The Cincinnati Reds only picked six players in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft. With a shortened draft, teams made plenty of free agent signings of college players. The Reds picked up more free agents than most teams did, and one of the more notable ones was right-handed pitcher Braxton Roxby. His numbers in college weren’t exactly stellar. But he showed some real stuff that jumped out at you.
When looking at the stats from his time in college, it was the walk rate that was the biggest issue he saw. The stuff, however, was pretty real. He was throwing in the mid-90’s, topping out at 97, and could really spin a breaking ball.
Kyle Boddy, the Cincinnati Reds Minor League Pitching Coordinator and Director of Pitch Initiatives, has been sharing some videos from instructional league of the pitchers that were invited to Goodyear. Here’s one of Braxton Roxby getting a swing and a miss on a breaking ball with two plane breaking action.
This guy had a 9.68 ERA in the PSAC before we signed him. I wonder why we picked him up… #stuffplays pic.twitter.com/tJJILrN3je
— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) October 24, 2020
In another video that features some video of 14 different pitchers, Roxby can be seen at the 44 second mark. This time he’s getting a swing-and-miss on a breaking ball that has more downward biting action to it than the other one.
Here’s the montage from the first intersquad that I put together, featuring the 14 arms who each went an inning. Great group of athletes who got their work in and were open-minded to new ideas. Everyone competed their ass off.#reds #FAH
?: HOME – Chicken Soup pic.twitter.com/RnXeJT54Hy
— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) November 3, 2020
With the concerns over the control he showed in college, keeping an eye on the walks as Roxby moves forward with his career is warranted. But there’s a lot of stuff to like, here, too. Good fastball velocity and those two breaking balls will go a long way if he can find the zone more frequently.