Prospect Buzz: Stuff on the rise



It’s about a week into the minor league season and there are some minor league pitchers who appear to have taken a step forward. Sean Hermann, Brock Selvidge, and Luis Velasquez all started their season at Low-A this year, and their stuff appears to have taken a step forward.

 First up, Sean Hermann

In Sean Hermann's start on 4/8/24 he threw 6 innings and let up no earned runs. He let up three hits, no walks, and struck out four. His sinker averaged 91.4 mph and topped out at 94. It had 24 inches of vertical break and 18 inches of horizontal movement. His cutter averaged 89.5 mph and topped out at 90.4, with 27 inches of vertical break and six inches of horizontal movement. The changeup averaged 87.6, peaking at 88.3. It showed 30 inches of vertical break and 16 inches horizontal. Lastly, his slider sat at 84.7 mph, peaked at 86.1, and had 36 inches of vertical break. Most importantly, Hermann controlled all of his pitches well and navigated the lineup while allowing just three hits, no walks, and no runs. Great start to the season for Sean.

Next up is Brock Selvidge's start on 4/7/23. Selvidge threw 5.0 innings, letting up four earned runs and seven hits while striking out six and walking one. While the numbers weren’t great, the stuff looked pretty good. His four-seam fastball averaged 91.6 mph while topping out at 93.6 with 20 inches of break and five inches horizontal movement. The changeup sat 85.6 and peaked at 87.2 with 29 inches of break, and nine inches horizontal movement. His sinker sat around 91.5, topped out at 91.9 with 20 inches of break and 11 inches horizontally. Lastly, the slider had an 85-mph average and an 88 mph peak with 36 inches of break and six inches horizontal movement.

Luis Velasquez had a nice 2.0 inning outing in relief with 3 K : 0 BB and 0 ER. Most impressively, his four-seam fastball sat 96.1-mph and touched 97.1. His sinker sat 95.9-mph and touched 96.5. Lastly, his slider sat 85 mph and had 42 inches of vertical break with 6-12 inches of horizontal movement. He sports the highest velocity on the Tarpons at the moment. If the success continues expect him to move to High-A shortly.

The season is young, but some players are already improving their stock by showing up to camp with an uptick in their stuff. These men came ready and are hoping to improve even more throughout the season. It’s too early to make any hasty judgements, but there’s no better way to start the season than on the right foot.

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