Trackman by the Numbers: McCade Brown, RHP, 2021

STRENGTHS: Similar to our look last fall, Brown throws with very low effort, playing catch from 60'6" with a three-quarter arm slot. He is tall and athletic at 6-foot-6, 200 pounds. His delivery and arm action are clean. There are no mechanical red flags. He gets slightly above average extension at 6'3". His fastball, curve and slider are all released from a nearly identical slot and all have the potential to play as plus pitches in the future. In particular, his fastball release point was especially consistent with very little variance among the 14 fastballs he threw in the 28 pitch session. This is something not typically seen in 20 year old pitchers, at least in my 30+ years of collective experience between college player, coach and professional scout. Additionally, the spin rate on his FB ranks in the 80th percentile of MLB pitchers while his IVB of 18.3" has extreme ride (93rd MLB percentile). To top it off, his heater also has extreme run with a 14.0" of HVB. This too, ranks in the 93rd percentile of MLB.

Saving the best for last, his CB is an even bigger separator, especially when paired with the life of his fastball. His bender has an elite MLB-level spin rate, showing an average of 2913 and a high of 3038. For comparison, Sonny Gray had the highest average spin rate (2988) on his curveball last season among pitchers who threw it over 550 times. The next two highest right-handers; Charlie Morton (2886) and Justin Verlander (2821).

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: His change-of-pace is a work-in-progress pitch. He drops his hand down and away from his normal release point, showing 5" less in release height and 3" further away than the slot for his FB. I'd also like to see his slider at a little higher velocity in effort to differentiate more from his CB.