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When I begin the process of compiling my top prospect lists, I try to speak to as many scouts who have had multiple looks at a player as I can. I certainly trust my own eye—I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t—but having a chance to speak to those who work in the industry to offer a sort of “check and balance” system is invaluable to me, and I believe adds some credibility to the lists.

While this system generally works well, it often creates headaches, as here and there I will get widely varying beliefs on a player’s upside. I thought it’d be fun to take a more in-depth look at a group of players who had the widest range of opinions and help show how a prospect’s ceiling and floor can vary so much between two different player evaluators.

First up: New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino. Of all the pitchers I spoke to scouts about this winter, Severino was the most “controversial,” with several believing he was a future ace and others far less sure about his future role.

After compiling my lists, I spoke to two scouts—one high on Severino, one low—on four key components of judging a pitching prospect. Here’s a detailed look at why one group believes Severino is destined to become a top-of-the-rotation starter, why one group is less sure about his role, and why I agree and disagree with each assessment.

Stuff: Both scouts I spoke with believed that Severino featured a plus-plus fastball, but after that there was a strong difference of opinion as to just how good of an arsenal the right-hander possesses.

High scout: “I think he has the stuff to be a front-line starter. The fastball’s an easy 70 to me; [he’s] up to 99 and there’s life to the pitch, too. The breaking ball isn’t quite there yet, but I certainly think it’s good enough to let him start, and the change is a borderline out pitch, certainly a plus offering anyway. Are there consistency issues? Of course, but 70 [fastball] 60 [change] 50 [slider] is certainly good enough to start.”

Low scout: “I have some concerns [about Severino’s stuff.] The fastball is as good as anyone in their system, if not better, but too often I’ve seen the breaking ball at 45 or worse, and a good but not great change isn’t good enough to me to overcome that.”

I don’t think the high scout is incorrect in his assessment with Severino’s stuff, but I tend to side with the low scout on this one. A 70-grade fastball and a 60-grade change is nice to have, but a starter they do not make. The breaking ball just doesn’t have the depth or break to be a competent pitch at this point, and I’m not sure it ever will be.

Control/Command: Severino walked just 27 hitters in his 113 innings in 2014, and both scouts agreed that his control was good enough to start. They did differ slightly on his command, however.

High scout: “I’d grade the command potential as plus. I’ve seen him throw strikes with all three pitches, which you don’t see from a lot of 20-year-olds. With his ability to repeat his delivery, I don’t think there’ll be any issue with him throwing strikes as a big leaguer.”

Low scout: “There’s a difference between control and command. The control is certainly good, you just need to look at the stats to see that he can throw strikes. Hitting his spots is a completely different thing, and when I saw him last summer he was more “wild in the strike zone” than guy who is nailing his spots with everything he throws.”

Here, I tend to side with the high scout. When you consider Severino can throw all three pitches for strikes and that he’s barely old enough to buy alcohol in this country, you can ignore the fact that he does miss in the strike zone. Pedro Martinez he is not, but I don’t think the command will be the reason why Severino doesn’t end up in a rotation.

Mechanics: This is where things got interesting. Both scouts believed that there are some mechanical deficiencies, but differed as to just how severe those deficiencies were.

High scout: “There are some tweaks that need to be made. I would like to see him use more of his lower half more; it’d take a lot more stress off of his arm. I think it’s important to note that there aren’t any red flags in his arm slot though, and that assuming he’s receptive to coaching there is time to make some refinements. Long term, it could lead to trouble though, so if I’m with the Yankees player-development team I get to work on using the legs and hips more to protect the asset I have.”

Low scout: “You cannot start with the delivery [Severino] has. Not long term, anyway. Asking a kid to throw five to seven innings and 100 pitches every five days with how little he uses his legs is just asking for an injury. The arm action is fine, but he uses his lower half less than any starter I saw in the Sally League this summer, so unless he made some sort of massive changes between then, I think he has a reliever’s delivery.”

I’m definitely siding with the low scout on this one, though I do agree with the high scout that there is time to make mechanical adjustments. There’s just too much strain being put on the arm with Severino’s current delivery, and the long-term ramifications could be severe without drastic changes.

Ceiling/floor:

High Scout: “A no. 2 starter ceiling, and potentially a dominant closer floor.”

Low Scout: “I think Severino’s ceiling is a top-of-the-rotation starter who has durability issues, and I think his floor is shutdown reliever.”

As you can see, both scouts do believe that Severino has a high ceiling and, all things considered, a relatively high floor. The difference, of course, is that the low scout is a lot less confident about Severino reaching that ceiling.

And as talented as Severino is, I tend to side with the low scout. Even if the breaking ball gets to an average grade, I just don’t see many starters with that bad of a delivery end up in rotation. At 21 years old there is time for mechanical adjustments to be made, but as is I see a high-leverage reliever who will miss a lot of bats with two swing-and-miss pitches.

Thank you for reading

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SansRig
3/06
This was great.

I am a little bit confused as to what makes a pitcher to have projectable command, as opposed to control, though. I feel like these distinctions get made often, but I’m left wanting more of an explanation for why this is the case. What do scouts look for when they are projecting command? Is it as simple as seeing a guy hit his spots some of the time, and then assuming that he will increase that skill, or does it have to do more with a pitchers mechanics and athleticism?

Thanks, this was a very interesting article, on a topic that I have thought about a lot. For the record, I am on team bullpen with Severino. I just don’t think his mechanics are built to last, which is a problem that is intensified because of his size.
huztlers
3/06
It is primarily based on group-think. If one scout talks loud enough, then others start to follow. Some are blessed with the projection tag and others are not. Reality is a different story. Do yourself a favor and try not to be too concerned with it in either case. Take a guy like Aaron Blair who was maxed out prior to last year's uptick in stuff... It is anything but a science.
SansRig
3/07
I'm more optimistic than that. If there is something to it (as I suspect there is), I would like to better understand it.
NickFaleris
3/07
Comes down to consistency in execution, which is usually a combination of complication in mechanics, athleticism, strength, and flexibility. The more complicated a pitcher's mechanics the more reliant he is on possessing the requisite athleticism and flexibility to repeat those mechanics in a uniform manner, and the requisite strength (some refer to it as "stamina" but you're mostly deriving from avoidance of muscle fatigue which I've always found correlates well with raw strength) not to see deterioration in actions over the course of a game (and more frequent deterioration as a longer season wears on).

Don't fall into the trap of stopping your analysis at the mechanics or the numbers -- a thorough dig should try to figure out what type of body/athlete you're dealing with, what mechanical changes he's successfully implemented in the past, and the like.

Finally, don't forget you have to run through that analysis through the lens of each pitch. That can get pretty nuanced, but if you're working fast and dirty some good rules of thumb are: 1) a lot of variance in trajectory/shape/velocity from pitch to pitch usually means there is more work to be done in finding a sweet spot w/r/t execution; 2) certain "quirks" in mechanics work against long term consistency in execution of certain pitch types for different profiles, and 3) [tangential issue] command may or may not impact pure grading on a pitch but it's seldom you have a pitch that grades out poorly but comes with good command scores.
SansRig
3/07
Wow, this is really helpful! I appreciate the detailed response.
Behemoth
3/08
Why don't you set up your own website instead of the boringly predictable sniping after pretty much every single article on prospects all across the internets?
Wrightfan
3/06
Nice article. Welcome to BP Chris.
GoTribe06
3/06
This was a cool article! I've read a lot about Severino, but haven't watched him yet. This sort of painted a picture of him for me and gave me something to look for when I do see him.

Loved the contrast of the high and low opinion for the applicable tools. Feels like a nice way to engage the fan when it comes to the scouting perspective of a player.

Thanks!
bigpete123
3/06
i watched him in the spring training game. his slider looked ok and he through it backdoor for a strikeout in his first inning, but it really doesn't have much bite to it. even if his slider is a 45 i feel like he could be a fastball change guy in the rotation just not front of the line type guy. his delivery is the most troublesome by far because it would be a miracle if he doesn't get hurt throwing 200 innings like he does.
pjbenedict
3/08
I enjoyed this, thanks... I look forward to more.
AlCush99
3/08
Really likes this type of article and look forward to more.
worldtour
3/08
Why not move him to the pen now?
Theman3983
3/08
Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

I would move Severino to the bullpen and fast-track the stuff, but I can understand why the Yankees would give him the opportunity to start. There are some mechanical adjustments to be made -- big ones -- but he's the only top of the rotation prospect in the system, and I can't really fault them for seeing what exactly they have in his right arm.
mattro12
3/10
While you're talking high vs. low, BP's own Doug Thorborn gives Severino's mechanics a "B" rating. Would love to hear why the stark difference in opinion there.