2020 Draft Profile: Alejandro Rosario

RHP Alejandro Rosario, Miami Christian HS [FL]
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DoB: 1/6/2002.  Commitment: Miami.

There is a deep group of high school prospects in South Florida this year, and Miami Christian High School's Alejandro Rosario is among the best. He's certainly not the most polished arm in the area, but few can match his upside. Rosario, as with quite a few other reclassifying prep players like Nick Bitsko, David Calabrese, Blaze Jordan, and Owen Caissie, was originally a member of the 2021 class, but he would have been almost 19 and a half on draft day and is much more age-appropriate for the 2020 class. Because the gap between his present ability and future projection is so wide, he's certain to be a divisive prospect on draft day, but enough teams should be interested that he'll get plenty of buzz.

Rosario's prime asset is a mid 90's fastball that can scrape the upper 90's fairly consistently. Though he's on the smaller side at 6'1" and pretty skinny at that, his delivery and arm action are loose, allowing him to sit comfortably around 94-95 without overthrowing. However, the rest of his game needs considerable refinement. The fastball itself is pretty straight, something that tends to come into play against more advanced competition. As for offspeed pitches, he throws a slider and a splitter, with both looking good at times but often running into each other. The splitter is probably the better pitch, coming in with downward bite and looking like one of the better changeups in the high school class when it's at its best. He needs to work on differentiating that slider away from the splitter, with his overall feel for spinning the ball in need of significant refinement.

Rosario throws strikes and has decent enough control, but his command (ability to hit spots) does need some work as well. Between his size, lack of refined offspeed pitches, and raw command, there is significant bullpen risk here, but his velocity, the looseness in his delivery, and competitive nature do give him a lot to work with. Teams willing to put the time in to work with Rosario could benefit greatly. The Miami Hurricanes would also love to get their hands on arguably their top recruit (though Victor Mederos has a strong case as well), and in a draft class where teams are valuing safety and track record, signability could come into play if he starts to slip. If he can learn to manipulate his offspeed pitches a little better and make similar, even incremental strides with his command, he could dominate the ACC and become a first round pick in 2023.

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