Following an outstanding 2018 season out of the bullpen, it seemed unlikely that Alex Powers would be able to best what he had just done. WRONG. The reliever, coming off of a 2.34 ERA in Double-A with Pensacola was, for some strange reason, sent back to Double-A and Chattanooga as the Cincinnati Reds switched affiliates.
The season started for Alex Powers when he picked up a save in his first game on April 6th for the Lookouts. The next night, though, he allowed two earned runs in an inning of work. He wouldn’t allow that many runs combined over the next 19 games and nearly two months. From April 12th through May 29th he allowed one run in 23.2 innings while striking out 39 batters and earning a promotion to Triple-A near the end of May. On June 1st he’d give up two runs in an inning for Louisville. After the game he would hit the injured list and not pitch for six weeks.
Once his oblique strain healed he returned to the mound on July 12th with a shutout inning against Toledo. In his next outing he faced Toledo again, and he gave up two runs in an inning of work – struggling on the day, giving up two hits, walking a batter, and he hit a batter.
Those two runs he allowed on July 14th were the only runs he’d allow for more than a month. He threw 14.2 shutout innings with 14 strikeouts through August 21st. On the 22nd he’d allow a run in Columbus to break the streak. On September 2nd he allowed a run to Indianapolis to end the season.
For all 2019 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Alex Powers Scouting Report
Position: Right-handed pitcher | B/T: R/R
Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 205 lbs | Drafted: 25th round (2013, White Sox)
Born: February 26th, 1992
Fastball | The pitch works in the 90-93 range on most days. He will top out around 95 every so often.
Change Up | It works in the 82-84 MPH range and has some sink/fade to it.
Slider | His main secondary pitch, it works in the 78-80 MPH range. It has good sweeping action at times
The raw stuff doesn’t exactly jump off of the page at you, but there’s movement and there’s deception that let’s it play up. He throws at a low 3/4 arm slot, almost side-armed. The arm angle gives the ball more running action and some additional sinking action. His offspeed stuff is solid, and the results have been outstanding. But there’s the lingering question of whether the deception is enough to get big leaguers out when the stuff doesn’t wow you.
Alex Powers has had a high fly ball rate for his career, but it was even higher in 2019. Despite that, though, he didn’t give up home runs. Even in Triple-A where the baseball was flying to Mars almost every night, he allowed just one home run in 27.1 innings despite a ground ball rate of just 27.1%. Missing a lot of bats helps, but he also induces weak contact over and over.
Interesting Stat on Alex Powers
During his time in Chattanooga this season he stranded 98.6% of runners that reached base against him.
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