Atlanta Braves Scouting Report on RHP Matt Custred

Scouting Report

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Size/Delivery

Custred is listed at 6’6 and 240 pounds, so he’s a very intimidating presence on the mound. That said, he’s not got much of any bad weight on him, so he certainly doesn’t look 240, but you can see by his cut that he’s well-developed.

Custred, like most relievers, sticks to throwing exclusively from the stretch. He throws from the third base side of the rubber. After a quick knee lift, he tucks his shoulder hard and opens his lead leg toward the first base side as he strides toward the plate.

He comes out of a high 3/4 arm slot that seems higher as Custred is moving his body toward first base as the ball is released. He does use a lot of body energy toward the first base side, leaving him out of position to field at the end of his throws, and I did catch two times that hitters bunted toward the third base side, and it was an easy single.

Custred’s drastic move toward the first base side from the third base side of the rubber often leaves him placing his lead foot down in multiple places throughout the course of a game when he’s struggling, and this leaves him to really exposing his arm for a long time to the hitter.

When he’s going well, Custred’s delivery allows him to hide his high arm slot until nearly the last moment before the ball is about to be released, making it near impossible for a hitter to pick up.

Pitches

Custred’s a two-pitch pitcher. His primary pitch is his heavy fastball. While he gets four-seam spin on the pitch, he uses it more like a two-seam pitch, and I cannot find a confirmation of which grip he does use. His height does give him a good plane on the pitch when he’s got good mechanics going, regardless of the grip.

The gun readings in A-ball broadcasts are always a bit wary. From the games I saw, Custred was sitting 92-95 with the fastball, touching 97. I saw a range all the way from 91-99 on him in games I saw, but there are some stadiums that are known to have “juiced” guns, so those I tend not to trust for peak velocities.

Custred is most effective with the fastball when he can locate it from the mid-thigh to the bottom of the knee cap. When he has the ball up higher, he tends to get hit hard as the ball does not have a ton of natural movement to it.

Custred’s primary second pitch is a 12-6 curve. He throws the pitch with a good amount of loop that is natural from his high arm slot. When he’s in his mechanics well, the curve is a dynamic strikeout pitch that hitters simply can’t do anything with.

The curve struggles mightily when he struggles in his mechanics, and I’ve noted that he really struggles to work the sides of the plate with the curve when he is not in the right spot mechanically. When he’s on, the strong 12-6 break can be spotted across the plate, which makes the pitch even more effective.

Video

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