Nick
Dean

A 6-foot-3, 180-pound righty with some funk in his delivery, Dean spotted up to both sides of the plate with a good sinker at 88-92, but his best pitch was a plus changeup at 79-82 with serious deception and tumbling action. He threw it for a called strike and a swing-and-miss against righties and lefties alike. This is a change from years past when he was primarily fastball-curveball-cutter to righties and fastball-changeup to lefties. This likely allows the change to also play up even more now that his fastball has ticked up from the 87-88 range it used to sit. Four of Dean's strikeouts came on changeups Friday, but he also got two more with his short 81-83 cutter, which remains an effective pitch against righties, though it is not the knockout pitch his changeup is. He also got multiple empty swings using his big-breaking 72-75 curveball, which is still used primarily to steal strikes but has become more of a legitimate weapon in recent months. For the night he struck out seven and walked just one, giving him 15 strikeouts against two walks and seven hits in 14 innings on the young season.

Closed out a game, as he’s working his way back to full strength. The Maryland recruit struck out three and allowed one hit. He has a long, lean frame with broad shoulders and plenty of room to add strength as he matures physically. He has a simple start to his delivery and reaches his balance point with a high leg kick. His arm action is long, quick and loose and comes through a 3/4. The fastball sat 88-89 with arm-side life. He touched 90 and threw one at 86 that had more arm-side sink than the others. The curveball was 72-74 with sharp 11/5 break.

8/9/18 -  (Area Code Games) Dean pitched the last two innings and started out at 90-92 before settling into the high 80s. He has a lean, projectable frame and pitches from a high slot. He shows very good feel for a changeup at 82 and he also spin a sharp curveball with 12/6 depth at 75.

6/17/17 - Wide-shouldered, pitcher’s frame with lanky-looseness. Cleanly put together an uptempo motion that delivered out of a high ¾ slot. He sat 87-88 with his fastball and touched 90. Has a longer arm swing, but the hand speed is quick.