Jared Solomon came in to 2019 after a solid season between the Billings Mustangs and Dayton Dragons. He dominated in nine started with the Mustangs, but had some struggles in Dayton in six starts late in the season.
When the 2019 campaign began the Cincinnati Reds sent Jared Solomon back to where his 2018 season ended, Dayton. In April much of the same problems that plagued him in the Midwest League the year before showed up again. In five starts for the Dragons in the first month he walked more batters than he pitched innings – 18 walks in just 16.0 innings to go with 16 strikeouts. That also came with a 5.63 ERA. Batters didn’t do much damage against him when they made contact, slugging just .328, but with all of the walks they got on base a bunch.
When the calendar flipped to May, things started to go better for the right-handed starter. His first start of the month saw him walk just one batter in 5.0 innings. The next time out he walked no one, struck out seven, and gave up just one run. Solomon made two more starts for Dayton, giving up just two earned runs over the two combined starts. That got him a short-term promotion to Daytona. In his two starts at the end of May with the Tortugas he walked three batters and struck out 14 while giving up just one earned run. It was a dominant month that saw the former 11th round pick post a 1.80 ERA in 30.0 innings with nine walks and 37 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .534 OPS.
June began and saw Jared Solomon back with the Dayton Dragons after a dominant fill in week for Daytona. He picked up where he left off. On the 5th he allowed a run over 5.0 innings. The next time out saw him throw 2.0 shutout innings, but he didn’t come out for the third inning and went on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. He would only miss one start before returning and being sent back to Daytona. His return was a bit of a struggle as he allowed seven runs in 9.2 innings to end the month. In the four starts that he did make in the month he posted a 4.32 ERA with eight walks and 16 strikeouts in 16.2 innings.
The first three starts of July were tough going for Jared Solomon. He walked 10 batters in 14.1 innings and hit another four of them as his control simply wasn’t there. The control did get better in the next three starts for the month, but the overall results didn’t. He allowed 19 hits with five walks and just five strikeouts in 13.0 innings. Over his six starts he posted a 4.94 ERA in 27.1 innings with 15 walks and 17 strikeouts.
Control continued to be an issue in the first start of August as he walked four batters with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings on the fourth. The next time out Solomon only walked one batter, but did allow four runs in 5.0 innings. Back at home in Daytona against Charlotte, the righty tossed 6.0 shutout frames without a walk and with four strikeouts. The final two starts of the year were solid as he allowed four earned runs in 10.1 combined innings with five walks and 13 strikeouts. Over the span of his five August starts he posted a 4.26 ERA in 25.1 innings with 10 walks and 25 strikeouts. He did allow three home runs in the month, which was more than he had allowed on the season entering the month (2).
For all 2019 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Jared Solomon Scouting Report
Position: Right-handed pitcher | B/T: R/R
Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 192 lbs | Drafted: 11th Round, 2017
Fastball | The pitch works in the 92-94 MPH range and will touch higher than that on occasion.
Slider | This pitch varies in velocity, sometimes working in the low-80’s, and sometimes working in the mid-to-upper 80’s. It’s a solid-average offering.
Change Up | A third offering that doesn’t show up as often, it’s a below-average offering now, but could be a fringe-average offering in the future.
When Jared Solomon is at his best, he’s throwing strikes with three pitches and two of them are average to slightly better than average. But he struggles to repeat his mechanics which leads to some battled with control. Most reports see a future relief role for Solomon, citing the mechanics and control as the reasons for the move.
During the season he kept hitters from doing much damage against him when they made contact. In 519 plate appearances against him, hitters slugged just .339 against him. In his four June starts he allowed just one extra-base hit – a home run, which was the first he had allowed all season. Usually when you see guys who have such low slugging percentages against them they are either elite-level strikeout guys or big ground ball pitchers. Solomon isn’t either of those. What he’s been good at in his career, though, is getting an above-average rate of infield fly balls. For his career his infield fly ball rate is 20.4%. For context the Major League Baseball average rate is just 9.8%. That obviously helps keep slugging down, and it’s also something that pitchers do seem to have some control over.
Interesting Stat on Jared Solomon
For the season opposing hitters had just a .077 isolated power (SLG-AVG) against Jared Solomon. That alone is incredibly impressive, but only the month of August was even that high – it was .162 during the month. From April through July it was just .055.
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Solid pitcher. Saw him pitch – thought he looked really good. Noticed that a few pitchers that struggled in Dayton got better in Daytona….any thoughts on that?
Also do you see any movement of those in Low A to High A and High A to AA?
Daytona is in the Florida State League. The league is more pitcher friendly.
And yes, some players will be promoted.
With a guy like Solomon, and the next 50 just like him, it’s cool to dream on one of these guys catching a good wave and making it to MLB.
It’s really the beauty of the minor leagues. I understand there are some who don’t share the view, but I’d just as soon stand around a Single A or AA game. Collegiate leagues are great too.
If any of the other 49 guys like Soloman become relievers thats awesome for me.
Sorry for the editorial.
There’s a lot of guys out there that aren’t “prospects” and are very good – but they don’t get the attention because of that – They aren’t Prospects – they are undrafted signed guys who aren’t in a top 100.
Would be interesting to see a non-prospect get a write up – maybe one of them would catch someone’s eye and make it to the MLB, or a higher level of baseball. They are out their busting their hump just like everyone else with dreams of making it big, but that’s just My Honest Opinion.