Last July the Cincinnati Reds, in sellers mode, traded Adam Duvall to the Atlanta Braves, who were looking to add some pop to their lineup. In the deal the Reds picked up former top prospect Lucas Sims, along with two other players. At the time, the 24-year-old Sims had been back-and-forth between Triple-A and the Major Leagues over the past two seasons, but hadn’t established himself yet. He spent a short period of time with the Reds in September of 2018. Sims threw just 5.1 innings over three games.
On the 40-man roster, he was in big league camp this past spring with the Reds, but didn’t make the club. Instead he was optioned to Triple-A Louisville. With the Bats this season he’s made 9 starts and posted a 4.06 ERA. That’s nearly a full run better than the league average, which sits at 5.02 on the year. In his 44.1 innings pitched this year he’s struck out 63 batters and walked 16.
For Lucas Sims, he’s been solid at preventing runs for Louisville this year. The league as a whole has watched records toppled left-and-right when it comes to home runs. Both Triple-A leagues moving to the usage of the Major League Baseball this year has led to unprecedented output on the long ball. That’s led to runs/ERA going up quite a bit from the past. Where he’s stood out is racking up the strikeouts, where he leads the league. He’s been roughly league average in allowing home runs and walks.
Lucas Sims Scouting Report
Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 225 | Throws: Right | Age: 25
Fastball | Sims will throw his fastball in the 91-95 MPH range, mostly sitting 91-93 with the pitch. In todays game that is fringy as a starting pitcher.
Curveball | This is the bread-and-butter for Lucas Sims. It’s a plus offering that works 77-80 MPH with good, late biting action on the 12-6 plane.
Change Up | A pitch he uses mostly against lefties in the 85-87 MPH range. It’s a fringy offering.
Cutter | This pitch shows up from time-to-time in the mid-to-upper 80’s.
For the most part, Lucas Sims is going to work fastball and curveball. The fastball tends to work up in the zone, then he’ll come with the curveball down to change the eye level. Against lefties you will see the change up used more frequently, but it’s not showing up much against right-handed hitters.
Control will be something to pay attention to. It can be hit-or-miss on a given day for Lucas Sims. Let’s take a look at his 2019 game log, via Baseball-Reference.
As you can see from the highlighted column, when the control is there, it’s there. But when it’s not, it really hasn’t been. Control, and how the Pirates can handle his fastball, will be key. The velocity, nor the movement, is there for him to throw it by guys too frequently. So it’s going to matter where he can locate it. Keeping it up and at the very top of the zone so he’s able to use the curve to put hitters away is what will make or break his start tonight against Pittsburgh.