Drafted as a starter with the Yankees’ 10th-round pick in the 2015 Draft out of The Citadel, Reeves has been working exclusively out of the bullpen this year for the first time, and after an elbow injury shelved him for most of his first big league camp and into the first month of the 2017 season, he started the year at High A Tampa. He threw 35 2/3 innings in the Florida State League with a 2.52 ERA, 1.8 BB/9 rate and 10.3 SO/9, and he did not allow a home run, all of which earned him a promotion to Trenton on August 12.

Reeves is a strike-thrower with double-plus control, and he’s finding more success out of the pen thanks to his deceptive delivery, his angle from the first-base side of the rubber, and his side-armed slot. His quick arm action and funky mechanics make it awfully tough to pick the ball up out of hand, making his fastball/slider combo play up a grade. He works a couple of looks with the fringe-average fastball at 88-to-90 mph (T91), working it to both sides of the plate with tail and sink, and cutting it into right-handers, and the above-average movement and plus command plays the pitch up to average. His slider works in the 77-to-82 mph range and it’s a plus pitch that he shows plus feel for, dialing up some velo for a 3/4’s version with depth and bite for strikes, and slurvy, strike-to-ball sweeper for put-away that can be nasty. It’s a real weapon, missing barrels, and he shows plus feel with the pitch both in and out of the zone — it’s also an effective back-footer to righties.

The delivery and movement make him particularly nasty versus same-sided hitters, with lefties hitting a miniscule .154 against him this year over 59 plate appearances between High A Tampa and Trenton, following a 2016 season where lefties hit just .146 over 106 PA’s, mostly at Tampa. He’s also generating ground ball outs – in fact he is yet to give up a home run this year (and given up just five over his 166 pro innings), and his GO:AO ratio has improved to an almost even rate of 0.97. With his ability to pound the strike zone consistently with such effective movement and control, Reeves has the look of a future role Role 50 situational reliever, with additional utility as a solid change-of-pace look out of the bullpen who could give both righties and lefties fits in a middle-relief role.