RHP Daniel Espino (CLE)
Dates observed: 7/23/21 and 8/6/21
Thanks to the once-a-week starting rotation and six-game series, I was able to catch both of Cleveland’s top pitching prospect Daniel Espino’s first two home starts for High-A Lake County. Espino made 10 starts for Low-A Lynchburg before his promotion and his second High-A start came against a Great Lakes (Dodgers) squad with a lot of steep bat paths, plus raw power but also high swing and miss rates.
Immediately, Espino had issues throwing strikes. He walked leadoff hitter Ryan Ward on four straight fastballs and then popped in a fastball for a strike to the next hitter, Carson Ward, before throwing three more balls and going to a 3-2 count to retire him on a fly ball.
He fell behind Brandon Lewis on the next at bat, 3-1, and gave up a laser homer on a 97 mph fastball to left field. He threw 33 pitches in that first inning, allowing a homer and walking two. The first inning was extremely fastball-heavy, finishing high and arm side often. He tried to mix in a few sliders but didn’t land any for strikes in the first inning and didn’t record a single swing and miss in that first inning, sitting 92-96, and topping out at 98.
Espino later confirmed that he was able to self-diagnose that he was over-rotating his hips in the first inning, causing his command to evade him. It was a little surprising Espino came out to take the mound after a 33 pitch inning, as Cleveland usually caps pitchers nights if they run into a 30 pitch inning. He was able to get through five innings, only striking out four and walking four. He later hung a slider to Johnny Deluca for a homer.
After grinding through five innings, Espino finished with just eight swings and misses in the outing, again, against a team that featured a lineup full of hitters that had run high strikeout rates to that point in the season. His fastball ranged 92-97 and topped out at 99 but batters were able to put the fastball in play hard at times and foul it off.
Due to being behind in the count early and often, Espino leaned heavily on the fastball. Poorly located and straight, it became a predictable and hittable offering for Great Lakes batters. He induced swings and misses with the slider that had tight, late two-plane break with 10-3 directional sweep, running 86-88. He flashed a few changeups in the 84-86 range that showed good fade and a slight arm side run . He dropped in a few curveballs that came in a 74-75 band. The curveball is big and slow with 11-5 shape and he can use it to steal a strike early in counts but it wasn’t a pitch he featured much in this outing due to his control issues.
The premium velocity and stuff are there for Espino, however, it appears the fastball lacks movement and shape, leaving it to be hittable despite upper-end velocity. As a young pitcher with a power arm, he has shown over reliance on the pitch and the velo doesn’t play as well because of lack of movement, especially when he throws it in a fastball count and doesn’t locate it well. However, for a young pitcher, Espino is physically well put together with a strong, flexible lower half, and is very athletic in his movements and delivery. His ability to self-diagnose an in-game mechanical issue and correct it to gut out four innings after a 30-pitch first inning shows a real strong mental approach of body awareness and the ability to adjust.
On 8/6, Espino got another shot at Lansing (Oakland) after making his High-A debut against them two weeks prior and showed better fastball command. He sat 94-96 and topped out at 98. The heater was still flat and hittable when not located well, but he was ahead in counts more and didn’t have to fall back on the fastball in obvious fastball counts.
His sequencing was improved in this outing, starting hitters off with the slider more often than the fastball in his previous start. He induced 19 swings and misses despite only working ahead to 11 of the 23 batters he faced this time around. The rotational issue with his hips didn’t seem to be an issue on this day, though glove-side command of his fastball still seemed to be an issue. Being able to throw his secondaries, especially his slider, when ahead in the count.
Jordan Diaz, who is referenced below, tagged Espino for a pair of homers, both off of fastball on the outside corner, one on an 0-2 count and the second a 2-2 count. Diaz drove both balls to right field with easy power.
For now, Espino appears to have a high reliance on the fastball/slider combination. Both pitches are easy 55 offerings, even if his high end velocity is straight with less than ideal shape and spin. The curveball is an average offering that has good directional movement and could be an above average offering with more consistency and reps.
When Espino has at least average control, he can display top of the rotation type stuff. At the moment premium velocity doesn’t overcome fastball shape when he doesn’t command it well and can look like a thrower more than a pitcher. At not quite 21, there’s still room for a lot of improvement in sequencing and command for Espino. If that all comes together, there’s plenty of hope for a top of the rotation arm, but there’s still considerable relief risk with his command and reliance on his top two offerings right now. Even with that, he’s still able to overpower hitters in this league at many times.
RH SP Tanner Burns (CLE)
Live looks: 6/18/21 and 8/12/21
Thanks to high pitch counts and an ongoing bout with elbow soreness, the two starts I’ve seen Cleveland’s 2020 CBA pick Tanner Burns in have been short and far apart.
The stout, stocky-built right hander has a relatively high 3/4 arm slot, a somewhat lengthy glove arm move and basic arm swing. Despite being a shorter-built arm he manages to get downhill fairly well. Based on the video, it appears as if Cleveland has already worked to shorten the arm swing a little from college, which is something they’ve done with several arms. It may have already been shorter in college but it looks somewhat more compact now. There also seems to be more of a midsection tilt to his delivery that wasn’t there in the past or his timing is varied.
In the first outing, Burns was focused on establishing different sequencing patterns, often going to his slider either early in the count, behind and ahead. He was able to drop the slider in for strikes but had issues with fastball command as well. He went to two deep counts to the first two hitters of the game before getting them both on called fastballs. Burns walked a pair in the second inning losing fastball control there, before coming back with more strikeouts with the slider.
In the two first-inning strikeouts, Burns got one-hitter with a called fastball, which lived 92-94 in this short outing with some sink to it. He also fires a cutter/slider hybrid ,where up in the zone he throws it harder with more cutter movement, which sits in the high-80s. That was one of his called strikeouts in the first inning. The slider version of this pitch is used lower in the zone and away from right-handed hitters which runs in the low-80s.
Burns threw 52 pitches in just two innings, having a hard time finishing hitters off. I didn’t see the changeup or much of a curveball in this outing and Cleveland often removes pitchers after sustaining high pitch counts early in outings. The fastball/cutter/slider combination looked like a pitch mix that could be successful for Burns but he struggled to command most batters or find a pitch to put the at-bat away when he was ahead. Everything he threw had a good movement profile, but control wasn’t his best on this night.
On 8/12, Burns again had control issues. He missed high to the arm side with his fastball at times, but more than that, in the last look I had at him in person, the movement profile complimented each other well and the stuff looked solid, but lacked control. In this outing, Burns was sitting 88-90 with his fastball and topped out at 92. It had less of the armside run I had seen before and it could have been an issue of him having a hard time finishing his pitches. He was visible in his frustration at times on the mound when he was unable to locate.
All of his pitches were down in velocity and sharpness. The slider dipped to the high 70s to low 80s, though the cutter remained consistent. He did flash a low 80s changeup that had good run and fade a few times and looked liked it played well off his fastball with similar movement.
Gage Workman took a cutter that went down and in and clobbered it off Burns. He was coming off a IL stint for elbow soreness, so hard to tell if this was a bout of rust or if it was still bothering him. Either way, his stuff looked flat overall in movement, zip and velocity compared to earlier in the season and even my last look at him.
RH SP Xzavion Curry (CLE)
Dates observed: 6/18
For the first time since playing in college in 2019 at Georgia Tech, Cleveland’s 2019 seventh round pick RHP Xzavion Curry finally made his pro debut. He was shut down the rest of 2019 after being drafted. After starting the year at the club’s Low-A affiliate in Lynchburg, he’s now made 10 starts with High-A Lake County.
At 5’11, 190, Curry is well built though not big in stature. He is similar to Tanner Burns in that he is solidly built, strong, stocky and athletic, especially in his lower half. Curry works from a modified stretch with his shoulders aligned to the plate and a step to the left with his lead foot. He gets his lead leg high to his chest up with his glove before a high separation. Curry does a good job driving into his back leg and staying balanced. That back leg drive and balance allows him to keep his delivery synced up while he drops his back arm pretty low down by the back hip. A significant spinal/upper torso tilt allows him to drive through his arm in a high, over the top arm slot delivery that Cleveland appears to be collecting a lot of, or more are becoming en vogue in baseball due to the ability to backspin the fastball and throw a very vertical curve off of it.
Speaking of that fastball and curveball combination, Curry throws each pitch with a good degree of quality. On this particular night, Curry was 91-94 with the fastball and has hit 95 this year. He has had good fastball command in every outing I’ve seen him in person and on video, being able to spot it well up and down in the zone. He’s shown success locating it to his armside as well, less so to the glove side, as a lot of vertical arm slot throwers struggle to hit the corners as effectively. Against West Michigan, he was aggressive with the fastball and efficient. He worked it up in the zone for called strikes, and competed for swings and misses in the zone with it because of the angle, backspin and command of it. He was able to spot it up in the zone and pair his curveball low in the zone with it, which was 72-75, as he does in most of his starts, for swings and misses and called strikes.
I’ve seen the high arm slot include mechanics that can be hard to repeat and throw consistent strikes with some pitchers, but Curry repeats his delivery very well and tends to hit his spots well. His curveball induces ugly swings and misses because of the vertical break and where he starts it out because it tunnels well with his fastball. At 91-94, Curry has middling fastball velocity so on its own it’s a 45 but because of the backspin and command it can play like a 50. I’ve seen the pitch get a lot of half swings on video this year because they’re expecting a curveball, so they were waiting for the break. Curry will throw a lot of two strike fastballs for this reason and when he throws it up, and especially in on left handed hitters, he gets those ugly half swings. The swings on the curveball and hitters inability to really make any sort of quality contact off it lead me to say it’s a 55.
I was more impressed by his slider than I expected. Sitting at 78-80, it had late break and he put it at the back foot of left handed hitters and was able to get some right handed hitters to reach. He doesn’t dot it for strikes but it’s an effective enough of a pitch to throw ahead in the count to get hitters to get themselves out. Perhaps more advanced hitters will be aware of this and he’ll need to prove he can throw it for strikes more often, but as a third pitch it has promise for Curry.
His changeup sat in a solid 83-85 band and had some vertical depth to it but lacked armside run. It’s behind his other three offerings and could be a fringe offering with some more consistency.
Curry has 104 strikeouts to 12 walks as of this writing. He might be a control more than command pitcher, but the fastball traits are solid, the curveball is a legitimate swing and miss pitch and he can throw them both for strikes in good spots of the zone. The slider is close enough to give him a third offering. His height and lack of a changeup might suggest he’s a future bullpen arm, but there’s a real back of the rotation outcome here with the three pitches and control that he has now.
RH RP Jerson Ramirez (CLE)
Dates observed 8/12
A 2017 international free agent, the 6’1 right handed reliever is 22 and started 2021 in Low-A but progressed to High-A fairly quickly. While not a physical arm, Ramirez is fairly well built, looking strong in the lower half and glutes.
Ramirez works from the stretch with a high leg kick, deep drive into his back leg and upper body tilt towards third base that looks for a second he’s going to drop down with more of a sweeping delivery from the side, but is able to get upright again to go downhill and stay over the rubber with a high three-quarter delivery. There is some effort to the delivery but it’s not violent. He’s a two pitch arm with a fastball and slider. The fastball is fairly underwhelming with some armside run, sitting 91-93 and can hit 95 at times.
The slider is what makes Ramirez a viable reliever. He actually has two different sliders. Both are two-seam grip sliders but he spins one at a lower velocity, 85-87, that has a shorter break that he uses to throw strikes, and a harder slider, 88-90, that he will throw to get chases out of the zone. There is plenty of late bite to it and hitters will swing and miss at both. He can establish it for a strike with the shorter one, which gives him the ability to get batters to chase the one with the longer break. There might be some additional velocity to Ramirez still and he could use it. With the two sliders, he is probably a 35-40 type arm with some upside. He’s older for his levels in 2021, so Cleveland will need to get him up the ladder in short order. He could come up in the next few years as one of the last spots in a bullpen.
OF George Valera
Dates observed 8/6, 8/12
While not a physical player, Valera is strong, athletic and long limbed for not having a huge frame. Physically he still has room to fill, but he’s already filled out that frame over top to bottom over the last few years since he signed with Cleveland.
Early on his career, Valera wasn’t quite as open in his stance as he is now and leaning on his back leg while open and closing as he strides. His hands are very active during his load, He waggles it off his back shoulder upright and then waggles it back upright before working the barrel around once he gets his front foot down. He gets the knob to the catcher before working the barrel through the zone. He shows a real feel for the barrel and there is plenty of present loft in his swing that allows him to get to easy above average power in game presently. He can get too out front on breaking balls at times and showed the tendency to chase velocity upstairs, but towards the end of his stint in High-A Lake County he was content to be passive against anything he couldn’t drive. Valera definitely has an understanding of the strike zone and know what he wants to look for in an at bat and has strong takes, showing he can pick up spin and doesn’t often chase.
On 8/6, he went 1-4 with a homer, an effortless blast to right off a left hander on a fastball. On 8/12 he took a left hander to the opposite field showing easy bat speed, a smooth swing and finish. His swing can be a bit long but everything is well in sync and he finishes through balanced. He struck out swinging twice on this night, both offspeed offerings low, trying to check his swing. He can hammer a mistake, a fastball lay off most bad pitches.
As a defender, I’ve seen Valera play all three outfield positions but not really ever get challenged with something that was difficult to run down. He’s shown off a plus arm with an assist from left field to second base. His arm can play in any outfield spot.
With his ability to work an at bat at young age and present in-game power that’s above average now, Valera could be deserving of big league at bats late 2022, but with how Cleveland operates, that will wind up being more like mid-2023.
SS Jose Tena (CLE)
Dates observed: multiple, 8/26/, 8/27
A 20 year old middle infielder, Tena has a solid, athletic frame though not overly physical. He looks wiry strong right now with some room to add strength.
I’ve seen Tena multiple times this season. He’s been more of a swinger than a hitter at times at the plate, because he makes a high amount of contact. He didn’t work deep counts early in the season but still put up strong results because of the bat to ball skills. At this point of the season, he’s shown a little more hitter ability working deeper counts.
He hits with his hands high above his head and a minimal weight transfer out of his load. His hands are quick but what allows him to make the amount of contact he does are his strong, quick hands and the ability to adjust his swing and swing path to hit pitches all around the plate, even ones that aren’t extremely hittable or ones he should offer at.
On 8/26, he hit a hard single on an 0-2 count to right field for a solid hit. His approach is the same as it is 2-0 as it is 0-2 and he finds ways to put the ball in play and impacts it often.
On 8/27 he took a slider off a left hander to right field for a homer. Left handers have given him trouble this year, unable to lay off breaking balls low and away. At times he chases and misses, makes poor contact or fouls pitches off.
After Brayan Rocchio was promoted to Double-A, Tena took over shortstop duties full time. On more than one occasion, he’s shown the ability to range to his right into the hole and make throws off his back foot that are strong and accurate. He showed quick, steady hands on double play turns as well.
Tena has a good shot to stick at shortstop if he’s in a system where there aren’t defenders that are plus or double-plus above him (Rocchio and Gabriel Arias) with developing pop and good bat control but a risky approach at the plate. He hits balls that most wouldn’t get the bat on, so he might be a BABIP dependent hitter, but he has a chance to be a solid bat in the middle infield, even if it’s a fringe-average bat long term due to his approach.
C Bryan Lavastida (CLE)
Dates observed 6/18, 7/4, 7/23
I’ve seen Lavastida catch on multiple occasions this year, and several times on film.
On 6/18, Lavastida in two at bats, worked deep counts before flying out in one and then coming back from 0-2 to work a walk. He saw 16 pitches in his four at bats, only attacking early in the count once (a groundout, in which he ran 4.42 to first base on, which for a catcher, was a solid time on).
In his first at bat, he drove a fastball to right centerfield for a flyout, making contact with every pitch up in the zone. He swung and missed at a fastball up in the zone and a slider following that to go down 0-2 but laid off three straight breaking pitches and a fastball up in the zone for a walk. His double later in this game was a grounder down the third base line off a fastball.
On 6/18 he caught Tanner Burns, who struggled with fastball control on this night, but managed to block several balls in the dirt later in Burns’ outing. West Michigan was able to steal two bases off Lavastida, but Burns and a relievers times to home didn’t give him much of a chance.
On 7/4 Lavastida was more aggressive at the plate, never getting into a hitters count in this one. He eventually took an 0-2 fastball to center for a base hit, but struggled to make contact with sliders even up in the zone earlier in the game striking out.
On 7/23, he worked two walks, only swinging the bat two times in either of those plate appearances. He was also called out looking in another at bat. The scouting report on Lavastida for that day was either to throw sliders away or that was just what Great Lakes pitchers were working on. That is where I’ve seen Lavastida swing and miss the most, are sliders outside and low and away. He’s been adept at driving fastballs to the opposite field with authority. He has a slightly open stance with his hands loose at his shoulders, striding with a small weight transfer slightly inwards. He has strong hands but does get out in front of breaking stuff despite the minimal weight transfer.
On live looks, I’ve clocked Lavastida with pop times between 1.87 and 2.05, so pretty solid for a catcher, ranging at times when he’s clean and perfect with an elite time with an on-line throw, and other times fringe average when he’s not as quick. Arm strength isn’t an issue. I wasn’t able to get a good look at his framing work in person, but upon the time of his promotion from High-A to Double-A, he was atop Baseball Prospectus’ framing runs metric in High-A this year. Pitchers on Cleveland’s High-A Lake County staff were positive in their review of Lavastida’s game calling and trust in his ability to block breaking balls in the dirt. Lavastida is also bilingual as his parents hail from Cuba and this gives him an added bonus of being able to communicate with Spanish speaking pitchers as well as English.
Lavastida can spoil good pitches and is patient, sometimes too passive, at the plate, but has average raw power on his strong hands alone. He’s a hit over glove catcher at the moment, but has shown enough of an arm to be viable behind the plate along with his framing metrics. There’s a chance for a fringe average starter here with the whole package if there’s some improvement on the ability to get to the outside breaking pitch, or lay off it more frequently, and more consistent mechanics behind the plate. Cleveland has reportedly toyed with the idea of moving him to first base as well, to see more of the bat, though that hasn’t happened yet and he would lack the in game-power there to play regularly or play as average.
SS Brayan Rocchio (CLE)
Dates observed: Multiple dates - 5/11, 5/13, 6/18, 6/2, 7/4
Before his promotion to Double-A Akron, I had a chance to see Rocchio at SS in Lake County, as well as a day at third base.
As a switch hitter, Rocchio has similar stances and swings from both sides. He rests the bat on his shoulders with a near upright stance. Both swings are smooth and his upper half and lower half are very well synced, showing a lot of balance and good timing. He has quiet, still hands and generates plenty of bat speed.
Back in May I watched him triple to right field, getting a burst out of the box and getting to first around 4.15 from the left side with ease. On Father’s day, I watched him take a chest high fastball on the inner half of the plate at 94 for a homer to right field.
Despite solid walk totals this year at both levels he’s played at, each time I’ve seen Rocchio, he’s been an aggressive hitter. He looks like he will take a walk but his intent is to hit at the plate. He hunts the fastball and can drive fastballs at any part of the zone for gap power and home run power as well. He’s shown the ability to adjust his bat path up and down in the zone to drive fastballs. There’s enough loft in his swing to hit for power, but he does get under balls at time with that loft. Rocchio doesn’t swing and miss much, sometimes getting beat by sequencing and there is some swing and miss in the zone, as he doesn’t chase out of the zone much., but he’s looked like a hitter who knows he makes good contact and wants to hit. He’s shown good knowledge of the strike zone every time I’ve seen him, but he is a hitter looking to go to the plate to get a hit, and knows what pitches he can do damage with. He won’t work high walk totals, and this could get him in trouble in the future, but I think he’s better as a good hitter rather than being passive and not using his hit tool, surprising pop and loft in his swing along with good adjustability in it in his plate coverage.
None of my in-person looks at Rocchio included any plays where he looked challenged. He made an easy play at third base on 5/11 on a ball hit pretty squarely at him and showed easy arm strength across the diamond with room to spare. He made every play at shortstop without showing much effort with his range or his arm, making routine plays look very simple, but on video he’s shown plenty of range, a good internal clock and an above average arm. He’s a no-doubt shortstop for me with burgeoning pop and enough speed to be an average big league regular with the stick and the glove.
RH SP Keider Montero (DET)
Dates observed: 6/15 and 6/20
One of the few times I’ve seen a pitcher make two starts in a six game series this year is Keider Montero, starting the first and sixth game against Lake County in this particular series.
On 6/15, Montero’s fastball ran 92 and topped out at 96. His arm strength and arm speed both looked impressive. Montero has a fairly simple, athletic and repeatable delivery without many moving parts. He creates a high 3/4 arm slot but lacks much in the way of extension on his delivery, which makes sense given his compact frame. But that makes his arm strength and speed more impressive. The fastball seemed to lack much movement - some arm side run butut minimally. He was comfortable around 92-94 most of both outings, working all to spot the fastball to his armside. He got George Valera to swing and miss in the zone at a slider in the low-80s on the inner half of the plate, doubling up o the pitch on 6/20.
He showed off a curveball between 76-80 with some good vertical break on the outer half but lacked much in the way of horizontal movement and could be tightened up to create more of an 11-5 look. In both outings, he struck out six batters. He favored working the fastball up and slider away from a slew of left handed Lake County hitters. His changeup was a firm upper-80s offering (86-88) with minimal vertical break.
While his fastball was nothing special in either outing, he had average velocity and command with it and it’s a pitch he needs to command and sequence well with its speed and traits. It’s possible with because he’s still very underweight (listed at 145 but probably more around 160) he could add some strength and sit 94-96 more often. Better extension in his lower half would help it play up as well. His slider and curveball both looked average with slider being more effective in my looks and rarely seeing the changeup.
Montero looks like a possible bullpen arm where his fastball would tick up some to overcome its lack of movement and have two breaking balls to use out of the pen. His arm strength, speed and clean delivery give him a chance to start, especially at his age. There’s no reason not to keep starting him, but he’ll need to command the fastball, sequence it well and needs one of his breaking balls to turn into a plus pitch to do so. His frame might be better suited for a bullpen role overall, however.
OF Steven Kwan (CLE)
Dates observed 7/24
My only live look at Kwan in 2021 that wasn’t through video was July 24 in Akron. Kwan went 3-3 with three singles. Two of his singles were balls he flicked to the opposite field for hits off of a LHP and one was back up the middle off a RHP on the ground.
He also walked in another pair of at bats. He only saw 14 pitches in six plate appearances all night - pretty impressive with nine of those pitches coming in his two at bats he walked in. Kwan showed a really good ability to use his hands to take the ball where it’s pitched. None of his hits this night were well struck, but because he was able to drop two hits in shallow left field and take another back up the middle on the ground, that would suggest he would avoid any issues with shifts.
In video looks this year, the one change or difference for Kwan is some pull side power. His flyball and pull side rates are both up this year, giving him a career high seven homers. Kwan still has below average power, at best, but he confirmed in an interview his intent is to be more aggressive on pitches on the inner half of the plate to take advantage of his strength and good hands, along with staying stacked over his back leg better, to gain some more pop.
Kwan was between 4.10-4.16 down the line to first when I saw him, so he’s still right around 50 grade run times.
The small uptick in pop in his batted profile is a nice addition, but Kwan still tracks as a fourth OF type who does a lot of things good but nothing great.
RH SP Colin Peluse (OAK)
Dates observed: 8/6
Colin Peluse is a 2019 ninth round pick of Oakland who is 6’3 and stands tall on the mound with long legs and arms for a sizeable wingspan and a strong upper body. In this outing he opposed Indians prospect Daniel Espino on the mound, and really matched him pitch for pitch despite Espino racking up 10 punch outs to Espino’s 10.
A few Captains hitters put the bt on his fastball early on, with a few singles and two sac flys, but he settled in after.
Peluse’s fastball sat 92-95 and had some armside run to it, but very little impactful movement overall. It was effective for him when he commanded it well. There didn’t appear to be much deception to his fastball, so he had enough command and just enough velocity, working well to the corners and the top of the zone. His fastball command was best to his arm side and up in the zone.
The slider sat 82-84 and had good two-plane, 11-4 break. It looks like the sweep on it was hard for right handers to pick up. He was able to locate to it for strikes and get swings and misses on it. He had 15 swinging strikes in the outing and his slider on the back door to left handers and away from right handers was effective inducing swings and misses.
His changeup at 85-86 was firm, yet effective. He showed good control of the offering that had good vertical fade and some movement to the arm side on it. He dominated Captains OF Micah Pries with a mix of fastballs and changeups away, selling the changeup with good arm speed.
None of his pitches looked like it was pushing plus grades, but he showed an effective mix and movement profile with three offerings with good control on this night. Peluse has a high glove separation in his delivery and his arm speed stands out as one of the qualities in his delivery that can be effective and deceptive. It looks like there is some effort in his delivery with a high 3/4 arm slot and his glove break along with the speed of his arm that gives some relief risk vibes. But the three pitch mix gives him a chance to start, especially with the arm speed on his changeup, if he can get a little more separation between the pitch and his fastball.
RH SP Bobby Miller (LAD
Dates observed: 7/23
Miller was a “bulk” innings arm for Great Lakes when I saw him on this date. He followed fellow 2020 draft pick Clayton Beeter (who I’ll talk about after this) for five dominant innings.
Right out of the gate, Miller was throwing two fastballs, a two seam and a four seam both between 95-98.
The two-seam showed a lot of arm side run, getting five groundouts from Captains hitters on the night but also some swing and misses with it running away from several left handed hitters. Miller can run the two seam fastball on the inner-half to left handers and black-door it to right handers.
He used both fastballs effectively, the two seam on the corners, and the four seam up in the zone to dispatch Jose Tena twice on strikes, along with his slider. He used the same approach to Brayan Rocchio later in his outing, fanning two of Lake County’s best hitters in the lineup on this night.
It’s easy to see from his college tape that the Dodgers already have raised Miller’s arm slot, which has given him an effective four seamer that rides at the top of the zone and gives him good control on a two seam fastball with some arm side run. It’s a similar skill set they developed with Dustin May, who has two effective high velocity fastballs, though Miller’s two seam doesn’t get as much arm side run.
Miller’s sliders came in 84-86 with late, tight break. He got Tena swinging at one on the outside of the zone, over the top. It’s late horizontal break made it tough for hitters to differentiate it from his four-seam and then account for the two-seam’s break to the arm side and his slider to the left.
Fastball command was a strength for Miller on this night. I didn’t see a changeup or a curveball in person, but I have seen the fade on the changeup and that he has a bigger breaking ball with more vertical depth on video. Being able to harness his two fastballs with command and getting swings and misses on the slider off the fastball, Miller’s electric stuff along with an athletic delivery and tough arm angle give him a power arm that is easy to see at the top of a rotation or a nasty back of the bullpen type role.
RHP Clayton Beeter (LAD)
Dates observed: 7/23
As mentioned, Beeter was drafted in 2020 along with Miller and was the “opener” for Great Lakes against Lake County on this night. The Dodgers have kept Beeter in this role a lot this year, pitching two or three innings an outing.
The first notable thing about better is a loose delivery with an over the top type arm slot. This creates ideal backspin on the fastball and pairs well with a big overhand breaking ball, which is exactly what Beeter offers.
Beeter sat with two different ranges of velocity in his outing, sitting 93-95 with the fastball in the first inning, but was consistently 95-97 in the second inning, letting it loose a little more, something I was told was common with him at times this season.
At both velocity bands, Beeter was effective up in the zone with the fastball, making hitters late and throwing it for strikes up there. It had ride at the top of the zone like you would expect his fastball to have. He stuck to throwing it at the top of the zone in this one, not often trying to locate it on the corners, missing when he did.
His curveball sat 79-82 with two-plane break and heavy vertical break out of the high arm slot.
Despite the short outing, Beeter flashed all four pitches, including a low-80s slider that gave him some room to operate on the corners of the plate, rather than just sticking to the north/south profile that often accompanies a high arm slot with a rising fastball and hammer curve. He didn’t go the slider often but did get some swings and misses backdooring it to left handers. The changeup came in at 85-86 and got a swinging strikeout of Tena running away with good vertical fade. He didn’t appear to try to throw it for strikes and didn’t land any for strikes, but it did garner a swinging strikeout. It was a clear fourth pitch behind his fastball and two breaking balls.
His command up in the zone was good and I really like the loose action on his delivery, though it looks like it can lack lower half effort at times. He really works well north/south thanks to the high arm slot and the fastball and curveball off that, though his slider is definitely a plus pitch in terms of movement and command. His delivery and lack of consistent changeup make him look like a bullpen arm that works well in a two inning role, which might be confirmation bias because that’s how the Dodgers have worked him in 2021, and it’s worked well. With two breaking balls, it’s easy to see how he should be able to get through a lineup at least once and give him a chance to be a dynamic multi-inning reliever with swing and miss stuff.