Atlanta Braves Scouting Report on LHP Kyle Muller
MLB Player Comp
The best comp for Muller stuck out right away as I watched him in high school, but I didn’t want to immediately assign a borderline Hall of Famer to his comp, but I think the Atlanta Braves may be excited with the guy that Muller continues to remind me of.
While their draft positions are nothing alike, Kyle Muller and Andy Pettitte share the frame, left-handedness, and Texan background in common. When you look at their pitch combinations, they also have plenty in common. Interestingly, Pettitte was able to have plenty of success in the minor leagues, but the Yankees still brought him along slowly, reaching the majors in 1995 at age 23.
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Pettitte’s 4-pitch mix was a fastball, cutter, curve, and change, which is akin to Muller’s mix. Much like Pettitte, Muller primarily features a fastball, slider, and curve, with his change his fourth pitch. Once public data became available, Pettitte never had above 10% use of his changeup. That could be similar changeup use for Muller that works for him down the road.
Future Role
With his strong frame and low-stress delivery, Muller could be a guy who handles heavy innings in the middle of a rotation. He’s got a mid-rotation projection especially if he could work on something to keep same-side hitters honest, like a stronger changeup, a cutter, or a fastball variant, like a split-finger
His fastball/slider combination is such that if he focused just on those pitches, he could be a dominant reliever, but the starter role is definitely the route the team would prefer he end up.
dark. Next. Braves hint that a deal is close?
The Atlanta Braves have a tremendous depth of left-handed pitching in the farm system, but Muller could end up being the one who has the longest major league career, even if he doesn’t have the highest peak overall.