Last week we moved forward on the site when it comes to coverage of the 2015 MLB Draft for the Cincinnati Reds as we jumped into the scouting reports for the left handed pitchers. In Part 1 of the series 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 the right handed pitchers that could be in the range for the organization. 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.
Dillon Tate | College – UC Santa-Barbara | 6′ 2″ | 185 lbs.
The odds aren’t good that Dillon Tate finds his way to the Reds. He’s a consensus top 3 pick everywhere that you look. The right hander throws in the mid-to-upper 90’s most of the time with his fastball as his bread-and-butter pitch. He mixes that in with a plus slider thrown in the 85-88 MPH range, a change up with a chance to be a quality offering in the future and a below-average curveball. His mechanics aren’t the cleanest around, but he’s been able to stay healthy to this point in his career. He’s got a 1.73 ERA this season in 88.1 innings with 26 walks and 92 strikeouts. He’s allowed just one home run in 135.0 innings in college, coming in his freshman year.
Kyle Funkhouse | College – Louisville | 6′ 2″ | 218 lbs.
The Louisville starter has a 92-96 MPH fastball that he mixes in with an above-average slider and a change up that flashes itself as above-average as well. He’s posted a 2.99 ERA in 87.1 innings with 36 walks and 83 strikeouts for the Cardinals. His control has improved over last season, but it’s still a concern for some scouts. While it’s a minority opinion, some believe he will wind up in the bullpen because of the control issues.
Carson Fulmer | College – Vanderbilt | 5′ 11″ | 195 lbs.
Another power arm, though you don’t often see non-power arms this high in the draft, Fulmer pitches in the 93-96 MPH range while touching higher on occasion. The Vanderbilt starter will mix in an above-average curveball and a solid change up. He is a bit undersized though, leaving some to wonder if he can handle a big league workload as a starter or if he’s a better fit at the back end of a bullpen. He’s posted a 1.56 ERA in 86.2 innings this season with 33 walks and 118 strikeouts. He has been linked to the Reds.
Mike Nikorak | High School – Pennsylvania | 6′ 5″ | 205 lbs.
The first high school pitcher on the list and Nikorak brings the heat, sitting at 94-97 MPH this spring. The right hander flashes an above-average curveball and above-average change up. He’s got clean mechanics and has stood out among a group of prep pitchers this year.
Walker Buehler | College – Vanderbilt | 6′ 1″ | 160 lbs.
The second pitcher from Vanderbilt in the Top 10 overall rankings, Buehler has the height you’d like to see, but at just 160 lbs. he could add plenty of good weight moving forward. He doesn’t have quite the big arm as the guys listed before him, sitting in the 90-95 MPH range and touching a tad higher every so often. Buehler stands out though with three offerings that flash themselves as above-average offerings with a curveball, slider and a change up. He’s posted a 3.14 ERA in 63.0 innings this season with 19 walks and 66 strikeouts. He’s been linked to the Reds.
Jon Harris | College – Missouri State | 6′ 4″ | 190 lbs.
Harris doesn’t have huge velocity, sitting in the 92-94 MPH range, but the pitch has some of the best movement in the draft. Like Buehler, Harris throws three slightly above-average offspeed pitches with a slider, curveball and a change up. He’s got a 2.08 ERA in 82.1 innings this season with 29 walks and 99 strikeouts this season.
Phil Bickford | College – Community College of Southern Nevada | 6′ 4″ | 205 lbs.
Bickford has a bit of a strange background, drafted by the Blue Jays 10th overall in 2013 but chose to not sign and enrolled at Cal-State Fullerton. After struggling some he went to the Cape Cod League, had a bunch of success and transferred to a junior college to become draft eligible a year sooner. He’s been inconsistent in both his stuff and control throughout the spring. On his best days he looks like a Top 10 pick, but other days he doesn’t resemble a 1st rounder. When he’s at his best he’s sitting in the mid 90’s and touches 98 to go along with an above-average slider and a good change up. He’s posted a 1.48 ERA in 79.0 innings with 19 walks and 151 strikeouts this season. As noted, he performed well in the Cape Cod league in 2014, and the Reds have historically drafted guys who played quite well in the league in past years, so perhaps keep an eye on Bickford even though the organization has not been linked to him.
Ashe Russell | High School – Indiana | 6′ 4″ | 195 lbs.
The big right hander is the second prep pitcher in the Top 20 ranking. He sits at 92-95 MPH with his fastball, which also shows good armside run thanks to a low arm angle. His slider flashes as an above-average pitch in the low 80’s with short, but tight breaking action. His change up flashes itself as an average pitch, but he doesn’t go to it too often at this point in his career.