Atlanta Braves Newcomer Review: Sean Newcomb

Oct 16, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a glove and baseball during batting practice prior to game one of the ALCS between the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Sean Newcomb Scouting Report

More from Tomahawk Take

• Atlanta Braves 2012 Prospect Review: Joey Terdoslavich
• Braves News: Braves sign Fuentes, Andruw’s HOF candidacy, more
• The Weakest Braves Homers Since 2015
• Atlanta Braves Sign Joshua Fuentes to Minor League Deal
• Braves News: New Year’s Eve comes with several questions about the 2023 Braves

I went back on milb.tv and reviewed three starts of Newcomb’s at each Arkansas and Inland Empire to try to get a good view of him. To give an idea of the starts I saw, the combined stat line for those six starts was the following: 2-2, 31 2/3 IP, 2.56 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 17/39 BB/K.

The first thing you quickly notice about Newcomb on the mound is his presence. While he may have a “baby face”, he’s definitely no baby in stature. He looks all of 245 pounds and 6’5″ on the mound, and he doesn’t show any of that weight to be “bad” weight. As you watch him warm up, you are astounded to see the radar readings as he pops 95+ with effort that looks like a game of catch in the back yard. It’s pretty easy to see why folks gush over the eye appeal of Newcomb.

I happened to catch Newcomb’s last three starts at both high-A and at AA. His last two starts at AA showed a pitcher ready to be done for the season, and the fact that he wasn’t part of the Arizona Fall League is likely in part due to the jump in innings this year and wanting to protect his arm, noted by Sickels previously to have low wear and tear, but also likely needing to slowly be built up as well.

Newcomb’s delivery is led with his legs. He gets easy 95-97 on his fastball at the top end, sitting more in the 92-95 range, but able to grab a 97 even in the 7th inning of one game I was watching. He truly has what you’d call “injury-perfect” mechanics (I know, I know, knock on wood) as his delivery is predicated on leg and trunk movement, and if you have witnessed the size of this man’s feet/legs/trunk, you’d know there’s significant torque to be built in that lower half.

At the end of the delivery, Newcomb adds a touch to make life just a bit harder on hitters (as if a 97 MPH fastball wasn’t difficult enough already). He uses his big, thick legs to take a sizable stride toward the plate, and with his 6’5 frame and long limbs, he’s releasing the ball significantly closer to the plate than most pitchers. He’s also got significant power in his trunk and legs, and when he snaps those at the finish of a pitch, it leads to some wicked movement. In the first four starts, his fastball had arm side sink when thrown low in the zone and opposite side “rise” when thrown up in the zone, making it a nearly untouchable pitch.

Coming into 2015, Newcomb had a change up that was being called “plus” and even “plus plus” by evaluators, but in my viewings, I’d say it was above average, but it certainly wasn’t the swing and miss pitch that a well-located fastball and that his slider was. He also offers a curveball that he mostly throws as a “show me” pitch to adjust hitters’ views. The mix is certainly deadly when he’s on.

When he’s off, though, the catcher is the one who’s in for the rough experience. Newcomb’s delivery was so leg-driven that it appeared that sometimes, he went through the motions with his arm and didn’t focus on release point, leading me to see him release his fastball from a general 3/4 slot, but more like a range of 5/8 to 7/8. He also sometimes would “drag” his arm through the motion, leading to his body opening up before his arm had come through. From the starts I saw, that drag only happened on his change up, and I did hear after the trade that one of the reasons why the change up had possibly taken a step back this year was a “tell” in the delivery of the pitch. If that drag is the tell, it’d be an easy fix.

Next: 2016 outlook

Nov 3, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA;A large mockup of the championship trophy on stage during the celebration at Union Station. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Sean Newcomb 2016 Outlook

Some initially discussed Newcomb as a possible candidate to open 2016 in the Atlanta rotation, but barring some major trades (and let’s be honest, would that really surprise anyone at this point?!), there’s simply too many guys ahead of him in the pecking order at this point. In fact, Newcomb might actually be behind his fellow new acquiree Chris Ellis as Newcomb only has 36 AA innings under his belt while Ellis has 78 AA innings.

If I had my druthers, Newcomb would start the season in AA Mississippi for the Braves this season. He had a solid strikeout rate and ERA in the Texas League last season, but the walk rate in AA was very concerning, and it’d be a good thing to try to iron that out while guys like Manny Banuelos, Mike Foltynewicz, and Tyrell Jenkins work to establish their futures with the team in Gwinnett and Atlanta.

As far as his development, I really think the biggest thing I can see is simply just attention to detail. In those last three starts at AA for Newcomb was a start against the Tulsa Drillers. On the mound for the Drillers was one of the few left-handed pitching prospects who is likely to be rated ahead of Newcomb on those top 100 lists when they come out this offseason, Julio Urias of the Dodgers organization. Newcomb stepped up his game for the big pitching duel, and he left the game after 7 no-hit innings having walked one and struck out 6 on only 64 pitches. In all seriousness, I watched the start twice, and I did not see a single delivery that was off in its timing or an arm slot off by more than mere millimeters. He was purely untouchable, and if he can simply find that consistently, he has the ability to become an absolute star for the Braves, hopefully someday bringing home one of those trophies at the top of the page to Atlanta!

Next: Home Run King Retires