After Friday morning’s look at some of the top hitters as it pertains to data — specifically exit velocities — at our New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series National Combine, it’s time to take a look at some of the arms we had there.
There was no shortage of good ones, either, as you’ll see below as the leaders in some key metrics we were able to capture.
TOP FASTBALL VELOCITY: Casen Reedy (pictured), RHP — 96.1 MPH
A recent commit to Texas A&M, Reedy got the start for the Gray team on the final day of the event at San Jacinto College on July 11 and was dominant in one of his return outings from Tommy John surgery. Reedy led the way in essentially every fastball metric; he used the fastball on 64 percent of his total pitches and generated an average spin rate of 2588 on it, averaging 93.7 MPH with the pitch while also mixing in a sinker and curveball that averaged just under 85 MPH.
BEST WHIFF RATE: Boston Brown, RHP — 30% swing and miss
Brown is an Auburn commit who showed why he’s headed to a big SEC school during his outing at our National Combine; he pitched for the Red squad at the University of Houston on a very premium arm-heavy second day. The six-foot-four, 205-pound righty flashed a five-pitch mix over the course of his outing, emptying the entire arsenal with a fastball, sinker, slider, curve and change that generated a whopping 30 percent whiff rate at the event.
BEST STRIKE PERCENTAGE: Stephen Ozuna, RHP — 67% strike rate
Ozuna is a two-way standout out of Spring Branch, Texas who is currently uncommitted. Of all the “big-name” arms in attendance, it was Ozuna who overshadowed them all when it came to the most fundamental thing of all; simply throwing strikes, ahead of guys like Reedy and Jamie Chipman, who were just behind with 59% strike rates. Is it flashy? Not particularly, as he relied mostly on a fastball that touched 87 MPH with a few sinkers and curveballs mixed in over his outing. Is it effective? Yes. That, some upside to add to what’s already strong feel to pitch and his two-way prowess earned him an invite to this year’s Main Event.
HIGHEST AVERAGE SLIDER AND CURVEBALL SPIN: Diego Luna, RHP — 2524 RPM (slider; MLB average 2090), 2689 RPM (curveball; MLB average 2,308)
Luna is a relatively under the radar prospect in the 2027 class, but impressed on the mound in his outing for the Blue squad at the University of Houston; his fastball touched 89 MPH, and he generated the highest average spin rate with both his slider as the only arm to spin it over 2500 RPM at the event and curveball, as one of four arms to cross the 2500 RPM threshold, joined by Reedy, Ryder Renfro and Jackson Wood.
HIGHEST AVERAGE CHANGEUP SPIN: Cole Volion, RHP — 2285 RPM (MLB average: 1,746 RPM)
If there was a pitcher who visibly showed significant feel and reliance on spin in Houston, it was Volion, who led the way in average changeup spin rate with a 2285 RPM metric, just edging out Jack Fetters. He threw just 61 percent fastballs during an at-times electric outing, including throwing a handful of changeups that crossed the plate at in the mid 80’s to supplement a heater that touched 89 and a slider that crossed the 2400 RPM spin rate threshold.
|| MLB average spin rates sourced from this story ||
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Since 2003, he has six World Series and has worked high-profile events ranging from the MLB All-Star Game to the World Baseball Classic. In addition to his role working for the Future Stars Series that he's held since 2017, Ashmore currently serves as the beat writer of the Double-A New York Yankees affiliate, the Somerset Patriots, as well as national hockey writer and New York Jets game day beat reporter for The Trentonian.
A regular contributor to Baseball America, Ashmore has worked eight Super Bowls, 13 Stanley Cup Finals, the 4 Nations Face-Off, the NBA Playoffs, the NCAA D1 Men's Basketball Tournament, College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Frozen Four, Daytona 500, major UFC events and much more as he approaches 3,300 games covered in his career.
An avid trading card enthusiast and motorsports fan, he lives with his wife, Sarah, their son, future No. 1 overall draft pick in 2042, William, their beloved dog, Bailey, and occasionally well-behaved cat, Smokey.
