3: interest in a picture with that, you know, with that stuff,
Speaker 3: and at twenty two years old.
Speaker 4: Getting into the next name here on the heat sheet,
Speaker 4: going over to the Saint Louis Cardinals organization, we've got
Speaker 4: Quinn Matthews and this is a name that's come on
Speaker 4: and off of our heat sheets. I feel like for
Speaker 4: two years, maybe you're on and off of just talking
Speaker 4: about him and then having more conversations around him. He's
Speaker 4: had some ups and downs, for sure, and just the
Speaker 4: progression of his career. He had that ridiculous twenty twenty
Speaker 4: fourth season. Last year, he definitely came back down to
Speaker 4: earth more and it was just more of a stretch
Speaker 4: where he wasn't quite finding it. Even this year, it's
Speaker 4: been a little bit of a slower start to the
Speaker 4: season for him. The command has still just not been
Speaker 4: where we were used to seeing from him early in
Speaker 4: his career. With that said, recently it's definitely trended the
Speaker 4: right direction. Looking here his last you know, I think
Speaker 4: his last five starts, he's allowed like five runs total
Speaker 4: across his past five starts. Walker, It's still higher than
Speaker 4: you'd like to see it, but he's at least having
Speaker 4: some more success as the season goes on after a
Speaker 4: few really rough games that he got blown up a
Speaker 4: little bit early in the season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been fascinating his development because this was somebody
Speaker 3: that you know, we looked at, especially after the drafts,
Speaker 3: was just kind of like a strike thrower. The reason
Speaker 3: why he was not an earlier pick and he was
Speaker 3: a fourth round selection was because you kind of were
Speaker 3: just hoping that he would execute enough to be a
Speaker 3: number five starter and eight innings for you. And then
Speaker 3: he has this breakout year where the v lo's up
Speaker 3: from the low nineties to the mid nineties and even
Speaker 3: touching a little bit a bit above that. The command
Speaker 3: was still there, The stuff across the board was so
Speaker 3: much better, and it felt like he was all we
Speaker 3: were talking about in twenty twenty four. But it just
Speaker 3: hasn't quite been the same. I think a shoulder issue
Speaker 3: affected him that he kind of pitched through, and then
Speaker 3: since then it just seems like he has not quite
Speaker 3: been able to back in on the command. It also
Speaker 3: coincided with triple A, and I just there's some sort
Speaker 3: of hurdle there for him too.
Speaker 2: But he's shown the ability.
Speaker 3: To have that dominance where we saw back to back
Speaker 3: starts in June where he went six innings of shutout
Speaker 3: ball with one walk.
Speaker 2: One was nine k's and the other was six k's.
Speaker 3: But then right after that it's four walks, and so
Speaker 3: it's the tough part there. What I think is undeniably true.
Speaker 3: Is the stuff is really good and like this stuff
Speaker 3: is back. His fastball is up almost a full tick
Speaker 3: from where it was last year, which was down a
Speaker 3: tick and change from where it was the year before,
Speaker 3: which was up a couple of ticks from where it
Speaker 3: was the year before. So it's really difficult to exactly
Speaker 3: figure out where he's going to.
Speaker 2: Sit velocity wise.
Speaker 3: But I think when you look at where he's at
Speaker 3: this year, it seems like it's a step forward from
Speaker 3: that disappointing year last year, but also not quite where
Speaker 3: he was at in that breakout year before, which had
Speaker 3: him looking like one of the more exciting left tenant
Speaker 3: pitching prospects in baseball. It's a fastball, even at ninety
Speaker 3: four that has plus carry to it, especially for a
Speaker 3: left from the lower release height that's going to allow
Speaker 3: it to be I think an above average heater. You
Speaker 3: look across the arsenal, the stuff is absolutely there.
Speaker 2: I mean, the slider is.
Speaker 3: A plus pitch with a fifty percent wift rate this season.
Speaker 3: The change up has been his bread and butter since
Speaker 3: he was in college. That has flashed plus as well,
Speaker 3: but the challenge has been being able to be in
Speaker 3: the zone consistently forty seven percent end zone rate on
Speaker 3: the season, fifty eight percent strike rate on the season.
Speaker 3: That's going to be the difference between him being stuck
Speaker 3: in Triple A and eventually getting up to the big leagues.
Speaker 2: That said, with the way this team.
Speaker 3: Is playing right now and with the stuff that Matthews has,
Speaker 3: I think there's some sort of role that they could
Speaker 3: still weaponize him in, whether it's in this like you know,
Speaker 3: short burst opener, piggyback guy. I just think until the
Speaker 3: command gets better, it's hard to say, hey, go get
Speaker 3: the ball every fifth day at the highest level and
Speaker 3: we're going to hope that you make it through it
Speaker 3: because with the the way the command looks on certain
Speaker 3: days in the big leagues, you might not make it
Speaker 3: out of the first or second inning, and you can't
Speaker 3: do that to your big league team.
Speaker 2: So that's the biggest thing. It's big league stuff.
Speaker 3: I think it's bordering on mid rotation stuff, but the
Speaker 3: command is just just kind of touch and go a
Speaker 3: little too much with such a talented arm.
Speaker 4: Yeah, maybe it's like a Kyle leehy piggyback type situation.
Speaker 4: They're kind of both totally different types of arms. You
Speaker 4: get a righty left you look, maybe he just comes
Speaker 4: off of a three four inning piggyback type of spot.
Speaker 4: I just you know for him, right, Like even with
Speaker 4: some of these bumps, you look at the past five
Speaker 4: starts and he's walked more guys than he's even given
Speaker 4: up hits, So like he's not giving up, he's not
Speaker 4: getting beat. Really, he's being himself when he when he
Speaker 4: has these rough outings like ten hits allowed his past
Speaker 4: twenty five innings pitched with thirty two strikeouts in that span.
Speaker 4: If you're striking out over three times more hitters than
Speaker 4: you're letting get a hit off you, you're doing a
Speaker 4: lot of things. Well, he just it is those four
Speaker 4: and there's four walk outings. There's three walkoutings where just
Speaker 4: the command isn't there. But he's not getting beat at all.
Speaker 4: So you got to find a role for that guy
Speaker 4: at some point because he is like it's a one
Speaker 4: aer in that five game stretch I just mentioned there,
Speaker 4: Like he's doing the job. He just still doesn't have
Speaker 4: it fully command wise. But there's a lot of positive
Speaker 4: takeaways I think from looking at the numbers and especially
Speaker 4: the past months to two months.
Speaker 3: I think the back to back starts there where you
Speaker 3: have the one walk, I think it shows you and
Speaker 3: there's some jerkiness to his delivery, and I think that's
Speaker 3: part of why you see him just get out of
Speaker 3: sank in sync and then out of sank again. And
Speaker 3: it just seems like timing that arm up has been difficult.
Speaker 3: But lefties this year hitting one ninety.
Speaker 2: Four agains him.
Speaker 3: They're still going three forty three and they're striking out
Speaker 3: forty two percent of the time. So when you have
Speaker 3: this right situation to potentially deploy him where it's left
Speaker 3: he heavy at the start of a lineup, or you
Speaker 3: like a pocket for him out of the pen, like
Speaker 3: I do think that's a role that they could utilize
Speaker 3: him in. I think the goal is still to develop
Speaker 3: this guy that has you know, above average heater and
Speaker 3: potentially you know, two plus secondaries to be that starting
Speaker 3: pitcher for you. But he's gonna be twenty six years
Speaker 3: old in October, and I think it's time to kind
Speaker 3: of see if he can help you at the big,
Speaker 3: bigue level for a Cardinals team that maybe isn't going
Speaker 3: to aggressively buy, So, who are some options internally that
Speaker 3: can help you I'm also looking at Cooper Jerpy, who
Speaker 3: has been throwing well as he's come back from elbow surgery,
Speaker 3: and that's another guy of the bullpen left. He's ain't
Speaker 3: gonna be comfortable against him either. They have some internal
Speaker 3: options that you may not, you know, long term, want
Speaker 3: to project them as relievers, but right now that could
Speaker 3: be a great way to get their feet wet at
Speaker 3: the highest level and help your team trying to make
Speaker 3: a push for that wild card spot that they're holding
Speaker 3: on to comfortably.
Speaker 4: Right now, you get creative with it, they're gonna have
Speaker 4: to because they're going to make a push. Like whether
Speaker 4: I don't know, we don't think they're buying like crazy, but.
Speaker 2: Like but they ain't selling.
Speaker 4: They're good. They don't have any reason to sell right now.
Speaker 4: Right it's like there's a funny conversation, but like they're
Speaker 4: gonna try to make it happen. So guys like Jerky,
Speaker 4: guys like Matthew's, they can give you some sort of value,
Speaker 4: even if it's in a unique type of role. You
Speaker 4: try it out and you see what happens. Right absolutely
Speaker 4: getting into the next guy on the heat sheet. Here
Speaker 4: in New York Yankees, we're talking to reliever man. Pretty
Speaker 4: rare that we get relievers on the heat sheet, but
Speaker 4: it's because it's Carlos and hey, who's the top one
Speaker 4: hundred prospect in baseball and he's pitching out of the
Speaker 4: bullpen now. So A, he's throwing really well and B.
Speaker 4: I also just wanted to check in with you on
Speaker 4: kind of where you're at with him as a you know,
Speaker 4: a reliever technically speaking. I know, I still think the
Speaker 4: long term goal for him is to start, but he
Speaker 4: hasn't moved to the bullpen and he's been relieving of late.
Speaker 4: So where are you at with him? And what have
Speaker 4: you kind of thought of his initial you know, what
Speaker 4: about two weeks or so of being a bullpen guy
Speaker 4: for the Yankees.
Speaker 2: Triple A, Yeah, it's fun. I think this is the
Speaker 2: right path as well.
Speaker 3: I mean, because this is somebody that he's not going
Speaker 3: to get an opportunity to throw it as a starter
Speaker 3: at the big league level right now with how many
Speaker 3: arms that they have. And we just talked about a
Speaker 3: similar thing. The Yankees are going to aggressively by but
Speaker 3: this may allow you to have one, you know, one
Speaker 3: of your guys internally helping you bullpen wise.
Speaker 2: So I'm excited to see.
Speaker 3: I think what you're seeing is what you would kind
Speaker 3: of imagine too from him out of the pen, is
Speaker 3: that he's going to be able to overwhelm hitters, even
Speaker 3: if he's kind of just easing his.
Speaker 2: Way into it.
Speaker 3: I think you still still seeing multiple plus pitches, the
Speaker 3: fastball that can get north of one hundred miles per hour,
Speaker 3: but right now it seems like he's almost just been
Speaker 3: more focused on sitting in the upper nineties and filling
Speaker 3: up the zone and having a feel for the whole arsenal,
Speaker 3: and then when he needs to, when he needs a
Speaker 3: dial back for a little bit extra, you see him
Speaker 3: grab that one hundred one oh one, and beyond that,
Speaker 3: what I'm excited for is when you get that guy
Speaker 3: in the big leagues out of the bullpen, we're probably
Speaker 3: gonna see some one.
Speaker 2: O threes and one oh fours.
Speaker 3: And it's just been cool to see though he's clearly
Speaker 3: pacing himself and looking like they're gonna use him in
Speaker 3: potentially this like multi ending relief role which is super
Speaker 3: effective as well. Talk about a Swiss army knife that
Speaker 3: he could be for them. It's leverage stuff, but it's also,
Speaker 3: you know a guy that is still maintaining the ability
Speaker 3: to be stretched out.
Speaker 2: A little bit as well.
Speaker 3: They're not just going like super short, short short bursts.
Speaker 3: Aside from the last outing where he went just one inning,
Speaker 3: but for the most part, it seems like he's still
Speaker 3: been being stretched out at least a little bit. This
Speaker 3: is the guy that think will help them out of
Speaker 3: the bullpen this year. And again, it's hard to find
Speaker 3: stuff like this from a starter, so you already feel
Speaker 3: that way. I imagine it in shorter spurts out of
Speaker 3: the bullpen.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that he's just you know, it's cool
Speaker 4: to see the progression of how they're using him, and
Speaker 4: it's ter be interesting to see the deployment like you
Speaker 4: mentioned there, because he did go like his first bullpen
Speaker 4: outing was like a four inning piggyback, but then this
Speaker 4: last outing this week was one inning. It was like
Speaker 4: let it fly for an inning. He gave one plane
Speaker 4: inning and that was that. So it is gonna be
Speaker 4: really interesting to see how the Yankees decided to use him.
Speaker 4: I think he's a weapon in that bullpen one way
Speaker 4: or another. I mean, they are going to compete. We
Speaker 4: know the Yankees are obviously that the cream of the
Speaker 4: crop in the American League, and like somehow he's gonna
Speaker 4: be used. I don't know what exactly it's gonna be,
Speaker 4: but like the Yankees bullpen hasn't been all that great.
Speaker 4: There's been a lot of inconsistency, and yeah, they're probably
Speaker 4: gonna go buy a high end reliever or two. But
Speaker 4: if this can be a Swiss Army fifth to seventh inning,
Speaker 4: like two inning or one inning type of you know,
Speaker 4: role in that way, I do think he can serve
Speaker 4: the Yankees really well. And it's gonna be fun to
Speaker 4: watch because, like you said, you're gonna see some some
Speaker 4: electric stuff out of him in a high pressure, potentially
Speaker 4: playoff situation.
Speaker 3: Strike great is up to since he's been coming out
Speaker 3: of the pen, and so I think, interesting, that's interesting
Speaker 3: to strike right really over the last thirty days is
Speaker 3: up five percent. So yeah, I feel like he's feeling
Speaker 3: it more in terms of just trying to fill up
Speaker 3: the zone at ninety eight, not overthrowing, and then he
Speaker 3: has that in his back pocket. But you see him
Speaker 3: down the one on one and then get really fired
Speaker 3: up on the mound.
Speaker 2: I think he's he's leaning into the role too, which
Speaker 2: is fun.
Speaker 4: Definitely, let's take our first quick break here on the
Speaker 4: call before we dive back into more names. Jumping right
Speaker 4: back in here on our pitcher's heat sheet. We're making
Speaker 4: our way down the levels. Have been through three Triple
Speaker 4: A guys and we're onto a recently promoted Triple A
Speaker 4: guy and Joe Whitman of the San Francisco Giants organization.
Speaker 4: Definitely not your flashiest pitching prospect somebody I think we've
Speaker 4: talked about a little bit last year, maybe briefly on
Speaker 4: a heat sheet as well, but even throwing the ball
Speaker 4: really well in Double A this season within the Giants
Speaker 4: organ this year gets up to you got up to
Speaker 4: Triple recently he's made three starts in Triple A and
Speaker 4: it's been really more of the same. Honestly, Rike out
Speaker 4: Rady even since getting the trips is up above twenty
Speaker 4: five percent. He doesn't really walk anybody. He's through three
Speaker 4: starts of just quality outings. Women's not not a huge name,
Speaker 4: but I think someone that the Giants could use as
Speaker 4: a depth arm, and it's really proven himself throughout. You know,
Speaker 4: last year he was up and down, he had some moments,
Speaker 4: but this year he's really taking a step forward.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the strikeout right backs it up to
Speaker 3: where you just you see this leap, and yeah, I
Speaker 3: think there was a lot of reason to believe that
Speaker 3: the underlying was better than the surface level stats.
Speaker 2: Last year.
Speaker 3: I think he was better than the five to three
Speaker 3: e l that we saw at double A, and I
Speaker 3: think he's proven that this year. But at the same time,
Speaker 3: it also helps. When you cut the walk right, you
Speaker 3: increase the strikeout right. And I think a big reason
Speaker 3: why he was able to do that is just the
Speaker 3: stuff is up across the board. I mean, you look
Speaker 3: at the fastball velocity he's up from. You know, he'll
Speaker 3: throw both a four seamer in a two seamer or
Speaker 3: sometimes they'll just kind of get tagged in overlap, so
Speaker 3: it's kind of hard to differentiate. But regardless, the fastballs
Speaker 3: are about a tick and a half above where they
Speaker 3: were at last year. The four seamer not last year
Speaker 3: was ninety one point eight, this year it's ninety three.
Speaker 2: And also the pitches that are labeled.
Speaker 3: As two seamers seem to be a little bit hotter
Speaker 3: there they're at ninety three to four. So I mean,
Speaker 3: when you're seeing this kind of v lo uptick from
Speaker 3: a lefty that already had a pretty good field to pitch.
Speaker 3: I think the biggest reason why the walk right could
Speaker 3: climb up a little bit for him is I think
Speaker 3: he felt like he had a nibble.
Speaker 2: Some The change up was a good with pitch for him.
Speaker 3: Now it's even better because the fastball is speeding hitters
Speaker 3: up and the slider it was also a pitch I
Speaker 3: think was helping him be effective and mask the fastball
Speaker 3: that is now playing at a higher level as well,
Speaker 3: because again similarly, he's throwing it a little bit harder
Speaker 3: and I think it just has a little bit more
Speaker 3: bite to it. So you're looking at a slider here
Speaker 3: that has a strong whift rate at about forty percent
Speaker 3: this year, and then the changeup has been there as well,
Speaker 3: but he's up that slider usage significantly. Kind of scrapped
Speaker 3: a curveball that was not really good for him, and
Speaker 3: I think that's been big for him as well. I
Speaker 3: think trying to land that bigger curveball in the upper
Speaker 3: seventies was tougher, So he's throwing harder.
Speaker 2: He's improved his slider.
Speaker 3: He scrapped the pitch that wasn't working for him, and
Speaker 3: and the change up has been you know, I think
Speaker 3: it improved because of the way that the fastballs rushing hitters.
Speaker 3: It's not shocking to me that, you know, across the
Speaker 3: board here now you end up having a much better arm.
Speaker 3: That also is, as you mentioned, not had any issues
Speaker 3: in the early going in the PCL either, which I
Speaker 3: think is very fascinating.
Speaker 2: He burned by a couple of long balls.
Speaker 3: Doesn't care because he's keeping guys off the base paths
Speaker 3: and that's been able to allow him to keep the
Speaker 3: e RA and check through three outings here, I think
Speaker 3: we see what minute the big leagues that sometime this season.
Speaker 4: Wow, that was encouraging. I mean, I think it was
Speaker 4: clear from the numbers this guy at a big leap,
Speaker 4: But I needed to hear your kind of your take
Speaker 4: on like where some of this had come from. And
Speaker 4: it seems like there's you know, from from stuff improving
Speaker 4: from just usage wise and maximizing his stuff and utilizing
Speaker 4: it better. It seems like across the board, really you've
Speaker 4: just seen you know, leap here. What do you think
Speaker 4: like in terms of, you know, the big league projection.
Speaker 4: Obviously it's hard still doesn't seem like a guy who
Speaker 4: you're you're thinking, you know, you're dreaming on high end
Speaker 4: of rotation guy, but does seem like someone who might
Speaker 4: be more of a four than a five at this
Speaker 4: point if things keep going this direction the way he's
Speaker 4: throwing this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he went from like up and down arm to
Speaker 3: a guy that I think could absolutely be a back
Speaker 3: end of the rotation piece. And that's a big difference, Like,
Speaker 3: for sure, No, I think that's what you could dream
Speaker 3: I think on a four here, now that the fastball's
Speaker 3: sitting you know, ninety two to ninety four and touching
Speaker 3: you know, north of that. And then on top of
Speaker 3: the fact that just skinning the arsenal is a little
Speaker 3: bit more optimized and well rounded, I could see this
Speaker 3: guy with the command where it's at too. I could
Speaker 3: absolutely see him reach into number four starter territory. But
Speaker 3: I think you feel good even a median outcome of
Speaker 3: a number five compared to a guy that I think
Speaker 3: the median outcome before was kind of just an up
Speaker 3: and down guy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and the giants, like they start selling off some
Speaker 4: guys if they start getting a chance, it does seem
Speaker 4: like he really could be up there this year and
Speaker 4: start to get some big beginnings and maybe going the
Speaker 4: next season trying to be you know, in that rotation
Speaker 4: and then solidified in it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I know was in Hunts had some moments
Speaker 3: as well, but there's there's some reason to believe that,
Speaker 3: you know, he can that that Whitman can kind of
Speaker 3: carve out a role here and potentially compete for some
Speaker 3: endings with him.
Speaker 4: Yeah. The next name up on the heat sheet comes
Speaker 4: from the Pittsbord Pirates organization, and it's Connor Whitgriff. This
Speaker 4: is a fascinating name that I can't say I knew
Speaker 4: a ton about our guy. Jay Staff put him on
Speaker 4: the honorable mentions list of our Pirates Dot prospect about
Speaker 4: a month ago, and I know he was a name
Speaker 4: that Jay's been keeping up with carefully and someone who
Speaker 4: you know, last year, in his first full pro season,
Speaker 4: had shown you know, high level command and the stuff
Speaker 4: had kind of been a little bit behind more the
Speaker 4: command Wiles and this year, while the command has taken
Speaker 4: a half step back, the stuff has definitely improved this
Speaker 4: season so far, particularly recently past five outings for wake Griff.
Speaker 4: He's twenty seven and two thirds innings of you know,
Speaker 4: six run ball across the five outings with six walks
Speaker 4: to thirty four strikeouts in that span. He's been good
Speaker 4: all year, but really really turning it up a notch
Speaker 4: recently in double A.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is another on though where it's so okay.
Speaker 2: Maybe it was projecting more.
Speaker 3: Of that depth up and down arm, but he might
Speaker 3: just execute his way to you know, having enough success
Speaker 3: here at twenty four years old, just just just been
Speaker 3: effective at each stop and as you mentioned, just of
Speaker 3: late being able to get get a little bit more
Speaker 3: in the swing and missed department, because when you're when
Speaker 3: you're below eight k's per nine, it's gonna be tough
Speaker 3: no matter how much you're.
Speaker 2: Filling up the zone.
Speaker 3: And I think that was clearly a goal for Wick
Speaker 3: Griff was to generate a little bit more with this season,
Speaker 3: and we've seen him do that. His slider has improved,
Speaker 3: He's thrown it a tick harder and he can just
Speaker 3: fill up the zone with it while also still being
Speaker 3: able to get chase with that kind of it. It's
Speaker 3: a really interesting shape too that I think from his
Speaker 3: like release point can can make it a unique look.
Speaker 3: Or I think he's kind of giving you two different
Speaker 3: versions of it too. There's more of a cutterish shape,
Speaker 3: and then I'll give you more of that traditional slider shape,
Speaker 3: and then there's just if you're looking at the plot,
Speaker 3: just like a block in between. So he has this
Speaker 3: ability to kind of navigate all the way down to
Speaker 3: the more slider shape, then all the way up to
Speaker 3: the cutter of shape and everywhere in between. And think
Speaker 3: being able to lean on that pitch and have it
Speaker 3: be so versatile for him has allowed him to maneuver
Speaker 3: around a fastball that, at the end of the day
Speaker 3: ninety one to ninety three miles per hour is just
Speaker 3: you're going to be a pitch that he needs to mask.
Speaker 2: So that's how you can get away with a Kumar Rocker.
Speaker 3: Very different pitcher, right, But Kumar Rocker is able to
Speaker 3: get away with significantly high slider usage because he manipulates
Speaker 3: it so it's not the same forty percent slider usage
Speaker 3: as everybody else because it's like multiple pitches in one
Speaker 3: and it kind of looks like that with what Griff now,
Speaker 3: I think there should be a completely different and this
Speaker 3: is just a tagging situation on my end, but there
Speaker 3: should be a cutter separated, But even if you're tagging
Speaker 3: the cutter separately, there's still so much variation with this
Speaker 3: slider that I think it gives him, you know a
Speaker 3: lot of different ways to you know, attack the hitter
Speaker 3: when paired with the cutter as well.
Speaker 2: And kind of a similar situation with the change up
Speaker 2: in the way that he's able to manipulate it.
Speaker 3: So this is a player that I think when you
Speaker 3: look at like the track Man data, it may not
Speaker 3: show you know how funky he is because you've got
Speaker 3: to really look at the plot and see how much
Speaker 3: variance he's able to have with the shapes while still
Speaker 3: being able to fill up the zone enough.
Speaker 4: What's the differentiation of the change up? Because I noticed
Speaker 4: the change up for him had been a really good
Speaker 4: used pitch this year. Is it just is it varying
Speaker 4: in terms of how much it's moving? Where is he
Speaker 4: kind of spacing the change up in compared.
Speaker 3: To Yeah, some have some have more carry and some
Speaker 3: have just a ton of depth to it and fall
Speaker 3: off the table.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if that's intentional.
Speaker 3: I don't know if that's just kind of a natural
Speaker 3: progression for him.
Speaker 2: But it's clear that he's able to or at least has.
Speaker 3: Some some wide range here of of kind of shapes
Speaker 3: with that change up and as a result, a lot
Speaker 3: of weak contact, fair amount of with and it will
Speaker 3: make it hard. I think we have the shape variance
Speaker 3: to land it in the strike zone consistently, and I
Speaker 3: think that's been a challenge for him. But yeah, some
Speaker 3: stay up a little bit longer. I think a tunnel
Speaker 3: off the fastball well, because then the others, you know,
Speaker 3: just have a little bit more late fade and drop
Speaker 3: to it.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Next name up on the heat sheet here Pitcher's side.
Speaker 4: Someone you've heard about plenty from us this year, Joseph
Speaker 4: Serwa of the Baltimore Orioles Areanization. We've continued to talk
Speaker 4: about ZEROA, but he continues to shove, so that's why
Speaker 4: we continue to talk about him. He got the bump
Speaker 4: to double A about a month ago or so. His
Speaker 4: past five outings now at the double A level, it's
Speaker 4: twenty seven and a third innings of one to nine,
Speaker 4: thirty one strikeouts, only six walk across that span. Zera
Speaker 4: just keeps shoving. He was doing it in high A.
Speaker 4: Now he's six outings into his double A career and
Speaker 4: has done basically the same with even better command. His
Speaker 4: walk rate has gone from six percent in HIGHA down
Speaker 4: to four percent just a little over four percent in
Speaker 4: double A ZEROA like is continuing to prove that he's
Speaker 4: one of the bigger breakout arms of this year in
Speaker 4: the minor leagues. And you could say breakout's not fair
Speaker 4: because he was a second rounder this past year. Sure,
Speaker 4: but like, when you're doing this at two levels already
Speaker 4: to start your big league, start your professional career, we're
Speaker 4: gonna take notice.
Speaker 3: No, And also was reminded recently it's actually jerwah zero
Speaker 3: forever as well. So yeah, I mean it's the clear
Speaker 3: cut thing and we've talked about is when.
Speaker 2: You take a.
Speaker 3: Six foot eight fastball change up lefty and you increase
Speaker 3: the velocity, Uh, that's gonna help. And then you add
Speaker 3: pitches that's gonna help, and it doesn't really compromise the
Speaker 3: command that already defies what you typically see from a
Speaker 3: six foot eight lefty. There was a lot of reasons
Speaker 3: why we selected him as you know, a breakout candidate
Speaker 3: for us this year, and and just to see the
Speaker 3: way that that arsenal has developed for him as somebody
Speaker 3: that was so fastball change of heavy to add that cutter,
Speaker 3: that's been a huge bridge pitch for him. But it's
Speaker 3: been more than a bridge pitch. It's been a lot
Speaker 3: more valuable for him than that. And he's been in
Speaker 3: the zone with it NonStop like he's been, he's been
Speaker 3: able to build it up, but also at the same
Speaker 3: time like it's not even that big of a chase
Speaker 3: pitch because he can dare you with it and he
Speaker 3: just knows that he's gonna miss barrels. And so that's
Speaker 3: been effective for him there in terms of being able
Speaker 3: to get a lot of rollovers, weak contact. And then
Speaker 3: the slider's just better because instead of it being in
Speaker 3: the mid seventies as a slider, now it's closer to
Speaker 3: seventy eight, seventy nine, even touching to eighty one, it's
Speaker 3: gonna be a lot more effective for me. Gets a
Speaker 3: little bit more horizontal on it as well. So the
Speaker 3: slider being harder helps, the fastball being harder of course helps,
Speaker 3: and the change up, which has always been his bread
Speaker 3: and butter. It's funny that pitch wasn't even there for
Speaker 3: him for a lot of the year, which was the
Speaker 3: clear cut best pitch that he had to offer, So
Speaker 3: that pitch now just being their for him a little
Speaker 3: bit more consistently. Now you're seeing the whole arsenal roundown
Speaker 3: and the run and ride that he's getting on his
Speaker 3: fastball now that Joe was able to get. I mean,
Speaker 3: he's throwing some fastballs that are forting with twenty inches
Speaker 3: of induced vertical break and like eighteen inches of horizontal
Speaker 3: from that six foot eight lanky release where he's able
Speaker 3: to is still low for his height too. It's like
Speaker 3: a five nine early set, which is just below it's
Speaker 3: five eight seven, like just below big leagu gaverage from
Speaker 3: a six to eight frame. That's very deceptive. Then running
Speaker 3: and riding. That's a very weird look for hitters. And
Speaker 3: I think there's a reason why he's been super super effective.
Speaker 3: Is average EGXI velosity against this year for left handed
Speaker 3: hitters is eighty three miles per hour. They're just miserable
Speaker 3: against him this year because it's such a unique book,
Speaker 3: and then he's got.
Speaker 2: The arsenal to be able to now keep writings at
Speaker 2: Bay as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I was gonna say, do you have left alreadlit
Speaker 4: by chance? Because the one thing I'm thinking about as
Speaker 4: you're describing this, like facing draa, I just would be
Speaker 4: like horrible. That would just be like the worst experience
Speaker 4: for a lefty, particularly obviously right hander is like it's
Speaker 4: not fun, but like the overall layers to like his release,
Speaker 4: his size, and then the way that his stuff is moving.
Speaker 4: For a left handed hitter, it just has to be
Speaker 4: a horrible experience.
Speaker 3: Well, because everything's running up put in on you. So
Speaker 3: you're all sped up, right, because everything that we just talking.
Speaker 2: About the run and ride from that release, you're feeling
Speaker 2: really sped up.
Speaker 3: You feel like you got to really get the barrel
Speaker 3: out there because anything that starts middle is tying you up,
Speaker 3: and anything that's starts in or third might legitimately blow
Speaker 3: your hands up. And so you start to cheat for that.
Speaker 3: And then you get the cutter breaking towards towards his
Speaker 3: glove side, excuse me, And then you have the slider
Speaker 3: that's going to even get you further out from there,
Speaker 3: and you're sped up kind of cheating for it. You're
Speaker 3: gonna get a lot of front leg you know, one
Speaker 3: arm swings. But the crazy part is it's like it's
Speaker 3: not like righties are faring much better. They're they're just
Speaker 3: getting out in a different way. Lefties are just rolling
Speaker 3: over because they're cheating. Righties are are are just swinging
Speaker 3: and missing more, which is which is fascinating as well.
Speaker 3: Four percent higher strikeout right with righties and they're hitting
Speaker 3: one sixty one themselves. So uh, it's just fascinating that
Speaker 3: like lefties you've got a ground ball rate of fifty
Speaker 3: two percent, righties you've got a ground ball rate of
Speaker 3: thirty seven percent, and none of neither side are hitting jerwell.
Speaker 2: So what I see is just a guy that.
Speaker 3: Can pitch flat out pitch, and he's got different plans
Speaker 3: of attack for hitters of each hand inness and they're
Speaker 3: both working.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's been really exceptional and he keeps me seventy
Speaker 4: three like he's blowing through. He's gonna reach undred forty
Speaker 4: innings this year as a minor league pitcher and maybe
Speaker 4: even two, potentially three levels, Like it wouldn't even shock
Speaker 4: me to see this guy gets the trips at the
Speaker 4: end of the year because he's advanced, he's a college guy.
Speaker 4: He has experienced, like he can be in Baltimore next
Speaker 4: year as one of the earlier arrivals from that twenty
Speaker 4: twenty five class, especially among second rounders and beyond.
Speaker 3: It's funny they had like eighty picks last year too,
Speaker 3: so he wasn't even one of their first.
Speaker 4: Six the drafts, which is crazy to think about because
Speaker 4: he's a really good prospect and.
Speaker 2: There might be more in there. Six foot eight.
Speaker 3: You can maybe find another tick if he does that,
Speaker 3: and then he really might be on a different level.
Speaker 2: Of course, there.
Speaker 4: Could be souring up the boards. Let's take a quick
Speaker 4: break before we get back into our next level of heat.
Speaker 4: Cheek guys, before we jump back in here, Arm, tell
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Speaker 3: I have the goal of trying to collect every Hall
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Speaker 3: it can kind of scratch both itches in one pack
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Speaker 3: it's Code just Baseball for twenty percent off. The links
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Speaker 2: On there.
Speaker 4: Getting back into our heat sheet, we got a handful
Speaker 4: more names here. We have got six more pitchers still
Speaker 4: to go through today. A lot of fun arms here.
Speaker 4: A name that we don't think we've ever mentioned on
Speaker 4: the show before. Jose Akunya of the Cincinnati Reds organization,
Speaker 4: someone that popped up from just a pure numerical standpoint
Speaker 4: of just has been really really good lately. Last year
Speaker 4: he spent the year in Double A, but only through
Speaker 4: little over seventy innings. This season, the twenty three year
Speaker 4: old right hander has been back in Double A in
Speaker 4: the Southern League through seventy eight and two thirds. Already
Speaker 4: in fourteen outings, he's got three four era, has had
Speaker 4: a pretty high strikeout rate of late, and really particularly
Speaker 4: recently his last five outings, it's only seven runs allowed
Speaker 4: with thirty eight strikeouts in a thirty four inning span.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's funny this is And you look at a
Speaker 3: red scene that could probably just use somebody up there
Speaker 3: and helping them sooner rather than later.
Speaker 2: He might end up carving out a role them. And
Speaker 2: I think I watched him in the.
Speaker 3: Fall League not too long ago, and I can't remember
Speaker 3: if it was last year of the year before, and
Speaker 3: I was just like, you know, this is a potential
Speaker 3: up and down arm, and yeah, maybe it could be
Speaker 3: an innings eater, but also has been used in a
Speaker 3: few different roles, so it could kind of be a
Speaker 3: swingman type.
Speaker 2: He's been effective enough.
Speaker 3: At each stop, but it just seems like the stuff
Speaker 3: is better this year and it seems like he's got
Speaker 3: a better feel for it overall as well.
Speaker 2: The fastball is up.
Speaker 3: Just about a half tick, but he's also just filling
Speaker 3: up the zone a lot more frequently. The strike rate
Speaker 3: is up by four percent from last year, and I
Speaker 3: think part of that has just been just maturing at
Speaker 3: twenty three years old and finding a feel. He looks
Speaker 3: more athletic on the mound as well Acunya does, and
Speaker 3: he's kind of consolidating the arsenal and focusing.
Speaker 2: On the pitches that he has a better feel for.
Speaker 3: Like that change up has just been there for him,
Speaker 3: I think a lot this year and a lot more
Speaker 3: this year, so it's been nice to see him have
Speaker 3: that success there. And then the confidence with the two seamer.
Speaker 3: It's a low nineties fastball. It's at ninety one and
Speaker 3: a half last year. Now it's ninety two. But you know,
Speaker 3: he's able to get excuse me, not a two seamer,
Speaker 3: the four seamer. He's able to get enough with in
Speaker 3: the zone because of the carry that it features. So
Speaker 3: I think the fact that even just being a half
Speaker 3: tick harder with that carry, he's able to get plenty
Speaker 3: of swing and miss there within the zone.
Speaker 2: And I think with that he's generated more confidence.
Speaker 3: It sets up the change up to parachute off of
Speaker 3: it well, and then he's mixing the slider with confidence
Speaker 3: as well. So you've got this three pitch mix for
Speaker 3: the most part that that seems to be really effective
Speaker 3: for him, and I kind of see it back into
Speaker 3: the rotation, you know, potential for him all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: which is again a lot better than what I had
Speaker 3: seen at points last year.
Speaker 2: But there's also been stretches. I mean in twenty four
Speaker 2: he had a twenty two.
Speaker 3: Inning stretch where he was kind of working out of
Speaker 3: the pen but also like short starts, like he was
Speaker 3: doing a little bit of both, and he was dominant.
Speaker 3: He pitched like a point eight one era, So there's
Speaker 3: been stretches there for him, but on pace now to
Speaker 3: throw more innings than he ever has I think his career,
Speaker 3: how I was one hundred, so I think that's been
Speaker 3: a huge for him too. I think the biggest hurdle
Speaker 3: next will just be consistently keeping the ball in the yard,
Speaker 3: So is the challenge with verty fastball guys.
Speaker 2: But I think Acuna has taken a big step forward
Speaker 2: this year. Yeah.
Speaker 4: One of my big questions with him was if it
Speaker 4: is a real starter, if he might go into that
Speaker 4: kind of versatile bullpen type of role, maybe a swingman category.
Speaker 4: But it seems like the step he's taken could lead
Speaker 4: to at least a back end guy. Even if it
Speaker 4: is primarily three pitches, it's enough effectiveness with those three
Speaker 4: to stick as a rotation piece.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I mean he still has the confidence I
Speaker 3: think with that fastball, and the way that that's developed
Speaker 3: is probably the most encouraging partner.
Speaker 2: It's probably a couple.
Speaker 3: Extra inches of vert on the fastball compared to where
Speaker 3: he was at the year before, and you don't always
Speaker 3: see that. So to gain a couple of inches of
Speaker 3: vert and a half tick in fastball velocity, like it
Speaker 3: probably went from a forty forty five grade pitch to
Speaker 3: a fifty to fifty five grade pitch which is which
Speaker 3: is a big difference.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a big jump of changes the way you're
Speaker 4: able to attack for sure across the board. Another guy
Speaker 4: in the same division jumping over to the Brewers organization, Yes,
Speaker 4: other Brewers prospect. Bishop Letson is someone that we talked
Speaker 4: about a decent amount. I think last year really started
Speaker 4: to see some breakout type of stuff from him. Super
Speaker 4: young and still a very raw arm, only twenty one
Speaker 4: years old in Double A. But I started to figure
Speaker 4: out recently the command is still lagging a little. It
Speaker 4: still seems like he needs to take it, you know,
Speaker 4: find another step there. But his last four starts, you know,
Speaker 4: only five runs allowed across twenty one and a third innings,
Speaker 4: twenty three strikeouts in that span. It's been a noticeable
Speaker 4: improvement from earlier in the season for Letson, even as
Speaker 4: he continues to kind of work through some of these
Speaker 4: growing pains at the Double A level.
Speaker 3: Yeah, not to compare them, because it's not fair to
Speaker 3: compare anybody to Jacob Miserawski, but he's got the fun
Speaker 3: shades of in terms of tall kid, long lanky, crazy extension,
Speaker 3: low release and just kind of jumps at you and
Speaker 3: I think that's what's fun. So it's like it's this
Speaker 3: starter kit there that is really fascinating. And I've talked
Speaker 3: to hitwards that have faced letson and they say, like,
Speaker 3: that's one of the more uncomfortable at bats I've had.
Speaker 2: Because everything just gets on you so quick. He's averaging
Speaker 2: seven point two feet of extension, which.
Speaker 3: Is already well into the plus territory that would put
Speaker 3: him in the ninety eighth percentile in Major League Baseball.
Speaker 3: I at least somewhere in the ninety five plus territory.
Speaker 3: His release height is five point three feet, so to
Speaker 3: get that low and extend that far is something that
Speaker 3: I don't have, like the query of that Miserowski's won.
Speaker 3: I don't know who else is doing that in terms
Speaker 3: of getting that low and extending that far.
Speaker 2: And the fastball is ninety five. It's not like he's
Speaker 2: throwing ninety two.
Speaker 3: I think most guys that would be getting down that
Speaker 3: low and extending that much wouldn't have that much.
Speaker 2: Whippiness and arm speed.
Speaker 3: And to be sitting ninety five and touching ninety six
Speaker 3: plus we've seen him grab ninety seven, I think says
Speaker 3: a lot about just the arm talent there. But what
Speaker 3: that is comes some challenges to time it all up
Speaker 3: and control everything, and we saw that with Letson where
Speaker 3: just at times I think things were out of whack.
Speaker 3: St just had a bit of an injury history as well,
Speaker 3: and I think sometimes things flare up and slightly cause
Speaker 3: him to adjust that release point some.
Speaker 2: But that fastball is.
Speaker 3: Disgustingly like Lively when he's on and he's commanding it,
Speaker 3: and then you.
Speaker 2: Have the sweeper off of that.
Speaker 3: That is just a nightmare for hitters because again where
Speaker 3: it's being released from, and then.
Speaker 2: The cutter to bridge.
Speaker 3: He's got the ways to work is to rush you
Speaker 3: with the fastball, cutter in between, and then get you
Speaker 3: waving at the sweeper. The change up has come along
Speaker 3: a little bit, but he just doesn't have a feel
Speaker 3: for it, and that's a really hard one to have
Speaker 3: a feel for from down there, and we've seen that
Speaker 3: in the past with Miz as well.
Speaker 2: So that'll be the big question.
Speaker 3: But even so, like if you have that four seamer,
Speaker 3: he also has the two seamer that he mixes in
Speaker 3: and then having to cutter and the sweeper, that would
Speaker 3: be enough even if he just sprinkles in a few
Speaker 3: change ups a game, and I think the biggest variable
Speaker 3: really just all comes down to Lesson's command, And as
Speaker 3: you mentioned, it's been a lot better of late. You know,
Speaker 3: entering this the last thirty days, it was at about
Speaker 3: sixty percent. Sixty five percent strike rate of late, I
Speaker 3: mean five percent for him is going to make a
Speaker 3: big difference, and I think we're seeing him execute more consistently.
Speaker 4: He's also another example of those guys where like they
Speaker 4: have you just see these particular outings where it's like, Okay,
Speaker 4: that's what he can be. Right, Like he had a
Speaker 4: few weeks ago against a really good Montgomery team, Tampa's organization,
Speaker 4: right u six innings of three hit shutout ball with
Speaker 4: eight k's and one walk. It was like, there's the
Speaker 4: Bishop Letson that we can dream on. Right then there's
Speaker 4: outings that he walks four guys and you know, in
Speaker 4: a three inning span, and it's like, Okay, the command's
Speaker 4: not there yet, But like you get these spurts, and
Speaker 4: we mentioned that earlier in the episode two other guys,
Speaker 4: you get these moments where you're like with like with
Speaker 4: Quinn Matthews, right where you're just like this guy's pross
Speaker 4: and then he starts where he regresses. He's still twenty
Speaker 4: one in Double A. He got up to Double A
Speaker 4: last year at twenty. I think at the end of
Speaker 4: the year, he's a young guy. He's long, he'sanky. Like
Speaker 4: you said, there's a lot of time to still dream
Speaker 4: on what he can be.
Speaker 3: And I think there's no no reason for his strikeout
Speaker 3: to be nine, Like, he shouldn't have forty seven strikeouts
Speaker 3: and forty seven innings. The only reason that is is
Speaker 3: because of the lack of execution, like what we saw
Speaker 3: last year, it's there, and mind you young, and also.
Speaker 2: Because of some of the injuries, has just not thrown
Speaker 2: that much.
Speaker 3: When you look at the amount of frames he's thrown period,
Speaker 3: like as a professional, we've only.
Speaker 2: Seen what is it. Entering the season, it was only
Speaker 2: one hundred innings from him, and so now even at
Speaker 2: this year, like he's throw one hundred and fifty professional innings.
Speaker 2: He's still so young in his development yet already in
Speaker 2: Double A.
Speaker 4: Yeah, getting into our next name here on the heat
Speaker 4: sheet of the pitchers, Mason Molina of the Saint Louis
Speaker 4: Cardinals organization. Not a name we've discussed on this show.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 4: He was traded in the film Ayton Trade last deadline
Speaker 4: from Houston over to Saint or from Texas part of
Speaker 4: me over to Saint Louis, and you know got over
Speaker 4: to Saint Louis. Last year he'd been pitching for he
Speaker 4: threw what he I guess he had five starts at
Speaker 4: the end of the year. So he ended up having
Speaker 4: what was actually a really solid first pro season last
Speaker 4: year across the board from three different teams he played with.
Speaker 4: This year he gets to double. It's been really good,
Speaker 4: particularly of late. He's been one of the better pitchers
Speaker 4: in the Texas League. Last five starts, it's you know,
Speaker 4: two ninety ra with thirty three strikeouts across twenty seven
Speaker 4: and two thirds innings pitched. What you got on Mason
Speaker 4: Molina in his development track here.
Speaker 2: I like this Kidney, really.
Speaker 3: I know, we got like a new regime going on
Speaker 3: here and in Saint Louis, and heim Bloom is going
Speaker 3: to do a good job of rebuilding this farm system
Speaker 3: as we know. But Molina fits the bill of like
Speaker 3: the lefties and just the pitchers, and I feel like
Speaker 3: they've targeted over the last few years that the pitch
Speaker 3: ability and I know that the walk rate was a
Speaker 3: little bit high Lasher, but when you look at it,
Speaker 3: when you watch him throw, it's that kind of massage
Speaker 3: his way through lineups, give you a bunch of different
Speaker 3: looks from the left side, and have a fastball.
Speaker 2: That sneaks up on you a little bit more than
Speaker 2: you would expect.
Speaker 3: And I think what we've seen from Molina is like,
Speaker 3: this is a pretty well rounded pitch mix.
Speaker 2: Here.
Speaker 3: He's got a four seam fastball that gets plus carry.
Speaker 3: It's north of nineteen inches of a news vertical break
Speaker 3: from a standard release heide, and then off of that
Speaker 3: is a change up with good vertical separation averaging about
Speaker 3: twelve inches maybe a little bit less, about eleven in
Speaker 3: change in vertical separation, and then another eleven in horizontal separation,
Speaker 3: and then he has a short gyro ish slider. Then
Speaker 3: he is a sweeper, and then he has a downer curveball.
Speaker 3: So you've got this really wide range plot here and
Speaker 3: a really good feel to both create. Usually guys that
Speaker 3: create this much vert aren't also able to throw that sweeper.
Speaker 3: And then you know also having this the downer curveball
Speaker 3: from there as well, and could he have a better
Speaker 3: feel for the curveball, yes.
Speaker 2: But that's usually going to come with the territories.
Speaker 3: That banger pitch is harder to land consistently, but that's
Speaker 3: going to be more of a taste breaker anyways. So
Speaker 3: to have that shorter slider and then the sweepier slider,
Speaker 3: those two pitches to work off of a verty fastball
Speaker 3: and the change up as well with the taste breaker
Speaker 3: curveball to flip in there as long as the command
Speaker 3: is there, and I think that's going to be the
Speaker 3: big question.
Speaker 2: I think it will be.
Speaker 3: He has such a good feel to pitch overall, as
Speaker 3: long as the command is average. This is the guy
Speaker 3: that I think is just going to be slept on
Speaker 3: and end up becoming just a solid back into the.
Speaker 2: Rotation type of starter.
Speaker 3: And it's really hard to argue against that with the
Speaker 3: results now we're seeing in a hitter friendly Texas league,
Speaker 3: with the way that he's been able to navigate and
Speaker 3: the last piece is just a little bit more command.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's kind of this kitchen Sinki approach. That's what
Speaker 4: I was seeing when I watched a couple of videos.
Speaker 4: I was like, there's like three different breaking balls in
Speaker 4: there that are all completely different pitches. What's the usage, Like,
Speaker 4: I mean, you see mixing and matching equally with all
Speaker 4: those secondaries. Is there some that kind of is there? Doesn't?
Speaker 4: Is there standout pitches within that kind of six pitch
Speaker 4: mix you mentioned there.
Speaker 3: What I also like with him is you've got to
Speaker 3: respect the fastball, even though it's ninety two topping at
Speaker 3: ninety five. You've got to respect it because of the shape,
Speaker 3: which makes it even more difficult when you're gonna get
Speaker 3: the kitchen sink of secondaries.
Speaker 2: But it's a pretty even usage.
Speaker 3: I mean, you've got it pretty even across the board
Speaker 3: where the fastball is going to be around forty three,
Speaker 3: it's a forty five percent of the time, and then
Speaker 3: I think as he gets to the highest level, he
Speaker 3: might cut that down a little bit and even more
Speaker 3: lean into the the you know, just kind of all
Speaker 3: the different pitches that you have to game plan for.
Speaker 3: The change up is is definitely his most used secondary,
Speaker 3: and go to that about twenty five percent of the time.
Speaker 3: But then you've still got around ten to fifteen on
Speaker 3: the shorter slider, the sweeper, and the curve ball, and
Speaker 3: so you really got to respect everything.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you got you gotta give it a going to
Speaker 4: the bat and not sure exactly what you're getting, and
Speaker 4: it seems like at that level, like he's cruising his way.
Speaker 4: He's also was a young I mean he was. He
Speaker 4: was drafted as a sophomore at draft eligible sophomore, I believe,
Speaker 4: or maybe just a year young. So he's only twenty two. Still,
Speaker 4: he's not twenty three till next month, so still in
Speaker 4: a good track here for Saint Louis. And another name
Speaker 4: that like probably not this year, but just another name
Speaker 4: to tack into, like a team that is playing better
Speaker 4: than they expect, and it has some guys on the
Speaker 4: way that can give you some bullstering one way or
Speaker 4: another one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: And he does at least kind of look the part
Speaker 3: of the like ending zeting back end of the rotation
Speaker 3: type of it's like.
Speaker 4: One last quick break here before we get to our
Speaker 4: last few pictures. We're back with our final three pitchers
Speaker 4: here on our pitchers focused heat sheet this week on
Speaker 4: the call up. Next name up comes from the Texas
Speaker 4: Rangers organization, Molina's former organization. The last guy kid in
Speaker 4: Scarborough of the Rangers organ This was a hot name
Speaker 4: coming into the season, no doubt, someone that we were
Speaker 4: very excited to see working his way back from injury,
Speaker 4: getting back in the groove of throwing it to the season.
Speaker 4: He has only thrown what I think about twenty innings
Speaker 4: at this point in the minor league season, but he
Speaker 4: just had he had two complex outings, just getting some
Speaker 4: rehab outings. He's four inning, four outings into his season
Speaker 4: now in High A. Through fifteen and a third he
Speaker 4: has allowed one He's allowed two runs in that span,
Speaker 4: I think, or three runs in that span. So nine
Speaker 4: one seventy ra with strikeout rate over nearing forty percent,
Speaker 4: walk right only at eight percent, and he's coming off
Speaker 4: of an injury to Scarborough, looks like he's really quickly
Speaker 4: settling back into one of the more exciting young pitching
Speaker 4: prospects in baseball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty scary story.
Speaker 3: If you watch him pitch now, you'll see him rocking
Speaker 3: the turtleneck, you know, under armour. And it's because he
Speaker 3: had to get malignant melanoma removed from the back of
Speaker 3: his or from his neck, and so thank goodness, that
Speaker 3: was caught in a routine, you know, kind of check
Speaker 3: up and they took care of that. But obviously it
Speaker 3: was a bit of a process to work his way
Speaker 3: back and just get into game shape and get comfortable.
Speaker 3: I mean, Scarborough is one of the more anticipated guys
Speaker 3: that we were looking forward to watch this season after
Speaker 3: what we saw from him last year.
Speaker 2: When you talked about unique release.
Speaker 3: This is probably one of the only other guys ironically
Speaker 3: that is getting that low release point wise and extending
Speaker 3: that far out. Now he's not getting north to seven
Speaker 3: feet of extension, but he's getting even lower release point
Speaker 3: wise than lets and it's like a five foot flat
Speaker 3: release site maybe slightly above that, and he's getting six' eight,
Speaker 3: Extension so that's already a really unique look. There, Now
Speaker 3: scarborough is still getting comfortable and building back up be low.
Speaker 3: Wise like last year he was more at the ninety four.
Speaker 3: Range in this, year it's not quite there. Yet he's
Speaker 3: more ninety two, ish But i'm sure that'll. Come i'm
Speaker 3: sure he's pacing. Himself the biggest thing that we've talked
Speaker 3: about with him is the fastball is clearly just just
Speaker 3: a standout pitch with the low, release with the extension
Speaker 3: at ninety four to ninety, six but really sitting around
Speaker 3: ninety four to. Five that pitch was dominant For hian
Speaker 3: and will just continue to be a tough look for.
Speaker 3: Hitters and then off of, that you, know the slider
Speaker 3: was a good pitch for, him so it was kind
Speaker 3: of looking and waiting to see what can he develop
Speaker 3: off of. That it was sixty five percent fastball usage
Speaker 3: last year and he's still.
Speaker 2: Dominated so the.
Speaker 3: Big question was, just, okay what's the how good can
Speaker 3: he be if he's able to expand on this, Arsenal
Speaker 3: and of course the bigger question is can he expand
Speaker 3: on this? Arsenal and even with that crazy fastball usage last,
Speaker 3: year he was able, to you, know have a lot
Speaker 3: of success and then in three starts dominate Hig a
Speaker 3: for that cumulative two four or five ra but crazy
Speaker 3: strikeout to walk numbers in eighty eight innings between those
Speaker 3: two levels where it was one hundred and fourteen strikeouts
Speaker 3: in twenty one.
Speaker 2: Walks so imagine just with the hitters knowing the.
Speaker 3: Fastball's, coming they can't do, anything and now with it
Speaker 3: even being a couple of ticks, below they still can't
Speaker 3: really do. Anything and now he's shown to have a
Speaker 3: more well round a pitch mix with the time that
Speaker 3: he's ad. OFF i think he developed a cutter that
Speaker 3: looks like it can be a solid bridge for. Him
Speaker 3: then he's got that sweeper as, well and then he's
Speaker 3: starting to try to mix in a change. Up, also
Speaker 3: he's a guy that can get, away especially when the
Speaker 3: vle gets back with sixty percent. Fastball you said she
Speaker 3: was still on our top one hundred list despite not
Speaker 3: throwing yet this, year even in the. Update because of
Speaker 3: how Talented scarborough, is he'llbe twenty one for the entirety
Speaker 3: of the. Season he was twenty years old at the
Speaker 3: start of. It there's so much to dream on. Here thank,
Speaker 3: Goodness scarborough's. Okay but Now i'm just really excited to,
Speaker 3: see you, know what the ceiling can be, here because
Speaker 3: this is a guy, that if it all, clicks has
Speaker 3: as much upside as really any of the pitching prospects
Speaker 3: that we're going to talk about outside of like you,
Speaker 3: know the top the top ten twenty overall.
Speaker 2: Prospects.
Speaker 4: YEAH i first of, All i'm glad he's just doing
Speaker 4: better and he's. HEALTHY i remember seeing that headline AND
Speaker 4: i kind of forgot WHEN i was looking at the
Speaker 4: numbers that he's coming off of that not just like an, injury,
Speaker 4: Right so OBVIOUSLY i hope that human being is. Okay
Speaker 4: it's awesome that he's back on the, mound you, know
Speaker 4: as soon as he. Is, honestly it could have been
Speaker 4: a longer time. Off so it's great to see him
Speaker 4: back out, there and it's great to see him shoving
Speaker 4: because this is a fun. Arm like you just, said,
Speaker 4: like there is so much upside to dream on. Here
Speaker 4: there's still a lot of arsenal development that we know can,
Speaker 4: happen and those added. PITCHES i feel like a cutter
Speaker 4: makes perfect sense for, Him so that makes a lot
Speaker 4: of sense that that was added here because you think
Speaker 4: about how good the fastball, is how much it really
Speaker 4: gets up on guys and eats guys, up and at
Speaker 4: that high of a, usage, right it becomes that kind
Speaker 4: of the bridge pitch, obviously between the slider and the.
Speaker 4: Cutter it's more than just that. Though it really should
Speaker 4: play off that fastball really, WELL i. Think So i'm
Speaker 4: excited to see that pitch BECAUSE i feel like that's
Speaker 4: a pitch, that, LIKE i don't know where the usage
Speaker 4: has been at so, far but if he really finds it,
Speaker 4: MORE i could see that. Pitch you've been ticking up
Speaker 4: a usage and becoming a true like one bee to the,
Speaker 4: sliders one a in terms of off the fast ball,
Speaker 4: Pitches so it could even, go you, know at a
Speaker 4: whole other. Level, Right there's just a lot to dream
Speaker 4: on here for a guy of this, Caliber and now
Speaker 4: that he's back on the, mound like he's already showing
Speaker 4: what he can, be and he might even get to
Speaker 4: double later in the. Year maybe they take it easy
Speaker 4: and don't rush, him but, Like i'm sure the stuff
Speaker 4: would play at double if you threw him there later this.
Speaker 3: Season, well and right now that cutters at eighty, seven
Speaker 3: as he continues to tick, up that could be more
Speaker 3: at eighty eighty, nine like even, ninety and that pitch
Speaker 3: could be even more disgusting for.
Speaker 2: Him and then the.
Speaker 3: Tunnel of because of that lower, release the tunnel that
Speaker 3: you would have from the running route of the fastball
Speaker 3: the cutter a little bit more towards the gloves, side
Speaker 3: and then the sweeper from, there it's gonna be a
Speaker 3: really tough look for.
Speaker 4: Hitters next guy up Is Braylan dody of The guardians.
Speaker 4: Organization we've talked about him a couple of times this.
Speaker 4: Year the recent stretch he's been on has been. Crazy
Speaker 4: as twenty. One there's twenty year old right hander From,
Speaker 4: cleveland was a thirty six overall pick two years. Ago
Speaker 4: a lot of, upside but we still you, know there
Speaker 4: was still some some growth to be, had but last
Speaker 4: year was still a really Quality this year it's been even.
Speaker 4: Better on the. Season we're talking about a thirty thirty
Speaker 4: percent strikeout rate and a under five percent walk rate
Speaker 4: so far this. Year recently, though his past five outings
Speaker 4: thirty five strikeouts and three walks For dody he. GIVE i,
Speaker 4: mean he's given up some, hits he get up some
Speaker 4: runs here and, there but like that is about as
Speaker 4: good as you're going to see from a twenty year
Speaker 4: old of the.
Speaker 3: Minors, YEAH i think it's a big thing with him
Speaker 3: is you, know limiting the damage because he's not going
Speaker 3: to beat. Himself sixty seven strikeouts against eleven walks on the.
Speaker 3: Season it's just crazy.
Speaker 2: Stuff and you know he's the only decent. Job it
Speaker 2: came in the ball in the.
Speaker 3: Yard it just feel like when he's given up the,
Speaker 3: hits they start to get racked. Up the fastball is
Speaker 3: the THING i keep calling on is LIKE i think
Speaker 3: he might almost be in the zone too. Much it's
Speaker 3: a seventy five percent strike rate on the, fastball but
Speaker 3: he's also ticking up and throwing harder and, harder AND
Speaker 3: i think that's a really exciting part of it, too
Speaker 3: and why you're seeing this. Success like over his last
Speaker 3: hand full of, STARTS i was, like the last thirty,
Speaker 3: days the fastball is averaging ninety four point. Seven on the,
Speaker 3: season it's averaging ninety three point, eight so and that's
Speaker 3: combining with the hotter sample, now so he's up like
Speaker 3: a tick and a half from where he was even
Speaker 3: at at the start of the. Season So dody's found something,
Speaker 3: Here AND i think that's really really exciting BECAUSE i
Speaker 3: also think the shape.
Speaker 2: Could be so much.
Speaker 3: Better last year he was at ninety three on, average
Speaker 3: and again so this year in the last handful of,
Speaker 3: starts to be two ticks above that ALMOST i think
Speaker 3: tells you that he's found. Something AND i still think
Speaker 3: there's more shape, Wise like he's spinning that fastball at
Speaker 3: over twenty five hundred, rpm but he's still only getting
Speaker 3: about seventeen inches of VERT i think with a little
Speaker 3: bit more spin efficiency, there with the way that he's
Speaker 3: able to just kind of spin it off his fingers
Speaker 3: like there is probably even more carry to be unlocked.
Speaker 3: There and then what's great with him is you see
Speaker 3: the ability to spin it in the field for the
Speaker 3: baseball with the other pitchers in his arsenal. Too the
Speaker 3: breaking ball is disgusting and, it's you, know north of
Speaker 3: three thousand. Rpm the, cutter which is more of kind
Speaker 3: of like a blend between like a cutter and a short,
Speaker 3: slider is at twenty eight hundred rpm and nasty as.
Speaker 3: Well and then he's mixed in a change up in
Speaker 3: a sinker. Too he just is a really good field
Speaker 3: to manipulate the, baseball AND i feel like that the
Speaker 3: missing piece is just finding more consistency with that four,
Speaker 3: seamer because we've seen him throw some fastballs north of
Speaker 3: twenty inches of IVY. B it's just consistently getting. There
Speaker 3: but the opptic in velocity is really, exciting and it
Speaker 3: seems like this kid who's one of the better Athletes
Speaker 3: i've seen on The mountain bigeras WHY i loved him
Speaker 3: out of the. Draft and he's also just getting. Stronger
Speaker 3: it's starting to really put it together at twenty years.
Speaker 4: Old Up Arrow guardians type of, picture that's for. Sure
Speaker 4: that's written all over, him and already was, earlier but
Speaker 4: now we're seeing even more glimpses of it here in the,
Speaker 4: past you, know month or. So last name on the
Speaker 4: heat sheet today comes from The Toronto Blue jays. Organization
Speaker 4: we've Got Johnny, king someone we talked about last year
Speaker 4: and there's still a reason to talk about. Him it's
Speaker 4: a super slow played development, HERE i, think but it
Speaker 4: intentionally By, zerano, Right, like this guy is not throwing a.
Speaker 4: Ton he's still even this year thirteen, starts only forty
Speaker 4: seven innings. Pitched it's been a very limited amount of
Speaker 4: usage For Johnny, king but man is he Gross and
Speaker 4: when he's been on the, mound it's been really exciting
Speaker 4: and just even in even in three four, innings spurts
Speaker 4: like it's hard to not get fired. Up but the
Speaker 4: upside of this guy his last four outings In HIGH
Speaker 4: a nineteen and two thirds with twenty seven, strikeouts only
Speaker 4: five and runs allout in that. Span the command is
Speaker 4: still like coming. Together it's still not, great but it
Speaker 4: has been better than last, year noticeably better than last,
Speaker 4: YEAR i would, say and doing it at a higher. Level.
Speaker 3: TOO i, mean the stuff With Johnny king is as
Speaker 3: good as it. Comes the only reason why he wasn't
Speaker 3: in our top one hundred list is just the Command and,
Speaker 3: YEAH i, mean you'll take any progress so you can get.
Speaker 3: It was seven north of seven walks per nine last,
Speaker 3: year and even so.
Speaker 2: At loway he pitched with a three through five.
Speaker 3: Year because no one was touching. Him and he's striking
Speaker 3: out north of fifteen per. Nine so he's got that
Speaker 3: down to about five five point three walks per.
Speaker 2: Nine and if you you, know if he can get
Speaker 2: that to, basically and.
Speaker 3: It's a big it's a big, leap but if he
Speaker 3: can get, it you make the same improvement going in
Speaker 3: the next year and then you're gonna feel really. Good but,
Speaker 3: realistically if he can just get south of, FIVE i
Speaker 3: think you start to get excited about what can.
Speaker 2: Be there is you, know maybe a high variance, starter
Speaker 2: but at.
Speaker 3: The very least a guy that you start to trust
Speaker 3: in like a closer role if it doesn't work. Out
Speaker 3: but the crazy is pretty still nineteen years, old and
Speaker 3: we see guys all the time start to see things
Speaker 3: click command wise that you just wouldn't have. Expected we
Speaker 3: talked about it with With, miserowski like that was a guy
Speaker 3: that used to be all over the zone or really
Speaker 3: all over the outside of the zone and has figured it.
Speaker 3: Out but, yeah over his last seven, starts forty one
Speaker 3: case to fifteen walks is a, huge huge. Improvement Johnny
Speaker 3: king's stuff is so good from the left side that
Speaker 3: he could absolutely get away with a ten percent walk,
Speaker 3: rate and then that spend it was an eleven percent walk.
Speaker 2: Grade so we're getting.
Speaker 3: There BUT i, mean we're talking about a fastball that
Speaker 3: from the left side looks like for his, age is
Speaker 3: probably a seventy grade.
Speaker 2: Pitch you have a curveball that is. Disgusting it's a
Speaker 2: power curveball at eighty. Two it's kind of death. Ballie
Speaker 2: and then you've got to change up in.
Speaker 3: Between they still trying to find a feel for some
Speaker 3: variance there in, shape but at the same time is
Speaker 3: not terrible for. Him he's actually been able to land
Speaker 3: at for a strek about sixty two percent of the.
Speaker 3: Time if that pitch is just. Average the fastball curveball
Speaker 3: combination is, outrageous and maybe he finds a shorter gyro
Speaker 3: slider in, Between but we're talking, about you, know a
Speaker 3: plus two plus plus heater and a plus curveball that
Speaker 3: could be a plus plus curveball as.
Speaker 2: Well so you have those two.
Speaker 3: Pitches he's gonna have a big league career for, sure
Speaker 3: and probably an important. One it's just command wise and
Speaker 3: refining the arsenal a little bit, more like to find
Speaker 3: maybe that third.
Speaker 2: Pitch a bit more.
Speaker 3: Consistency consistency, wise could be the difference between you, know
Speaker 3: him being this like confusing two pitch is two and
Speaker 3: a half pitch guy that you're dreaming on more or
Speaker 3: legitimate you, know wipe, out wipeout high leverage reliever or
Speaker 3: again a guy THAT i mean stuff. Wise if it
Speaker 3: all comes, together he is as high as ceiling as
Speaker 3: any pitching prospect not in.
Speaker 2: The top one, hundred which probably implies he should.
Speaker 3: Be and we live in a world right now Where
Speaker 3: Chase burns the big thing is command, Wise But Chase
Speaker 3: burns is dominating with two. Pitches SO i Think Johnny
Speaker 3: king can get away with mostly being two pitch heavy
Speaker 3: because of how good they both.
Speaker 2: Are he's just gonna.
Speaker 3: Need to find a lot more consistency command, wise and
Speaker 3: at least he's taking a step in the right, direction right, now.
Speaker 4: Yeah those two pitches are disgusting and a reminder for
Speaker 4: talking about that command nineteen years, old, right drafted at.
Speaker 4: SEVENTEEN i, mean this, kid he's a teenager, Still, like
Speaker 4: there's so much time, there and, yeah like you hit
Speaker 4: on like the two pitch mixes is. Ridiculous it's, disgusting
Speaker 4: and it's almost as good as you can. Get it's,
Speaker 4: lefty he's, nineteen he's. Long there's just there's so much
Speaker 4: to dream. On there obviously some serious steps that still
Speaker 4: need to be, taken but in terms of just like
Speaker 4: you look at a guy and you're, LIKE i can
Speaker 4: envision a world where this guy is an amazing big league,
Speaker 4: Pitcher like you can see that a little bit, gag
Speaker 4: even if it's still very very far.
Speaker 2: Away, yeah you don't have to squint too.
Speaker 3: Hard and then, ALSO i mean with the fact that
Speaker 3: his fastball at ninety five roughly.
Speaker 2: He's getting an eighteen.
Speaker 3: Vert the fact that he at nineteen years, old still
Speaker 3: at six' three could probably grow into more and. Probably
Speaker 3: will if he's sitting ninety five to, ninety seven, then
Speaker 3: yeah he and that curveball averages, eighty two but like
Speaker 3: is eighty three eighty four and he's got the gyro
Speaker 3: slider and.
Speaker 2: IT'S win, i mean that will, be, dominant DOMINANT.
Speaker 3: And i think the command could just improve by the
Speaker 3: mere fact that he doesn't have as big of a
Speaker 3: secondary pitch like the change up is just got to.
Speaker 3: Find it the curveball is just a. BIGGER pitch i
Speaker 3: think a shorter gyro slider would be easier for him
Speaker 3: to land, as well and it could probably help the.
Speaker 2: Overall Command and.
Speaker 3: I'm sure they just don't want to add pitches. JUST
Speaker 3: yet i bet we could see that going in the
Speaker 3: next Year And king king has his again as highest
Speaker 3: ceilings you're gonna find from a prospect outside of our top.
Speaker 2: One hundred you.
Speaker 4: Have it that's our heat sheet for. The day we
Speaker 4: focus on the. Picture side that. Was fun love getting
Speaker 4: into these. ARMS sometimes i know we got a bunch,
Speaker 4: more fun interesting episodes on the way here in the.
Speaker 4: Coming weeks we're heading towards. Draft Season obviously draft guns
Speaker 4: is gonna be. Picking up then from there we'll have our,
Speaker 4: you know our next top. One hundred it will be after.
Speaker 4: The deadline trade deadline season is a whole other type
Speaker 4: of thing that we talk about on. The, Call up
Speaker 4: so a lot of really cool stuff coming up Here.
Speaker 2: In, July yeah i've been doing a lot of draft
Speaker 2: for youcon now some.
Speaker 3: Fun takeaways i'm excited to start sharing the more we dive,
Speaker 3: Into it so as the draft, gets closer we will
Speaker 3: absolutely dive deeper into it and talk more. About it,
Speaker 3: but yeah it's been fun getting into this class a
Speaker 3: little bit and starting to really. Dig in you know
Speaker 3: now that the top one hundred is, behind us and
Speaker 3: we'll have plenty of coverage for you on.
Speaker 2: The way, as always thank you.
Speaker 3: For listening subscribe, on YouTube help us, grow there comment
Speaker 3: let us know if you can leave a rating on the.
Speaker 3: Audio side we really appreciate it. As well check out
Speaker 3: the articles we're writing about a lot of stuff prospect
Speaker 3: Wise ones Baseball dot com just publish a really fun
Speaker 3: Conversation With bryce eldridge as well on things that are clicking.
Speaker 3: For him that's linked to the episode description if you
Speaker 3: want to check, it out and we look forward to
Speaker 3: talking prospects with you.
Speaker 2: Very soon
Speaker 4: M