2019 MLB Season: Finding the Next Ryan Pressly
By Ryan Sanders
Others to Watch: Pierce Johnson, Ryan Cook, Chris Stratton
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If you are still on Tokyo time from watching Oakland and Seattle, both of these former relievers are worth watching. Both Pierce Johnson and Ryan Cook posses top 12 curve-balls by spin rate.
Their fastball spin rates lagged behind their breakers, but Miles Mikolas has proven you can go overseas, figure out pitching, then come back, dominate, and get paid.
Chris Stratton also features a high spin arsenal but has been pitching as a back end starter for the San Francisco Giants. If a team acquired him and turned him to relief, he could go from middling starter to multi-inning weapon.
This analysis of possible reliever targets may have come too early, but these are guys you should be watching early in the 2019 MLB season if they stay healthy and continue to perform. Elite relievers often come out of nowhere and so many of them are one tweak away.
dark. Next. Judge Should get an extension sooner, rather than later
The Astros did this with Ryan Pressly and will likely try to identify another guy like him at the before the 2019 MLB season trade deadline. Teams will be watching and if any of these guys breakout or continue to display their tantalizing arsenals, they will likely be pitching for (or against) your team this October.