The Cincinnati Reds drafted Daniel Wright out of Arkansas State in the 10th round of the 2013 draft. He went to Billings that season and posted a 5.91 ERA in 42.2 innings that all came from the bullpen. Despite the ugly ERA his peripherals were strong as he walked just five batters and he struck out 43 batters. He flashed a good breaking ball during the season and showed a good change up.
In 2014 the Reds sent Wright to Dayton where he opened the season working out of the bullpen but that lasted for just two outings before he found himself in the rotation for the rest of the season. While there would be one more outing out of the bullpen it was only due to Arolids Chapman making a rehab appearance and pitching the first inning.
The move to the rotation was a good one for Wright as he posted 2.06 ERA in Dayton before earning a promotion to Bakersfield in late May. While his ERA jumped up to 4.14 with the Blaze his peripherals stayed pretty much the same as they were in Dayton. The California League just has a way of finding ways to get runs on the board. For the season Wright tossed his name into the hat for Pitcher of the Year as he posted a 3.54 ERA in 152.1 innings with 22 walks and 141 strikeouts between his two stops.
While Wright posted outstanding walk and strikeout rates in the 2013 season that were actually a bit better than they were in the 2014 season there were several improvements made from that season that helped his 2014 season ERA far outperform his 2013 campaign.
Scouting Report
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Fastball | Wright throws his fastball in the 89-91 MPH range and doesn’t get much higher than that or lower than that. The pitch also has some armside run to it.
Change Up | The pitch comes in around 82-83 MPH and has good tumbling action to it as well as some additional armside run. It’s at least an average pitch if not slightly above-average.
Curveball | His usual put away pitch, the curveball is a true 12-6 breaker that is his best offering and is an above-average pitch.
Other | Wright understands how to pitch. He will work to all parts of the zone with his fastball and to both sides of the plate with the change up and curveball. As you can probably tell by the near complete lack of walks, the right hander has good control and he can usually command his fastball well. The two offspeed offerings are both pitches he can throw for strikes when he wants and isn’t afraid to use any of his pitches in any count.
The big difference with Wright from 2013 to 2014 was the consistency of the offspeed stuff. In 2013 the breaking ball was rather inconsistent. When it was on, it was a good offering but it would show up with shorter break at times and at other times it was more loopy. In 2014 the shorter breaking ball disappeared and a big 12-6 breaker showed up and was consistently an above-average pitch without much inconsistency. He also relied on the change up a little bit more as a starter than he did last season as a reliever.
He has the size and repertoire to remain as a starter pitcher but his fastball velocity may limit him to being a back end type of starter, but a strike thrower who has shown groundball tendencies and three pitches could find a way into a big league rotation. If he does wind up in the bullpen the offspeed pitches will certainly play well as long as the fastball is enough to keep hitters honest.
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