Focal Point for Atlanta Braves Prospects, pt. 2

Patrick Weigel

Aside from Ronald Acuna, Braves’ starter Patrick Weigel might have the most helium in the Braves system as his control seemingly came out of nowhere. People that got to see Weigel regularly, like Tomahawk Take’s own Ben Chase and Josh Brown, believe the hype.

Ben’s latest scouting report on Weigel included this about his fastball:

"With his long arms and 6’6″ height, he gets good plane on the ball, and when he puts the ball in the lower half of the zone, it’s near impossible for hitters to drive, especially with the bit of arm side run and sink that his fastball gets."

In a twitter conversation with Josh, he noted to me that Weigel is on a different level because he can already command his fastball, which – according to both of these observers – has been clocked from 98 to 101.

Both have also suggested that Weigel could be close to the majors already.  Ben graded his pitch repertoire at 65 (FB), 50 (Change), 55 (Curve), and 60 (a wipeout slider).

Longenhagen had this to say about him:

"“Things often come together late for big, hard-throwers (if they come at all) and began to for Weigel last season. He sat 92-96 and was frequently touching 99 with an above-average low-80s slider, a loopy but average curveball and a usable but fringey change. He has a limb-y delivery with a lot of moving parts but keeps things timed well enough that he threw an acceptable number of strikes for a starter last year.”"

What needs to step forward? Weigel’s fastball is his bread and butter and other pitches rely on its command.

Weigel’s “out of nowhere” control simply needs to be duplicated to prove he’s ready for the next step. He’ll likely have to work on his secondary pitches on the fly, but maintaining that fastball control is his key to success.