Today marks the first pitcher we’re going to cover in our 2020 Major League Baseball Draft Scouting Report series when we take a look at left-handed pitcher Asa Lacy out of Texas A&M. He’s currently rated as the top pitcher in the draft by Baseball America, Fangraphs, and MLB Pipeline.
The 2018 Season
Cleveland had drafted Asa Lacy out of Tivy High School in the 31st round in the 2017 draft. He was a floating a signing bonus of $1,000,000 that caused him to fall in the draft. The lefty chose to head off to college and pitch for the Aggies. As a freshman he worked mostly out of the bullpen, making 21 relief appearances and two starts. He found plenty of success, posting a 2.75 ERA in 39.1 innings while allowing just two home runs, 28 hits, and he struck out 48 batters. He did walk 17 batters on the season, though – a tad higher than you would like to see. Still, the results were outstanding for a freshman in the powerhouse South Eastern Conference.
The 2019 Season
As a sophomore Asa Lacy moved into the rotation full time and his performance took a step forward, too. He would make 15 starts and throw 88.2 innings for the Aggies, going 8-4. His ERA was 2.13 on the season with just 49 hits allowed and he racked up 130 strikeouts. He did walk 43 batters and hit another 13, though. Still – he limited contacted and thus hits and was dominant during the season.
The 2020 Season
The first four starts of the season this spring couldn’t have gone much better for Asa Lacy before the season abruptly came to an end. The left-handed started allowed two runs in 24.0 innings. That’s a 0.75 ERA for those keeping track at home. He allowed just nine hits, no home runs, walked eight batters and hit four more. Lacy also struck out 46 of the 93 batters that he faced.
Asa Lacy College Stats
Asa Lacy Video
Asa Lacy Scouting Report
Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 215 lbs.
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Position(s): Left-Handed Starting Pitcher
From a pure scouting perspective, Asa Lacy may have the best stuff in the entire draft. His fastball and slider combination are both plus to plus-plus offerings. The fastball will work anywhere from the low 90’s to 98 MPH depending on the day and what he’s trying to do with the pitch. But that’s not where his arsenal stops. He will also flash an above-average curveball and an above-average change up. Four potential above-average pitches with two of them being plus or better offerings? That’s the starting recipe for an ace.
But with all of the good, there are some concerns, too. Mechanically, Asa Lacy isn’t your typical starting pitcher. He’s cleaned his mechanics up over the time he spent in college, but he still could fix a few issues. Control has been an issue. In his career at Texas A&M he either walked or hit 14.3% of the hitters he faced. Scouts believe he’s got better control and command than he’s shown in college, though.
Where the concern could be
It’s pretty clear that the biggest concern is that his control simply doesn’t improve. If that were to be the case you are likely going to wind up with a potential reliever or inconsistent starter who can dominate at times but also be a guy who just doesn’t have it on some days.