A storm of top pitching prospects blew through the greater New England area over the last week and yours truly put aside all of my “adult” responsibilities and headed out to the parks to uncover the best live looks I could manage.

May 18, 2019

Patrick Weigel, RHP (Atlanta Braves)

Big body at 6’6” 245 lbs, broad shouldered, large, but well maintained frame. Longer arm action, but arm is quick and whippy. Hides the ball well before delivering from a higher three-quarters arm slot. Uses closed off front hip, tight leg lift, slight bend in back leg, and lower backside to drive from his lower half while keeping his long limbs in sync.

There is certainly some effort in the delivery, and at times his release can be somewhat violent. Returned late in 2018 from a June 2017 Tommy John Surgery, prior to that he was one of the biggest risers in the Atlanta system. He only went four innings but the velocity and stuff were back. He sat 92-96 mph on his four-seam fastball, with spin rates in the 2372 - 2495 range. He showed good command of the pitch landing it high and low in the zone, and effectively to the glove-side and arm-side. The pitch is relatively straight but shows some rise high in the zone.

Weigel mixes three secondaries: a slider, curveball, and changeup. The best of the bunch is his slider, a tight breaking pitch with glove-side sweep. He sits 84-85 with the pitch with spin rates in the 2850-2900 range. Did not get any swinging strikes on the pitch in my look, but stole a few strikes on the outer corner to right hand batters, kept hitters off balance working off his fastball, getting lots early swings from hitters on top of the pitch, leading to grounders down the third baseline. His changeup was used effectively versus left handers used inside in tandem with his fastball, the pitch didn’t have a ton of movement and the spin rates backed that up coming in between 1200-1300 rpms. He broke out his curve ball versus two left-handed hitters in Brock Holt and Josh Ockimey. Versus Holt, he threw two in his second plate appearance versus the MLB vet, stealing a strike on the outer half in a 0-1 count. The pitch had nice 12-6 break, the movement was backed up by the spin rates in the 2600-2700 range. Weigel spotted it well in its limited use, while velocity sat in the high 70s, between 76-78.