Re: Minor Matters
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 1:08 pm
BA has added a bunch of additional names to their list of Rule 5 potential candidates
A bunch of Guardians' pitchers are included:
Nic Enright, RHP, Guardians
Enright is one of the most polished available relievers in this year’s Rule 5 class. He has plenty of upper-level MiLB experience, with over 100 innings and more than 70 appearances in Double-A and Triple-A, and he has a lengthy track record of success. He posted a 2.88 ERA with a .203 opponent batting average, 1.9 BB/9, 11.9 K/9 and a 2.89 FIP in 2022. Enright has a pair of above-average pitches to work with. His low-90s fastball has modest velocity, but it has some of the best carry in the minors, which makes it a bat-misser that he can dot the zone with. His low-80s slider generates plenty of swings and misses as well, and serves as an excellent chase pitch when he gets ahead in counts. With excellent fastball life and plus control, Enright could be a relatively low-risk addition to a big league bullpen as a Rule 5 pick.
Trey Benton, RHP, Guardians
It was an unusual season for Benton, who showed improvement across his pitch mix in 2022, but struggled with command. Despite walking 14% of the batters he faced last season, Benton finished the season with a 2.08 ERA over 43.1 innings with a 28% strikeout rate. What made Benton most interesting is the improved shape and power of his four-seam fastball in 2022. Benton averaged just under 17 inches of induced vertical break on his low-90s fastball in 2021. Coming out of spring training in 2022, Benton was generating more than 19 inches of induced vertical break on average while sitting 92-94 mph. His four-seam fastball has a nearly perfect vertical axis of 12:00, allowing Benton to generate cut and ride on his fastball. He pairs his fastball with a mid-80s sweeper that is Benton’s most thrown secondary offering. His high-70s curveball with -20 inches of induced vertical break is used heavily against lefthanded batters and generates the highest rate of swings and misses in his arsenal. Benton will show a cutter and changeup, but each of those pitches were thrown rarely during the 2022 campaign.
Kevin Kelly, RHP, Guardians
There’s one pitcher available in the Rule 5 draft that meets the following qualifiers—50 or more innings pitched, a strikeout rate of 29% or higher, a walk rate of 9% or lower, a groundball rate above 50% and a FIP below 3.00 in 2022. That pitcher is the Guardians righthander Kevin Kelly. While he’s not a player popular in prospect circles, his skill set likely has him on a few teams' radars leading up to the Rule 5 draft. Kelly is a 2019 19th-round pick by Cleveland out of James Madison who didn’t make his full-season debut until 2021. After a strong season in 2021, Kelly was assigned to Double-A Akron, where he made 16 appearances over the first two months of the season, striking out 32 batters to nine walks while allowing three earned runs over 24.1 innings. He saw a promotion to Triple-A Columbus, where he made 32 appearances, striking out 28.9% of the batters he faced while generating ground balls at a rate of 62.2%. Kelly uses four pitches and two fastball shapes, but primarily relies on his sinker and slider mix. His low-90s sinker is his most thrown pitch, driving groundball contact at a high rate and average whiffs for a sinker. His slider is a mid-70s sweeper with between 15-17 inches of horizontal break on average. None of Kelly’s pitches have power or generate a high rate of swings and misses, but he throws strikes and generates lots of weak contact.
Ethan Hankins, RHP, Guardians
Hankins is a somewhat sneakily interesting pick, but a team selecting him would do so based on very little information. Hankins threw exactly one inning in 2022 in an appearance in the Arizona Complex League. That is one more inning than he threw in 2021, as he injured his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. That comes after missing 2020 because of the pandemic. Add it up, and the Guardians’ 2018 first-round pick has thrown just 64 innings as a pro, 60 of which came in 2019. He’s in no way ready for the majors, but a team willing to stash him in the back of the bullpen could decide to take a gamble. He had a mid-90s fastball and promising secondary offerings pre-injury, but there’s precious little to go on.
A bunch of Guardians' pitchers are included:
Nic Enright, RHP, Guardians
Enright is one of the most polished available relievers in this year’s Rule 5 class. He has plenty of upper-level MiLB experience, with over 100 innings and more than 70 appearances in Double-A and Triple-A, and he has a lengthy track record of success. He posted a 2.88 ERA with a .203 opponent batting average, 1.9 BB/9, 11.9 K/9 and a 2.89 FIP in 2022. Enright has a pair of above-average pitches to work with. His low-90s fastball has modest velocity, but it has some of the best carry in the minors, which makes it a bat-misser that he can dot the zone with. His low-80s slider generates plenty of swings and misses as well, and serves as an excellent chase pitch when he gets ahead in counts. With excellent fastball life and plus control, Enright could be a relatively low-risk addition to a big league bullpen as a Rule 5 pick.
Trey Benton, RHP, Guardians
It was an unusual season for Benton, who showed improvement across his pitch mix in 2022, but struggled with command. Despite walking 14% of the batters he faced last season, Benton finished the season with a 2.08 ERA over 43.1 innings with a 28% strikeout rate. What made Benton most interesting is the improved shape and power of his four-seam fastball in 2022. Benton averaged just under 17 inches of induced vertical break on his low-90s fastball in 2021. Coming out of spring training in 2022, Benton was generating more than 19 inches of induced vertical break on average while sitting 92-94 mph. His four-seam fastball has a nearly perfect vertical axis of 12:00, allowing Benton to generate cut and ride on his fastball. He pairs his fastball with a mid-80s sweeper that is Benton’s most thrown secondary offering. His high-70s curveball with -20 inches of induced vertical break is used heavily against lefthanded batters and generates the highest rate of swings and misses in his arsenal. Benton will show a cutter and changeup, but each of those pitches were thrown rarely during the 2022 campaign.
Kevin Kelly, RHP, Guardians
There’s one pitcher available in the Rule 5 draft that meets the following qualifiers—50 or more innings pitched, a strikeout rate of 29% or higher, a walk rate of 9% or lower, a groundball rate above 50% and a FIP below 3.00 in 2022. That pitcher is the Guardians righthander Kevin Kelly. While he’s not a player popular in prospect circles, his skill set likely has him on a few teams' radars leading up to the Rule 5 draft. Kelly is a 2019 19th-round pick by Cleveland out of James Madison who didn’t make his full-season debut until 2021. After a strong season in 2021, Kelly was assigned to Double-A Akron, where he made 16 appearances over the first two months of the season, striking out 32 batters to nine walks while allowing three earned runs over 24.1 innings. He saw a promotion to Triple-A Columbus, where he made 32 appearances, striking out 28.9% of the batters he faced while generating ground balls at a rate of 62.2%. Kelly uses four pitches and two fastball shapes, but primarily relies on his sinker and slider mix. His low-90s sinker is his most thrown pitch, driving groundball contact at a high rate and average whiffs for a sinker. His slider is a mid-70s sweeper with between 15-17 inches of horizontal break on average. None of Kelly’s pitches have power or generate a high rate of swings and misses, but he throws strikes and generates lots of weak contact.
Ethan Hankins, RHP, Guardians
Hankins is a somewhat sneakily interesting pick, but a team selecting him would do so based on very little information. Hankins threw exactly one inning in 2022 in an appearance in the Arizona Complex League. That is one more inning than he threw in 2021, as he injured his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. That comes after missing 2020 because of the pandemic. Add it up, and the Guardians’ 2018 first-round pick has thrown just 64 innings as a pro, 60 of which came in 2019. He’s in no way ready for the majors, but a team willing to stash him in the back of the bullpen could decide to take a gamble. He had a mid-90s fastball and promising secondary offerings pre-injury, but there’s precious little to go on.