Atlanta Braves Top 100 Prospects: #86 Sean McLaughlin

Scouting Report

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It was difficult due to limited games on video to get a good look at “bad” games for McLaughlin (though he did have a very solid season altogether), but in viewing his games, I watched 4 games, one of them a start as part of a double-header. In those four games, he pitched 12 2/3 innings, allowing only one earned run, leaving him with a 0.71 ERA and 0.95 WHIP along with a 2/17 BB/K ratio.

B-Ref lists McLaughlin at 5’11 and 175 pounds. He might be a shade heavier than that, but the height is certainly accurate, as he’s fairly short, but unlike Kyle Kinman, featured last week, Sean has a more stocky build in his shorter frame. Sean pitches exclusively from the stretch (which made his start in the double-header fun to watch – I always enjoy the effect of a starter going from the stretch right away as a visual thing). He brings his knee toward his chest, then rather than pushing out and forward with his leg, he brings his leg down to about shin height and then forward, which gives a different look to the batter, never knowing exactly when he might land and launch the pitch. McLaughlin operates from a “3/8” arm slot between a 3/4 and a sidearm slot, but he has good hand control, getting his hand over the ball as he throws from this angle.

McLaughlin operates with a two-pitch mix. His fastball sits from 92-94 and reaches 96 while his curve ball sits 77-80 and touches 82. I’d seen reports of mid-80s on the curve, but I didn’t see any velocity like that, and he did an interview with Bill Shanks of scout.com, and cited the 82 himself. The fastball from belt down has some good movement on it, with some arm side fade, making it especially effective on lefty hitters. Above the belt, however, it is quite straight, and it can get driven fairly well if he leaves it up in the zone. The curve is not a big looping curve, but more of a hard curve that has sharp break. I found the curve to be most effective when he could spot it on either side of the plate around waist high, where it’d break and end up about mid-thigh, so not huge vertical depth, where hitters would consistently swing over the ball, thinking they were getting a meatball waist-high pitch to drive until it broke hard on them. So, while the vertical depth on the curve isn’t steep, it does have sharp, quick movement that leaves hitters swinging through it.

Next: 2016 outlook

The biggest issue in McLaughlin’s motion is his low lead leg. He seems to struggle to land it in the same place each time, and that can lead to struggles with command, especially of the fastball. In general, McLaughlin is not exceptional with his command, though he has very good control, meaning he keeps the ball in the zone very well, but he does struggle to consistently hit the exact target, even when he’s got his landing spot on point. Refining that command would allow him to really mess with hitters as a few times, his curve drifted over the middle of the plate in spite of a catcher target on the corner of the plate, and the hitter was able to put good wood onto the pitch.

2016 Outlook

McLaughlin may have been a 19th round selection, but his pitching showed a guy who could contribute very quickly to the upper levels in a bullpen role. His ability to command his pitches and/or add a third pitch could be the key to his future in the organization.

Next: Braves Top 100 Prospects Updated

McLaughlin will most likely start with Carolina this season, and it will be interesting to see how he is used. He threw mostly multi-inning appearances, facing more than one inning of hitters in 15 of his 20 appearances. He did have considerably more success against right handed hitters (.602 OPSA and 3/21 BB/K vs. righties, .710 OPSA and 10/23 BB/K vs. lefties in nearly equal PA), but there doesn’t seem to be an obvious reason for that as his pitches certainly worked well to both sides of the plate in the games I watched, so a larger sample size very well could balance that number. Otherwise, we may see McLaughlin used in more ROOGY roles for his effectiveness against right handed hitters.

By the way, the picture theme really had nothing to do with Sean McLaughlin. I just found the first two elderly first pitch pictures and thought they were worth using!