Blair
Henley

3/9/19: Pitchability righty with a trim, athletic build at six-foot-three, 200 pounds. Pitched to contact with the bases empty while showing the ability to bump up his velo a bit and bear down to generate some swing/miss with runners on base. High three-quarter release point with some plunge on the backside and stiffness in his arm action. Leads with his front hip, but doesn't drive with his back hip and cuts his stride short. Has a weak top half front side and releases the ball with a bent front leg. These actions cause him to throw mostly with just his arm and detract from his potential velocity and extension to the plate. Pitched to both sides of the plate with a 90-92 mph fastball. On several previous looks dating all the way back to his senior year of high school in Arlington, TX, his curveball and slider have been distinctly different pitches, and this look was no exception. His curveball ranged from 77-78 mph with the slider 83-85. Both pitches had the shape, action and velocity to be considered average-to-above average. Typically the curveball has been the better of the two pitches and is known to have an elite spin rate, but on this look the slider showed slightly better. As a fourth pitch, Henley mixed in a 82-84 mph changeup to left-handed hitters. Although he lacks an ideal delivery and arm action, Henley throws strikes with a four pitch arsenal, profiling him as a starter at the next level. (Seifert)

10/14/18: On the mound, Texas junior righthander Blair Henley struck out two and gave up one hit over a scoreless inning. Henley had command of his fastball, which sat between 90-92 MPH with the hint of armside life, but the pitch played down while lacking deception. He didn’t have his usual feel for big-time spin, but Henley’s curve (77-80 MPH) flashed as an above average offering, and he also showed an 84 MPH slider. (McComas)

8-20-2018: High pitchability righty with sloped shoulders and a trim, athletic build at six-foot-three, 200 pounds. High three-quarter release point with some plunge on the backside with his arm action. Gets through it and showed a quick arm out front. Repeated a polished, downhill delivery with a short stride and closed landing. Confident presence with a great idea on the bump. Mixed an 89-91 mph fastball with an average 82-84 mph slider and an above average 74-77 mph curveball. Curve and slider were distinctly different pitches. Pitched to both sides of the plate with his fastball, routinely going inside to right-handed hitters. Repeated his pitches and kept all of them down in the zone. Got outs with both his fastball and breaking balls. Good athlete. Quick feet on pickoffs. 1.28 to the plate. Holds runners well. One of the most polished pitchers I saw in the Cape this summer. Went undrafted as a third-year sophomore this past June. (Seifert)

2-26-2018: 6’3/200, Soph. Similar to Hess, Henley is also 2018 draft eligible due to his birthdate. After losing the first two games of the weekend series, the Longhorns needed a strong start from their starting pitcher, and Henley answered the bell. His heavy, late sinking fastball at 89-92 mph played up. He had great success burying it inside on the Tiger hitters. Trackman had many spin rates in the 1900s on this pitch. He also had two distinct breaking balls. One was a true slider at 82-84 mph with 10/4 rotation that was an average pitch. The other was an above average 76-78 mph curveball with more 11/5 rotation and a spin rate in the 2800s, maxing at 2950. As a fourth pitch, he threw an occasional changeup at 84 mph to left-handed batters. Overall, his stuff wasn’t overwhelming, but his ability to get outs, was. He profiles as a back end starter and, just like Hess, it will be interesting to see his signability come June. (Seifert)