Logan Gilbert
Evaluator: | Adam McInturff |
Report Date: | March 21st, 2018 |
MLB Team: |
Gilbert was dominant on Friday night, striking out 11 Rhode Island hitters over 7.1 innings. Despite walking two and hitting a batter, he carried a no-hitter late into the outing and cruised through the middle innings. He pitches from a slow-paced semi-windup, closing off to the hitter before unwinding down the mound. His arm works easily through a high three-quarters slot, though his throwing elbow stays low and hooked in the back before getting to his release point—a potential injury flag over the course of a long professional season. Gilbert often ran his fastball to the 95-to-96 mph range this summer on the Cape, though he held 91-to-92 mph throughout Friday’s game. He’ll mix in a short cutting fastball variant with a sinker that has moderate armside run and occasional angle. Gilbert’s primary secondary pitch is a spike curveball in the 75-to-78 mph range, showing 11-to-5 shape and fair sharpness. He won’t break out a changeup much, though evaluators were enthused by the handful of mid-80s faders he flashed over the summer. He ties a solid-average mix of stuff together with good control, frequently ahead of hitters and able to establish the fastball. His strikethrowing is ahead of the in-zone command right now, but there isn’t much doubt he will grow into average fastball command as he learns to repeat his best delivery more frequently. Without the mid-90s velocity, it’s hard to see where the out-pitch is between his fastball or curveball. That said, Gilbert is a strong bet to go on day one of the draft due to a high floor as a durable back-rotation type who keeps his team in the game and is built to eat innings. If his firmer stuff comes back, the ceiling is higher. |