Baseball Prospectus | | Eyewitness Scouting Report


	Michael Lorenzen Born: 01/04/1992 (Age: 22)
	Bats: Right	Throws: Right
	Height: 6' 3"	Weight: 217

Tall, lanky frame; extremely athletic; long limbs; shoulder are fairly narrow; likely to remain lanky/slight of frame; slow-paced tall-and-fall delivery with little momentum throughout; arm action is long; plunges it deep on the backside and pauses arm swing for a split second behind hip; arm isn't exactly free and easy, but the speed of the arm once it gets going is insane; releases from a three-quarters slot; tucks glove into armpit; doesn't get much from lower half; long stride; lands on a fairly stiff front leg without much extension out front; shows a tendency to spin off to first base; 1.3 seconds to the plate from the stretch. The delivery isn't ideal, and despite a few red flags, Lorenzen looks like he's playing catch at 95 miles per hour, which is to say that his mechanics aren't of the max-effort variety. The pure arm strength is ridiculous.

Evaluator	Ethan Purser
Report Date	06/28/2014
Affiliate	Pensacola Blue Wahoos (AA, Reds)
Dates Seen	6/26/2014
OFP	60
MLB ETA	2015
Video	No

Pitch Type	Future Grade	Sitting Velocity	Peak Velocity	Report
Fastball	65	92-94	96	Velocity: plus, bordering on plus-plus; held velocity throughout start. Command: fringe-average; shows the ability to pound the lower quadrants of the zone and attack hitters with the pitch but will often overthrow and leave it high/arm side; started two-seamer on the black to get weak groundouts early in counts; went with four-seamer above hands later in counts to get whiffs; average command projection. Movement: above-average; late arm-side run with the two-seamer; generates good downhill plane with pitch, making it difficult to barrel. Comments: Lorenzen throws easy gas and can touch velocities in the plus-plus range. The command was fringy in this start, struggling to get ahead of hitters and lapsing into overthrowing, but he did show the ability to generate weak contact and get out of at-bats early in addition to his bat-missing stuff. With his relatively fresh arm and athleticism, Lorenzen's command profile with this pitch could tick up to average, giving the pitch a chance to be a 65-grade offering.
Slider	60	82-84	85	Command: fringe-average; struggled to consistently put the pitch where he wanted; left it high/arm side and choked it in the dirt more than once; could break the pitch off in non-traditional counts in order to generate weak contact. Movement: plus; short lateral break with some tilt and bat-missing depth; at its best, pitch resembles fastball out of his hand and shows late glove-side dive. Comments: This is a plus pitch at the highest level with the ability to both miss bats out of the zone and get weak contact within the zone. At present, the pitch is inconsistent, showing plus-or-better break at times while busting off cement mixers in the zone at others. Further development will likely allow the pitch to play at plus consistently.
Changeup	60	83-85	86	Command: fringe-average; hung the pitch over the heart of the plate and pounded pitch in dirt on occasion; showed major confidence in the pitch against both lefties and righties, generating whiffs from both sides of the plate; got hitters out in front of the pitch in fastball counts, causing them to roll over the pitch weakly. Movement: plus arm-side fade and sink; fell under both righty and lefty bats when thrown effectively. Comments: This pitch was surprisingly effective. His confidence in the pitch was a revelation, as was its ability to make hitters look foolish. Plus future pitch at the major-league level.
Curveball	45	77		Threw only one curveball in this outing; show-me pitch at the major-league level, but a good pitch to change sight lines with 12/6 break.

Previously billed as a bullpen candidate due to the lack of a playable changeup and a funky delivery, Lorenzen has made huge strides across the board this season, and after this start, I believe in Lorenzen as a starting pitcher going forward. He showed a rounded four-pitch arsenal, three of which could be used as swing-and-miss/weak-contact offerings at the highest level. The command profile will never be above-average, and despite some mechanical red flags, Lorenzen has top-of-the-charts athleticism and should be able to repeat his delivery in a manner that would be conducive to average command. The stuff is electric and he will likely tease with more, but Lorenzen should settle in as a solid mid-rotation starter, a huge developmental win for the Reds.