Poche was a 14th round pick by Arizona, coming to the Rays as a PTBNL in the deal that sent Stephen Souza to the Diamondbacks. He doesn’t have typical late-innings stuff but was arguably the most dominant reliever in the minors last year. Poche pitched to a ridiculous 0.82 ERA over 66 innings between two levels, striking out 110 hitters and holding opponents to a .151 average-against. His fastball works in the low-90s but gets whiffs at an elite rate due to excellent spin and deception. Poche mixes a mid-70s curve and true slider at 82-to-84 mph, both effective but neither a truly bat-missers. He will have to prove an unorthodox approach plays in leverage situations at the big league level, but the ceiling is a setup reliever that can record more than three outs a game.
