Last week got things rolling on the site when it comes to coverage of the 2015 MLB Draft for the Cincinnati Reds as we looked back at what they’ve done under the current regime and how the prospect rankings for the draft look with just over five weeks to go. Today we will begin to jump into the scouting reports on those prospects. In years past I would just jump around and write reports on several guys as I worked through the rankings, but this year I’m going to try and focus on grouping players together by position to get a better feel for how they compare to one another.
The first group of guys that I’m going to be looking at is the left handed pitchers. In the top 20 rankings from last week there are four lefties: Kolby Allard, Nate Kirby, Jay Tyler and Brady Aiken.
Kolby Allard | High School (California) | 6′ 0″ | 170 lbs.
The bad news for Allard is that he suffered an injury during the spring and hasn’t pitched since March. The good news is that the injury was a stress reaction in his back, and not something to his arm. Still, teams haven’t been able to watch him too often this spring.
Allard is a bit undersized, coming in at just 6′ 0″ tall and 170 lbs., but the stuff he brings is anything but. His fastball works in the 92-94 range and he’s touched 96 more than a few times when healthy. He brings a nice looking breaking ball to the table and a change up. The change up, like it is for most prep pitchers, is a clear third pitch that will require some work as he develops in order to catch up to the rest of his offerings.
Nate Kirby | College – Virginia | 6′ 2″ | 185 lbs.
Before the spring, Kirby was among a select few as a possible #1 overall pick, but things have changed since then. His fastball velocity has dropped, sitting in the 89-91 MPH range most of the spring and his command has been concerning. After walking just 33 batters in 113.1 innings in 2014 he’s walked 30 in 59.1 this season.
His slider remains a plus pitch when it’s on and plus velocity in the past could keep him as an option to look at for a team that believes they can get him back to where he once was, but his stock has been moving in the wrong direction for more than a few reasons this spring.
Tyler Jay | College – Illinois | 6′ 1″ | 175 lbs.
Jay seems like a guy who profiles as a pick the Reds could make if they were drafting slightly further back in the draft. He’s never started before, but as a reliever he throws three above-average pitches. It’s probably too early for the team to draft him here to make a conversation to a starter like they were able to do with Michael Lorenzen in the 2013 draft.
The Illinois closer has a 93-95 MPH fastball that touches the upper 90’s at times. He mixes in an above-average breaking ball along with a solid change up. In 49.1 innings, over the course of 23 games, he’s walked just 4 batters and struck out 54 without allowing a home run.
Brady Aiken | IMG Academy | 6′ 3″ | 210 lbs.
Brady Aiken was the #1 overall pick last year who didn’t sign with the Astros after they had agreed to a contract, but later found that Aiken had a smaller than usual UCL ligament and tried to renegotiate. The two sides couldn’t agree and Aiken chose to pitch at IMG Academy instead of going to a Junior College or a 4-year college. In his first game of the year he suffered an injury and underwent Tommy John surgery.
When he was healthy as a high school senior in 2014 he showed a 92-94 MPH fastball that touched the upper 90’s. He also mixed in a power curveball and change up, both which showed themselves as above-average pitches. The stuff is clearly there for a healthy Aiken, but there are rumors that his injury is more than a normal Tommy John surgery according to Kiley McDaniels at Fangraphs. If a team drafts him early, they believe that he’s going to be fine, but it appears there’s some uncertainty going on here that teams will really have to dive into.