Prospect Profiles: Drew Thorpe update after 10 K performance

 

6-foot-4

190-pounds

Right-handed starting pitcher

22-years-old

Draft: 2nd round of the 2022 draft out of California Polytechnic State University


The Yankees now have a robust system in place for their draft. Vice-president and Director of Amateur Scouting Damon Oppenheimer has assembled a team of scouts, development coaches, and analytic staff to consult about every pick. In the case of Drew Thorpe, the three came together to determine that he was grossly underrated in the second round of the 2022 draft.

The analytics team liked his accuracy, spin rates, and movement, though felt he needed more velocity. The development team looked at his size and mechanics and determined they could get more velocity and movement out of his frame. The scouts loved his bulldog mentality on the mound, ability to get through lineups multiple times, and the way his pitches generate bad swings. It was a no brainer once he fell to the Yankees in round two.

Thorpe had a successful season in 2021 where he threw 90.1 innings and had a 3.79 ERA with 104 K : 38 BB. He then played in the prestigious Cape Cod Summer League where he was again successful in 10 innings across two appearances, letting up just one run. In 2022, he exploded and had a huge season. He threw 104.2 innings and had a 2.32 ERA with 149 K : 25 BB.  

With a fastball that sits in the 90-93 range and touches 94, Thorpe already knows what he has to do as a professional. He has been up to 97 mph in the past, and the Yankees development team will attempt to get him back up to that level in the future. With his size and projection, that’s likely to happen. The changeup was one of if not the best in college baseball. He has a slider and curveball which are already average or above and will be optimized in the Yankees system. His command and control are plus.

With some fine tuning of the secondary stuff in addition to strength and conditioning, Thorpe has the potential to be a great starting pitcher in the major leagues.

Thorpe began the season in High-A. Somewhat surprisingly, his fastball velocity still sits in the low-90’s this season. The performance has been good. He has a 3.52 ERA and 25 K : 7 BB in 15.1 innings pitched. He could stand to cut down on the walks, but his impressive strikeout rate more than makes up for that.

We will be monitoring him closely as the season progresses and are expecting big things. It could be a quick path to the majors for Thorpe.

Comments

  1. DayneApril 24, 2023 at 11:49 AM

    great write up Greg, you've always been phenomenal info source

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prospect Profile: Ben Cowles, High-A Hudson Valley's hot hitter!

Image
6-foot-1 180-pounds Shortstop/Second baseman/Third baseman Right-handed batter 23-years-old Draft: 10th round o the 2021 draft out of the University of Maryland The Yankees have been successful in recent years with drafting middle infielders in the middle rounds. They have drafted Trevor Hauver, Josh Smith, Rob Refsnyder, and Cooper Bowman in recent years. All of these players have worked out nicely for them, mostly in terms of trade returns. Cowles is the latest in this line of players, and he has acquainted himself nicely to pro ball so far. In 2021, Cowles had his best year in college at Maryland, where he hit .287/.409/.632/1.042 with 18 homeruns and six doubles. The Yankees then drafted him and he continued to be successful in the Yankees system. He finished the year with an .804 OPS in 36 games. Ben hit the ground running in 2021, starting in Low-A and hitting his way to a promotion about three quarters of the way through the season. He hit a bit of a wall in High-A, but he didn’
Read more

Breakout Alert: Zach Messinger prospect profile

Image
6-foot-6 225-pounds Right-handed 23-years-old Last level: Low-A Expected level: High-A Draft: 13 th round in the 2021 draft Similar to his last college season, Messinger split 2022 between relieving and starting. The results were mixed but encouraging. Messinger began the 2022 season as a reliever, likely in an attempt to limit his innings. He finished the season as a starter and logged a total of 83.2 innings. This was a career high by 26.2 innings. He finished with a 4.3 ERA and 112 K : 45 BB. To put these numbers into better perspective, it is important to realize that he was also learning two new pitches in the changeup and slider all season. Moreover, he was dealing with an increase in his velocity from low-90’s to mid-90’s (93-95 mph, topping out at 97). The stuff and velocity is coming along nicely, and should only improve with more time, innings, time in the gas station, and strength and conditioning. With a batting average against of just .221, there are sig
Read more

Prospect Profile: Strikeout artist Danny Watson

Image
  6-foot-7 235-pounds Right-handed relief pitcher 22-years-old Draft: 15 th round of the 2021 draft out of Virginia Commonwealth University In addition to Jack Neely and Bailey Dees, the Yankees drafted a third huge pitcher in 2021. Watson is still young, and spent the whole season in Low-A last year. He had respectable numbers, finishing with 66 K : 36 BB and a 4.01 ERA in 58.1 innings. This was pretty similar to the season he had in 2021 for Virginia Commonwealth. Similar to Neely and Dees, Watson carries with him a substantial ceiling for a player drafted in the 15 th round. At the time he was drafted, Watson was already hitting 96 mph regularly on the radar gun and had a nice slider to complement it. The Yankees have worked with him to improve his control power, velocity, and secondary pitches. Watson began the year at High-A, where he has excelled. He has a 2.45 ERA and 28 K : 8 BB in 14.2 innings. That's an incredible strikeout rate, and unsurprisingly batters
Read more