Baseball America – July 02, 2019

20 JULY 2019 • BASEBALLAMERICA.COM

ROYCE LEWIS

SS, TWINS

RANK: 9. PRESEASON: 9.

Nearly every evaluator who

sees Lewis comes back with

the same, complex evaluation:

Even though the numbers

aren’t showing up, the tools

that made him one of the best

prospects in baseball are still

evident.

“There’s a lot of moving

parts to his approach and

swing right now. He’s going to

have to figure it out,” one scout

said. “I give him the benefit of

the doubt due to athleticism

and makeup. He has bat speed,

raw power and hand-eye (coor-

dination). It’s all there.”

Lewis has a big leg kick and

a complicated trigger at the

top of his swing, and all that

excess movement may be

keeping him from accessing his

natural gifts. Still, even though

he was returning to the high

Class A level, Lewis opened the

season as the second-young-

est player in the Florida State

League.

Lewis, the No. 1 overall pick

in 2017, hit .226/.281/.325 with

two home runs and 11 stolen

bases through 62 games for

Fort Myers.

Development is not lin-

ear, and Lewis’ talent should

make him worth the wait. His

prospect shine has dimmed,

but only by the slightest of

margins.

—Josh Norris

STOCK WATCH

STOCK IS

HEADED:

NEUTRAL

MID

SEA

SON

TOP

Rays lefthander

Brendan McKay

ditched playing first

base this year to

focus on his pitch-

ing. The plan worked

for the two-way

standout. Playing

DH helped McKay

reach Triple-A and

realize his ceiling as

a No. 2 starter.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

after just 2.1 innings and was placed on the injured

list with right shoulder soreness. Because of his

high-stress delivery and injury history in college,

there was always concern that he might have trouble

staying healthy.

To achieve all his success before the injury, Mize

employed one of the most interesting arsenals in

the game. He throws four- and two-seam fastballs,

a cutter, a split-fingered fastball and a slurvy slid-

er. The splitter serves as his changeup, and scouts

have graded the pitch as a 70 since his days in the

Southeastern Conference.

“You don’t see pitch packages like that, much less

a guy who can command them all,” said Trenton

manager Patrick Osborn, whose team opposed Mize

on June 7. “He can throw them all whenever he

wants, and they probably all grade out as plus pitch-

es... He’s kind of unique that way with his arsenal.

I think what makes him even better is he’s able to

command the ball throwing those different pitches.”

That sentiment was familiar among those who

have seen Mize this year. His arsenal is rare in that

each pitch is average or better, and he has the confi-

dence to throw any pitch in any count to any spot in

the strike zone.

His combination of precision and performance

keeps hitters from keying in on a particular pitch or

location, leaving them at Mize’s mercy.

His most recent injury complicates things, but

Mize still has a bright future and, once he’s healthy,

should blaze a quick path to Detroit.

BRENDAN MCKAY

PROJECTED SCOUTING GRADES

Fastball: 55

Curveball: 60

Slider: 60

Cutter: 60

Changeup: 50

Control: 70

McKay is different from Gore, Pearson and Mize

in a few key ways. First, he was farther along the

developmental ladder, having reached Triple-A in

his third pro season. He also was the only member

of the group who doesn’t have a knockout arsenal. MIKE JANES; BRIAN WESTERHOLT; MIKE JANES; BRIAN WESTERHOLT; TOM PRIDDY. ALL VIA FOUR SEAM IMAGES