I got my first live look at Gant during his May 14th start at Pawtucket. The first two things that stood out with Gant are his size and delivery. Gant has the ideal pitcher’s frame with an athletic 6’5”, 205-pound frame. The delivery is unorthodox, as he raises his left leg as if he’s delivering to the plate; puts it back down and pivots into more of a stretch delivery before another high leg lift and delivery to the plate. The delivery creates some otherwise-lacking deception with his long arm action in back and average arm speed.  It works for Gant, and he seemed able to repeat his delivery consistently,  maintaining his leverage and balance over the rubber with a clean arm action. The delivery has also allowed Gant to vary his tempo and delivery times towards home, creating added difficulty for hitter’s timing.

Other positives for Gant included his ability to command and control at least three average-grade offerings. The fastball ranged 90-to-93 mph with most 91-to-92, showing the ability to locate it to both sides of the plate and is an average-grade pitch overall.  Gant’s best secondary pitch was his changeup at 78-to-81 mph, with split-like tumbling action and it was an above-average offering based on movement and control, and his confidence and feel to throw it in any count.  The curveball was 74-to-76 mph that he began to incorporate the second time through the order. The first few that Gant threw lacked feel for his release point –  he was casting them towards home. The pitch improved as he continued to throw it. It’s at least an average pitch with 11-to-5 late break, and  he effectively threw it to both right-handed and left-handed hitters, occasionally doubling up on the pitch.

Based on this look, I saw a major league-ready back-end starter with an average fastball/curveball combination, a plus changeup, and an overall average-grade command and control profile.  – Chaz Fiorino