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Branden Kline
Born: 09/29/1991 (Age: 22) |
| Bats: Right |
Throws: Right |
| Height: 6' 3" |
Weight: 210 |
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| Athletic frame; chiseled body; probably maxed; high 3/4th arm slot; nearly over the top; excellent arm speed; slight stab; generates good drive; excellent extension; keeps body tall and compact; mechanics look weird but are fluid and seem to work for him; delivery is methodical and he needs to repeat everything for his arsenal to work; delivery times 1.41 - 1.56. |
| Tucker Blair |
| 08/08/2014 |
| Frederick Keys (High A, Orioles) |
| 8/7/2014 |
| 55 |
| 2016 |
| No |
| FB |
60 |
89-94 |
95 |
Explosive pitch; ability to extend and push pitch off good downward plane allows him to maximize the velocity; minimal horizontal movement; very straight at times but not flat; velocity fluctuates too much; not a stamina issue as he was pumping in the 94-95 velo band during the 5th inning; mostly sat in 92-93 velo band; lack of movement will likely hold back from being a true plus pitch; currently average command; move to bullpen would easily play up the FB and Kline can gas the pitch when necessary without losing any of the plane and explosion. |
| 2S |
50 |
87-88 |
89 |
Threw only a handful; decent arm-side run with some boring action; average pitch that is a good change-of-pace from his 4S and has enough movement to differentiate from his other offerings; likely phased out of his arsenal the further he moves up the system. |
| SL |
50 |
81-83 |
83 |
Sweeping pitch; spin can be tight at times; not a ton of tilt; average command; ability to sweep for strike on outside corner; sometimes will grip too hard and drag arm into ground; looks odd out of high 3/4th arm slot and takes away some of the horizontal opportunity. |
| CH |
50 |
80-83 |
84 |
CH has improved some since beginning of the season; slight parachute action; mild arm-side run; ball moves well out of hand; slightly too firm at times; pounds low and away against LHH; not afraid to throw against RHH but loses some of the deception; works well with his fastball but not a true difference maker; average command. |
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Kline has an explosive FB but lacks extreme movement on any of his arsenal. He has a methodical delivery that might turn off some due to the quirkiness of it. The high 3/4th to a long extension and drive looks odd, but it works for Kline and he has become much more consistent with his delivery since last season.
I like Kline's role as a reliever more than a starter, although I think he is one that you keep as a starter for as long as possible. The stuff is going to play out of the bullpen for certain, but keeping him in the rotation will allow refinement of his CH and SL. He's a low risk bullpen option, but as a starter he has more risk simply to the fact he will need to work on retaining velocity consistently throughout a game and refining the command and crispness of his arsenal. In the bullpen, Kline's FB/CH/SL combo will play up.
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