Drafted in the 11th round of the 2014 June draft out of Northeast Oklahoma A&M, Deetz is an interesting arm to add to the list of potential back-end options going forward for the Astros. Deetz put up 84 2/3 innings pitched between Double-A and Triple-A in 2017. While he pitched a good deal of the season out of the rotation, Houston moved him to the pen at Triple-A Fresno in mid-August. He only saw 9 2/3 innings out of the pen at Triple-A, but was nothing short of dominant over that span, striking out 20.

While the swing and miss is in there for Deetz (8.8 SO/9 in 2016 and 10.3 SO/9 in 2017) and he is tough to square up when he is throwing strikes (7.8 Hits/9 in 2017), the walks have plagued him as a pro, with the righty walking at least four hitters-per-nine since his High A debut in 2016. If his move to the pen is going to be a long-term thing, his plus fastball (93-96 mph) and plus slider (83-86 mph) give him the tools to get high-leverage outs late in games.

He has a compact delivery with a quick arm through his high three-quarters slot. He has some athletic effort and will rush to the plate at times, but staying over his backside leads to a more consistent release point and consistent downer bite on his 60-grade slider. The heater doesn’t have a ton of heft to it, but does have plus life through the zone with some come-back tail to the glove side. Deetz has struck out 17 through eight innings thus far in the Fall League – if he can limit the free-passes, there is a good chance he can impact the big league club in 2018.