LHP Burl Carraway, Dallas Baptist
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 5/27/1999.
2020 Stats: 2-0, 0.96 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 17/6 K/BB in 9.1 IP.
Burl Carraway's rise to stardom has been pretty abrupt. He was lightly recruited out of high school in College Station, just down the road from Texas A&M, and got blown up in his only two appearances as a freshman. But he came back a completely different pitcher in 2019 and put up a 2.81 ERA and a 72/22 strikeout to walk ratio across 41.2 innings, setting himself up to be one of the top relievers in the class come 2020. He's only helped his case this year, allowing one earned run in 9.1 innings while striking out 17 of the 37 batters he's faced. Carraway has a little bit of competition from Virginia's Andrew Abbott, UCLA's Holden Powell, and Vanderbilt's Tyler Brown, but for the most part, he's considered the top relief pitcher in the 2020 draft.
On the smaller side at six feet tall, Carraway has one of the more recognizable deliveries in college baseball, quickly rocking back then exploding forward with everything he has. That makes him a clear reliever, but it also makes his pitches play up. His fastball sits consistently in the mid 90's while regularly touching the upper 90's, and its riding action makes it just as hard to square up as it is to catch up to. He also adds a power curveball that's one of the best in the class, coming in with serious biting action and a little bit of lateral movement in addition to its hard vertical drop. He doesn't really use a changeup, and as a college reliever who will do the same job in the pros, he doesn't necessarily need one.
On the downside, Carraway doesn't have much of a track record of spotting his pitches. He's walked 31 in 51.1 innings during his career at Dallas Baptist, a number that would likely be higher if hitters weren't constantly chasing his explosive stuff. The command problems likely stem from his uptempo delivery, but the good news is that they're not so serious that it takes away from the overall product. The track record of college relievers also isn't great. Tyler Jay (6th overall, 2015), Zack Burdi (26th, 2016), and Durbin Feltman (100th, 2018) have largely disappointed so far, while Ben Bowden (45th, 2016) hasn't made it to the majors yet but seems like the only early-round draft pick of the last few seasons to maintain his prospect stock in pro ball. And it makes sense that the track record would be spotty, because starting pitchers often see a big uptick in their stuff when converting to relief and most of these relievers have already seen that uptick before they even get to pro ball – they are who they are.
Because the track record of college relievers is so spotty, many teams might shy away from taking Carraway with an early pick. But despite the command questions, he has a lot going for him. His fastball/curveball combination is among the best in college baseball, two easy plus pitches from the left side that he can use to put away hitters at will. He's also an elite competitor that will go right after hitters, giving him plenty of intangibles that will undoubtedly help him as he climbs the ladder. The ceiling is that of a big league closer, though if he doesn't iron out his command a little bit, there's a good chance he ends up as a seventh or eighth inning guy. Because he could be a very quick mover through the minors, he has a good shot at going earlier in the draft, perhaps somewhere in the second round.
Pitching for Team USA over the summer
Various games from 2019 and 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment