Saturday, April 25, 2020

2020 Draft Profile: Dax Fulton

LHP Dax Fulton, Mustang HS [OK]
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DoB: 10/16/2001.  Commitment: Oklahoma

The south side of Oklahoma City boasts three top draft prospects with day one aspirations between Mustang's Dax Fulton, Westmoore's Jace Bohrofen, and Norman's Cade Horton, who are all committed to play at Oklahoma. Unfortunately, Fulton would never have gotten the chance to compete against them in 2020 even if play had gone on as normal, as Tommy John surgery wiped out his senior year. Before the injury, he had the chance to pitch himself into the middle of the first round as arguably the most talented high school lefty in the class (especially after Nate Savino graduated early to head to Virginia), but he still retains the latter title even post-injury.

Fulton is an intimidating presence on the mound, already standing 6'6" with a mature build. He sits in the low 90's with his fastball, but his height helps him get good angle on the ball and he's projectable enough to add more velocity in the future. His best pitch is a big 12-6 curveball with exceptional vertical break. He has great feel for the pitch and it's not just a slow looper, showing considerable power as well. His changeup is coming along, though as with most high school pitchers, it's hard to say much about it. Fulton also does a good job commanding his arsenal, giving him plenty of starter traits at a young age.

Tommy John surgery isn't nearly as big of a deal as it used to be, so Fulton remains a very attractive prospect as arguably the best prep left hander in the class. With a fastball that projects to add more velocity, a great breaking ball, and solid command from a 6'6" frame, he's well positioned to grow into an impact starter. He'll of course need to be worked back slowly from the surgery and won't be ready to pitch until spring training 2021, but nobody is going to get to throw much this year anyways. Like any prep pitcher, he still has a few things to work on, including further refining his command and changeup, but there's a lot to like. It might not be cheap to buy him out of his Oklahoma commitment, but if he's signable, he should come off the board in the comp round or early second round range.

Summer ball in the PDP league

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