Adam Serwinowski (Photo: Aldrin Capulong/Daytona Tortugas)
Photo: Aldrin Capulong/Daytona Tortugas

Cincinnati Reds #22 Prospect: Adam Serwinowski – LHP

In the 2023 season, Adam Serwinowski got his first real taste of professional baseball after throwing just one inning after being drafted in 2022. The lefty pitched in 11 games, but was limited in his usage as he threw just 27.1 innings during those outings.

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When the 2024 season began the Cincinnati Reds sent the lefty to join the Daytona Tortugas rotation in the Florida State League. His first start of the year saw him allow just one hit in 4.0 shutout innings that featured six strikeouts. The next three starts were quite similar in that they were also 4-shutout inning outings that saw him allow a total of five hits, ending the month of April with no runs allowed and 16.0 innings thrown to go along with 19 strikeouts and just four walks.

His first start in May saw him give up his first runs of the year, but he only allowed two runs as he set a career high with 5.0 innings pitched. Six days later everything that could have gone wrong, did. He recorded just one out and walked four batters before he was pulled from the game. Things went a bit better the next time out as he allowed a run over 3.0 innings but he did give up seven hits in the game. His next start saw him allow five runs in 5.0 innings, but he had six strikeouts – twice as many as he had in his previous three outings combined.

The next three outings saw Adam Serwinowski struggle with throwing strikes. He only managed to complete 10.1 innings and he gave up four earned runs while walking 12 batters during that span. Those three games were followed up by two of his best starts of the season as he threw 5.0 and 4.0 innings of shutout baseball with just one walk between the two games and 12 strikeouts.

At that point in the season the lefty had a 2.59 ERA to go along with 24 walks and 50 strikeouts through 48.2 innings pitched while allowing just one home run through 13 games. It was essentially the midway point of his season. On June 27th he allowed three runs in 4.0 innings and had six strikeouts. In his next start he set a career high with 10 strikeouts in 4.1 innings of 1-run baseball.

After that, though, he struggled a bit in the next two starts as he walked five batters, gave up five runs, and threw just 4.2 innings. The next three outings things went a little better as he walked three batters, had 17 strikeouts, and gave up just three runs in 12.0 innings. He had hiccups in two of his next three outings, giving up seven runs in 3.0 innings in two starts sandwiched around a 1-run, 4.0 inning outing. His season ended with two shutout starts that were 3.0 and 2.0 innings each.

For all 2024 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).

Adam Serwinowski Scouting Report

Position: Left-handed pitcher | B/T: L/L

Height: 6′ 5″ | Weight: 191 lbs. | Acquired: 15th Round (2022 Draft) | Born: June 7, 2004

Fastball | An above-average offering that works around 94 MPH and touches 97 with good rising action to it.

Curveball | An above-average pitch in the low 80’s with some sweeping action to it.

When you look at the fastball and the curveball from Adam Serwinowski you can see two very good pitches coming out of his left hand when things are going right for him. When that’s happening he’s likely to find success no matter where he’s pitching at. But you’ll also notice that there wasn’t a third pitch mentioned there. The lefty does have a change up, but it is basically impossible to scout or even really talk about. While we only have pitch tracking data for road games from 2024 for Serwinowski, he threw 694 pitches on the road last season and only one of them was a change up. He’s going to have to throw that pitch more if he’s going to be a starter in the big leagues.

That’s not the only thing that Serwinowski will have to improve on, though. His control is also going to have to become more consistent. He walked 45 batters in 85.2 innings. Overall that’s too many walks, but there were times when he had much better control than that, but also times when it was much worse than that. Leveling that out, and lowering the total number of walks is another thing that will have to be improved if he’s going to stick around in the rotation for the long haul.

And then of course is building up his workload. And that applies to both individual starts as well as the overall season workload. During his 25 starts in 2024 he only pitched into the 5th inning four times and he only completed the 5th inning three times. He never pitched into the 6th. Only five of his starts saw him throw 70 pitches, and he never threw 80 in a single game.

On the flip side of those negatives, though, is that there’s a good base for developing a starter. Serwinowski already features two quality pitches that don’t necessarily need improving – they just need a bit of fine tuning in how they are implemented (throwing a few more strikes with them being the biggest example here). While his mechanics aren’t the most traditional, nothing there screams he shouldn’t be starting. And from a size standpoint he fits the typical profile of a guy who should eventually be able to handle a starters workload – though in the modern game that matters a bit less than it used to.

The upside with Serwinowski is probably that of a middle of the rotation starter. The bullpen is a good fallback plan if he can’t fully develop a usable third pitch or his control doesn’t improve enough as he continues to develop.

Stats

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Interesting Stat on Adam Serwinowski

The #6 spot in the lineup hit .313 against him on the season and had a .919 OPS. No other spot in the lineup hit better than .243 against him during the year.