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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 mph 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: 85-88 mph. Short,
10-to-4 shape. More horizontal than vertical. Pitches backwards,
throwing this pitch more often than his fastball (or any other
offering). 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: 78-80 mph. Long, 11-to-5 shape. 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 came and went
in some outings in 2024. Potential average offering.
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
started to utilize the pitch more last year to varying
effectiveness. Pitch was still inconsistent but flashed more
potential in Spring Training 2025. 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. |
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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 to a top-30 prospect in the
system who advanced to High-A. Did not break camp with an
affiliate in 2024 after being held back to build strength in his
pitching shoulder. Named to 2025 Spring Breakout roster. Tore
his UCL on June 13, 2025, requiring Tommy John Surgery.
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. Throws his fastballs less than 30 percent of the
time. Has tried both a sinker and a four-seam fastball, but
neither has been especially effective. 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 came 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 alone to carry him to
the high minors, but he 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 a chance to stick as a
starter, needs to make major strides with finding a fastball
that can miss bats and getting more consistent with his
changeup. Pitches with emotion and swagger, and extreme
confidence; entertaining to watch on the mound.
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