Poncedeleon works in the low 90s with a heavy fastball as well as a curveball, changeup and cutter that each project as potential average offerings. Poncedeleon suffered through a shaky start against Arkansas on April 21 in which he gave up two earned runs in just 1.2 IP, as the righty struggled to find his spots and the zone. His lack of command in that game was uncharacteristic, as the former Houston Cougar will generally show well spotting his arsenal to both sides of the plate. He followed up that performance with a solid showing against Northwest Arkansas, in spite of a pitching line charging Poncedeleon with five earned runs in 6.1 innings of work.

Poncedeleon worked through six scoreless innings, punching out ten while allowing just two walks and two hits before taking the mound again in the seventh. One hard hit ball from Bubba Starling followed by a walk, a soft single, a three-run homer, and an infield single, and Poncedeleon’s day was done. He doesn’t project to be an impact arm, but there’s solid feel for the craft, a nice mix of offerings, and some solid production to-date. If he develops more feel for and consistency from his secondaries he could eek out a back-end role. – Mauricio Rubio Jr.