Texas Rangers scouting report on RHP Hans Crouse

Size/Delivery/Control

Size/Build – Crouse is certainly lanky. He stands 6’4″-6’5″ depending on who you believe, and he’s a whole lot of arms and legs in his build. He is very lean throughout his frame, but he does have the shoulders to put on some good weight.

Delivery – To say that Crouse’s delivery is unconventional is putting it lightly, but in the end, he is consistent. He works from the first base side of the rubber and takes just a slight step back with his long legs.

From there, things are never the same twice, it seems. At times, Crouse will go straight up with a knee raise up just under his letters before taking a big kick toward home plate. That’s the most simple delivery and conventional delivery he utilizes. He will add in a bit of a twist at the waist where he shows the back of his jersey to the hitter at his most extreme, and he adds in multiple variations of how far he turns at the waist in between those two.

From the stretch, Crouse also gives hitters multiple looks. At times, he’ll go with a bit of a slide step, others he’ll have the same letter-high knee lift, and other times he has a hesitated slide step where he seems to be putting his foot down and then reaches forward for another bit with his foot before truly landing.

He does have a high 3/4 to nearly over-top finish with his arm slot that he is very consistent with out of any of the deliveries.

Control (50) – With his fastball, Crouse is probably a 55-60 control guy, but he is still building that level of control with his other pitches. The crazy thing is that I would have probably put a 50 on the fastball control and a 40-45 overall coming out of high school.

Crouse has already shown as a pro a very good ability to learn control and how to better locate with his stuff as his fastball took big leaps forward in 2018 in both control and command while the slider and change made more moderate leaps as he focused more on getting both to land consistently in the zone.

Pitches

Fastball (70) – Crouse sits 94-97 nearly all game with the ability to touch triple digits with his fastball. His height and high arm angle generate excellent plane on the ball, and when hitters do get ahold of the pitch low in the zone, it’s often pounded into the ground. He can generate high spin rates up in the zone, leading to plenty of swing and miss on the pitch.

His location on the pitch took a big step forward in 2018, and he was able to spot to both sides of the plate both up and down in the zone.

Change Up (45) – Crouse’s change has natural sink to it, but he rarely used the pitch in high school and even in his first run in the pros, so he’s still working on the pitch’s feel in hand. If you’ve had a chance to see Crouse’s big hands, you would possibly have the same idea that I do that a split-change could be a very interesting pitch for him, especially from his high arm angle.

Slider (55) – Crouse’s slider is already an above-average pitch, flashing plus, and he’s beginning to show the ability to “tinker” with the pitch, at times throwing his typical wipeout pitch that seems to head for the back ankle of the left-handed hitter while at other times showing a sharp, short break.

He has been able to show excellent control on the pitch with right-handed hitters in the box, but he seemed to struggle with lefties at the plate. That is likely his next step.