As the Houston Astros pick up the pieces from the January 13 sanction explosion in the wake of the 2017 sign-stealing scandal, mission control proceeds apace.

Houston’s scouts continue to prepare for the 2020 First Year Player Draft in June, trying to zero in on a player that may fall to them for the 72nd overall selection, as MLB saw fit to take away the team’s first two draft picks.

Big-Armed Outfielder Turned Reliever

MLB.com, in their updated top 100 2020 draft prospects, lists left-hander Burl Carraway at #72, Houston’s slot in the June draft. Carraway was born in 1999 and was raised in College Station, in the shadow of Texas A&M University. In fact, his father (also Burl) is the COO of the Texas A&M Forest Service Division.

Burl the younger attended A&M Consolidated High School and doubled as both an outfielder and reliever, and even played football as a barely six-foot, 160-pounder.

A three-year letterman for the baseball Tigers, he was a three-time All-District selection while at “Consol.” Selected as the District’s Pitcher of the Year in his 2016 junior year, he also pulled in Class 5A All-State Honorable Mention honors as a relief pitcher at season’s end.

Answering the Patriots’ Call

Carraway began attending Dallas Baptist University in 2017. DBU is the alma mater of 2004 Astros’ draft pick shortstop Ben Zobrist, now a free agent but a Chicago Cubs infielder since 2016.

The Patriots first noticed prep center fielder Carraway as a senior who threw in the mid-80s. Consequently, he wasn’t a high-priority recruit and didn’t attract much draft interest from MLB teams upon his graduation from A&M Consolidated.

He only made two appearances out of the DBU bullpen in his 2018 freshman season while yielding a potential soul-crushing three walks and four earned runs, retiring just one of the seven batters he faced. But, his velocity was starting to inch upward, so that gave hope to Carraway and his coaches moving forward.

Summer Born Pitchers…

With a plan to make up for missed innings pitched, Carraway sought various summer opportunities for experience. In 2018, he pitched for the High Point-Thomasville HiToms of the Coastal Plain League, a collegiate summer baseball league based in Thomasville, North Carolina.

In 12 relief appearances, Carraway accumulated 25.1 innings, while gaining consistent trust from HiToms’ manager Brian Rountree. After an early August 16-0 blowout of an opponent, where Carraway closed out the last three innings, Rountree told the High Point Enterprise, “I’m proud of Carraway. [He] got two runners on at the very end and couldn’t do anything with them. So, that was huge there, too.”

Carraway had come on strong to preserve the shutout by striking out the final two batters with runners on second and third.

For the summer, Carraway worked to a 3.20 ERA, striking out 45 and walking only two.

…Some Are Back at School

Hope gave way to promise realized in the southpaw’s 2019 sophomore campaign, as the business major improved measurably. Carraway held opponents to a .195 BAA and averaged 15.7 strikeouts per nine innings as the Pats’ closer, ranking second-best in school history.

Carraway earned First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors after his 4-2 record and 2.81 ERA effort while logging six saves. He was third in the MVC in appearances with 28 while striking out 72 batters and walking 22 in 41.2 innings. He gave up only one home run.

A couple of career benchmarks made for season highlights for Carraway: He shut out #25 Oklahoma Sooners in his two innings of work, earning his first career win, whiffing four. He also recorded his first career save, holding then-ranked #18 Texas A&M scoreless in the ninth, while striking out a pair of Aggies and coaxing a groundout.

Gaining another coach as fan, DBU coach Dan Heefner told the Bryan-College Station Eagle, recalling the A&M game, “That was the ballgame right there. Super job by [reliever] Kragen [Kechely], and Burl was outstanding again at the end.”

For the season, Carraway made Missouri Valley Conference First-Team Scholar-Athlete.

Once again making good use of his mid-year time, Carraway became the first player in DBU history to make the US Collegiate National Team in the summer of 2019.

Carraway enjoyed five scoreless outings for that USA Baseball Team, as his stature had grown to a solid six-foot, 173 pounds. He threw 4.1 innings while giving up just three hits, striking out seven.

Just a week into 2020, Carraway was named a Third Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game. He’s one of just six relief pitchers to be featured on this year’s Perfect Game Preseason Team.

The Scouts Weigh In: “High Spin Rates”

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 60 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45

MLB.com has Carraway pegged as “the favorite to be the first reliever drafted in 2020 [as well as the first 2020 draftee to make his MLB debut]. Carraway has a pair of plus pitches in his fastball and curveball.

“His heater sits at 93-96 mph and touches 98 with riding action, while his downer curve usually parks in the upper 80s. His pitches play up because they have high spin rates and he gets good extension in his delivery, and both can grade as well above average when at their best.”

Carraway certainly lacks the physicality to be anything other than a short-stint reliever, especially given his college experience as a closer. While his delivery features a lot of effort from a high three-quarter point, his small body allows for a quick release after coming set from his stretch.

In fact, in contrast to Houston’s rising rotation prospect Forrest Whitley, whose 6’7″ frame needs time to completely uncoil from being set, the much smaller Carraway springs toward the plate with a rapid recoil from his set position, showing the batter a disquieting look of the rapid-fire flailing of elbows and knees.

An Emerging “Burly the Kid”?

If the Astros have Carraway in their sights at the 72nd position, it might be impossible for a smallish lefty closer, dressed out in an Astros uniform, to remind fans of anyone but the team’s longtime (and arguably franchise-best) closer, Billy “The Kid” Wagner (1995-2003).

Related: Billy Wagner Returns Home to Coach

Close to Carraway in stature during his playing days (5’10”, 180 lbs), the seven-time All-Star produced much of his power for his 100 mph heater from his trunk-like thighs, with a push-off rivaling swimmer Michael Phelps’ poolside turnaround.

Time will tell, of course, if Carraway is able to develop the talent and effectiveness that propelled Wagner’s career to nearly 1,200 strikeouts and 422 saves.

But, if the 21-year-old (by draft day) can continue to work on his control while constructing a workout routine focusing on his thighs, there may come a day when Astros fans see Burl hurl Carraway seeds past hapless hitters.