Dauris Valdez, RHP, San Diego Padres

Short-stint power reliever; three-quarters release with a couple slight variations on the arm angle, will move it around some in part due to mechanical inconsistencies. Plenty of height and size for power + good downward plane on all his stuff, translates to overpowering repertoire. Fastball sat 95-99 in my June 9 look; paired with an 84-88 slider and an 85-90 splitter/split-change … Fastball is very hard and mostly straight; occasionally some run back to arm-side, particularly when he leaves it out there to start, but inconsistent life there. Slider is hard, very sharp, with sweeping 10-to-4 break across the plate with some horizontal life thanks to lower arm angle; he throws it very hard and will miss bats with it, but also must find consistent depth against better opponents. The split (split change?) is very firm, as well, thrown hard without as much nuance, but shows potential for late, hard dive right at the plate; not as much feel for it in my look relative to his first two pitches … Lots of moving parts through 6’8” frame with ample opportunity for mechanics to get out of whack; difficulty staying on line to the plate and will fade hard to first base side, taking momentum and command with him. Also showed tendency to get out in front towards plate and leave arm dragging behind, creating plenty of arm-side misses, particularly with his fastball … Dauris Valdez is a lot of fun to watch; still pretty young with a very hard fastball and well above-average stature, there’s a possibility he develops into a high-leverage late-inning reliever for the San Diego Padres one day. His mechanics must smooth out a little bit, though, for that’ll in turn help his command (and likely his velo). Ideal dvelopment there could push him to a 50 FV relief ceiling with the San Diego Padres in the future.

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