Cole Winn

Position: RHSP
Level: Instructs
Affiliate: Rangers Instructs
League: Instructional League
Born: 11/25/1999 (Age: 24)
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 190
B/T: Right / Right
Acquired: 1st Rd. (#15 Overall), 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft (TEX)

Prospect Spotlight

The Rangers drafted the athletic prep righty 15th overall in 2018, inking the Californian under slot to a $3.15M bonus. Texas managed Winn’s workload this summer, and he did not appear in professional baseball in his pro debut. Instead, he has gotten his first taste of game action during Instructional League, and I saw him in an exhibition appearance against Arizona State this October.

Winn has a strong, sturdy frame standing close to 6’3” with some upper-body projection that will reach 200 pounds eventually. His delivery is above-average, featuring excellent leg engagement to stay online to the plate while staying tall on the rubber and accelerating downhill. There is some head whack, but Winn’s strength helps keep him online. With clean arm action and plus armspeed, Winn has starter qualities. His fastball was 91-to-94 mph with slight armside run and occasional downhill angle. His command was better to the gloveside, and when he tired, Winn sailed to his armside as his body got more ahead of his arm. Given the athleticism and ingredients of a clean delivery, there’s room to project on the fastball command. His best secondary is a 75-to-79 mph  curveball with 11-to-6 shape and late bite. His best ones flashed plus and showed swing-and-miss potential, and I expect he can get the pitch there in time. Winn’s mid-80s changeup is raw, but his flashes of separation and armspeed sell on the pitch bode well for its development.

Winn has the delivery ingredients and stuff of a starter, and while there’s plenty of work to do, the tools are here for a mid-rotation ceiling. He’ll need to iron out parts of his delivery and develop more of a third pitch, but at 18-years-old, there’s plenty of time to hone his craft and make strides across the board.