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| Born: 07/08/1997 (Age: 20) | |
| Bats: Left | Throws: Right |
| Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 225 |
| Mechanics |
| Thick, solid build, physically mature; above average arm speed, high-three-quarters arm slot, clean arm action, balanced delivery from semi-windup, some effort in the delivery, 1.39 delivery time; repeatable delivery, plus command potential. |
| Evaluator | Nathan Graham |
| Report Date | 06/06/2018 |
| Affiliate | Bowling Green Hot Rods (Low A, Rays) |
| Dates Seen | 5/12/18 |
| OFP/Risk | 45/High |
| Realistic | 40; Middle Reliever |
| MLB ETA | 2021 |
| Video | Yes |
| Pitch Type | Present Grade | Future Grade | Sitting Velocity | Peak Velocity | Report |
| FB | 50 | 50 | 90-91 | 93 | Heavy with some arm-side run, has some sneaky life, spots well, works low in the zone, will elevate in pitchers count. |
| CB | 30 | 40 | 78-79 | 79 | Inconsistent, when right has some mild break, 12-6 movement, will leave up and can get soft. |
| CH | 50 | 60 | 82-84 | 84 | Potential to be plus, features nice fade and tumble, good arm speed replication, quality velocity separation, will use in variety of counts, potential to miss bats especially against right hand hitters; command is inconsistent, still developing feel. |
| Overall |
| Recently traded to the Rays, the former Eastern Florida State star is a thickly built righty with the potential to be an innings eating starter. The velocity is average, but the heavy fastball pairs well with the change which has the potential to be a true out pitch. The curve development is key. Without further advancement, Romero might be destined for a bullpen role. If it can manifest into a minimum league-average offering, there is opportunity to remain a starter. |
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| Born: 04/12/1996 (Age: 22) | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 160 |
| Mechanics |
| Santana stays upright throughout most of his delivery. He has an average leg raise before a small step slightly towards 3B and stays closed before rotating around his front foot and delivering the ball from a slot between three quarters and cross-fire with minimal follow-through. Clean arm.
Santana’s athleticism allows him to repeat better than would be expected, but mechanics probably won’t allow command to improve much if at all. |
| Evaluator | Kevin Carter |
| Report Date | 06/06/2018 |
| Affiliate | Tulsa Drillers (AA, Dodgers) |
| Dates Seen | 4/5/2018 |
| OFP/Risk | 50/Low |
| Realistic | 40; Middle Relief |
| MLB ETA | 2018 |
| Video | No |
| Pitch Type | Present Grade | Future Grade | Sitting Velocity | Peak Velocity | Report |
| Fastball | 60 | 60 | 92 | 95 | Plus arm-side action when over the inner half. Loses a bit of life on the outer half. Throws it for strikes, but struggles to located within the zone. Below-average command of the pitch. |
| Slider | 50 | 55 | 84 | 85 | Flashes above-average with above-average dive and deception. Struggles to maintain quality of pitch from inning to inning and also leaves the pitch up with some frequency. |
| Changeup | 40 | 45 | 81 | 82 | Flashes below-average with fringy tumble and no arm-side action. Hitters can get fooled and still make contact on the pitch. Inconsistent command of the pitch. |
| Overall |
| Dennis Santana has a reliever profile. He attacks the zone with above-average velocity on his fastball with plus arm-side action. He mixes in a slider that flashes above-average with above-average dive that generates whiffs, especially against right-handed hitters. His changeup is a mix-in pitch that flashes below-average with limited tumble and feel for the pitch.
While Santana throws strikes, his delivery makes it hard for him to command well within the zone and often leaves his fastball in places that more advanced hitters will crush. This likely causes an eventual move to the bullpen where he will be able to increase the effectiveness of his fastball/slider combo. If Santana is able to improve his command a grade despite the delivery issues and continues to improve on the consistency of both his slider and changeup, he has a chance to stick in a rotation, but it’s more likely that the command issues will force him to settle for a role in the middle of a bullpen. |
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| Born: 08/30/1994 (Age: 23) | |
| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| Height: 6′ 5″ | Weight: 210 |
| Mechanics |
| FWU, tall and upright with a stiff landing leg, long limbs, loose arm with plus arm speed , some crossfire, effort with head whack and posture issues, arm can lag behind, but athletic enough to keep it together mostly, fringe command projection. TQ slot. 1.4 to home. |
| Evaluator | Jeffrey Paternostro |
| Report Date | 06/08/2018 |
| Affiliate | Altoona Curve (AA, Pirates) |
| Dates Seen | 6/1/18 |
| OFP/Risk | 60/Medium |
| Realistic | 50; Multi-inning setup/fireman |
| MLB ETA | 2019 |
| Video | No |
| Pitch Type | Present Grade | Future Grade | Sitting Velocity | Peak Velocity | Report |
| FB | 60 | 70 | 93-95 | 97 | Very FB-heavy approach. Firm with frightening late cut, bores into righties, tough to elevate. Will run it arm-side at times for a different look. Didn’t hold velocity and was 90-92 by the sixth inning. |
| CU | 40 | 55 | 81-85 | 85 | Slurvy, will backdoor it. Flashes 1-6 with good bottom lower in the velocity band, inconsistent but above-average potential. |
| CH | 30 | 40 | 81-85 | 85 | Some feel and fade but crude, lacks movement or deception from arm action, guides it. |
| Overall |
| Hearn attacks primarily with his fastball and can be effective with just that pitch in short bursts. He moved away from his fastball as he tired and the secondaries got loose and were generally ineffective. The arsenal isn’t enough to turn over even a Double-A lineup multiple times, and combined with his stamina and third pitch issues, a bullpen outcome is likely. If the breaking ball continues to develop, Hearn could be a very effective multi-inning reliever, and there is closer potential here. |
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| Born: 03/05/1998 (Age: 20) | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Height: 6′ 0″ | Weight: 200 |
| Primary Position: SS | |
| Secondary Position: 2B | |
| Physical/Health |
| Frame is on the smallish side, room for added physical projection. Athletic. Plus flow. |
| Evaluator | <!– –> Jeffrey Paternostro |
| Report Date | 06/08/2018 |
| Dates Seen | 4x in April |
| Affiliate | New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA, Blue Jays) |
| MLB ETA | Risk Factor | OFP | Realistic Role | Video |
| 2019 | Medium | 70 | 60: Plus regular up the middle | No |
| Tool | Future Grade | Report |
| Hit | 60 | It’s unorthodox. Big wrap behind back shoulder with hitch, near armbar, bat speed and control are so good it won’t really matter. Bat speed and hand-eye allows him to really let it get deep, but he goes through jags where he tries to pull everything. Can get exploited when he gets aggressive (which is often at present). Tracks well, knows zone, will spit on a close FB. Plus-plus bat speed, plus approach, plus hit. |
| Power | 60 | Plus power line to line, ball jumps, could add more raw if he fills out. Should get to most of it. |
| Baserunning/Speed | 50 | 4.3 dig, suspect there is more in the tank at present, but likely average at maturity. |
| Glove | 45 | Solid fielder, good hands and instincts, smooth around the bag, range is a little light and puts pressure on his arm. Everything just feels a half-grade short for the 6, grinds to be fringy, won’t kill you there. Makes most of the plays. Above-average to plus projection at second. |
| Arm | 55 | Above-average arm strength, doesn’t have that clothesline carry, can’t really let it loose deep in the 5.5 hole, weird mechanics, best throws come out sidearm, will flash 6, would be fine at second. |
| Overall |
| 6/6 offensive profile, can get a little out of control when he muscles up, but better plate coverage than you’d think. Good enough defender in the middle infield, interested to see how the frame matures. One of the 20 best prospects in baseball. |
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| Born: 10/09/1997 (Age: 20) | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 195 |
| Primary Position: 3B | |
| Secondary Position: | |
| Physical/Health |
| Large frame, some barrel to the chest, filled-out, wider base, maintenance required in the lower half to retain agility, physically maxed |
| Evaluator | <!– –> Wilson Karaman |
| Report Date | 06/11/2018 |
| Dates Seen | 7x April-June |
| Affiliate | Lancaster JetHawks (High A, Rockies) |
| MLB ETA | Risk Factor | OFP | Realistic Role | Video |
| 2019 | Moderate | 55 | 50; Average Regular | Yes |
| Makeup |
| Has put in the time to improve at third, hard-working kid, seems to take well to coaching on-field. |
| Tool | Future Grade | Report |
| Hit | 55 | Loads up deep on his back leg, leg kick into a long stride, generates good juice with his lower half, above-average bat speed pushes plus; can get stiff and steep, hands load high, inconsistent lifting the ball, will roll it over; above-average hand-eye, notable wrist strength, solid bat-to-ball despite some length and inconsistency at trigger; aggressive in zone, looks to damage the ball situationally, advanced zone command; approach, bat speed, and barrel control to project above-average tool utility. |
| Power | 55 | Hits the ball hard, plus exit velos off the barrel, hit balls will carry, above-average raw; present swing plane limits game utility some, projects capacity to make tweaks and get to the raw in games; all-fields approach, power mostly plays to pull-side and center. |
| Baserunning/Speed | 30 | Present 40, 4.35-4.5 on 7 clocks, lacks explosion in start-up, limited second gear, high-effort running motion; thick base should slow through maturity. |
| Glove | 55 | Significant improvement across first half, lateral agility and anticipation have improved, efficient crossover, gets down on balls up the line effectively, quality body control to the ground; steady progress coming in on balls, internal clock better synced; sure hands with a knack for squeezing hard contact; range will never be an asset, but good command of his radius. |
| Arm | 60 | Strong and accurate, compact mechanics with solid release times; plus velo across his body from the line, throws hold their line, demonstrated ability to keep his ball tracking on the move. |
| Overall |
| Former fourth-round prep bat is a physically mature 20-year-old who has made rapid progress growing into a solid defensive third baseman with good hands, agility to the ground, and plus arm strength. He’s got some growth and development ahead of him at the dish, but he shows strong hitting fundamentals and projects to grow into above-average game power utility. Other than being a pretty slow runner there don’t project to be a ton of weaknesses to his all-around game, and he profiles as a solid-average hot cornerman at the big-league level. |
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