Brief notes on Springfield Cardinals’ pitchers of interest from 8/18 game against Frisco.

RHP Edwin Nuñez | Role 40: High-octane righty recently converted to a relief role as he struggles with command in his age-22 season. Tall with long levers and a narrow build—some visible strength and unlikely to add based on the frame. Quality athlete with loose, explosive movements. Online arm action with plus arm speed into a 3/4 slot, rotational effort with head dip on finish and variable arm timing. 

Four-pitch-mix led by his FB at 97-99, features quality carry through the zone and should generate consistent swing-and-miss if he’s able to maintain its location up. Three secondaries are a CH and SL in the low 90s along with a CB at 79-81. CH flashed good dive, SL featured tight downward break, and CB showed above-average 2-plane action. Difficult to project exact grades on these offerings given very limited opportunity to evaluate them, but clearly has the requisite depth to his arsenal to create consistent whiffs if he can locate it around the zone.

General strike-throwing ability in this outing allowed him to make quick work of opposing hitters. However, this look appears to be an outlier, given he is carrying a 7.0 BB/9 walk rate on the year. That said, recent move to the pen could portend increased effectiveness as he works in short stints, and he will only need passable control to play in a short-relief role given the quality of his offerings. 

Extremely limited 1-inning look severely limits confidence in the evaluation, but see his most likely outcome as a low-mid leverage reliever able to generate inefficient outs while battling his command. Extreme variance here, however, as if the command took a significant step forward he possesses the stuff to succeed in high-leverage situations. At the same time, if his delivery hinders meaningful control improvements, it may prevent him from ever carving out a consistent big league role.

RHP Zane Mills | Role 35: Righty starter showing fringe stuff in his age-24 season at AA. Tall, mature build with a thick lower 1/2. Fair body control with limited twitch and explosiveness. Average length, offline arm action into a low 3/4 slot. Fairly low effort delivery, but stiffer landing with some recoil on finish. 

Low-octane 3-pitch mix. Works his FB at 90-94, features fair run and sink but lacks real life and consistently runs into barrels when left over the plate—will have below average ML effectiveness. Sweeper at 81-83 shows above average glove-side action, should play well on the outside of the plate against RHHs but not a consistent swing-and-miss pitch. Works a CH at 84-88 with fair 2-plane action that should help induce weak contact, but unlikely to provide anything beyond average effectiveness. 

Showed general zone control during this outing with limited consistency to locate within the zone. 4.2 BB/9 on the year—see him as having solid ML control with just fair in-zone command hindered by his lack of athleticism. 

Pitch-mix and relative polish allows him to succeed against AA bats, but lack of octane to his arsenal will likely prevent him from sticking on a big league roster. Doesn’t possess a true swing-and-miss offering, and his command, while sufficient, is unlikely to allow him to overcome this. Should provide quality upper-level depth along with the ability to step in as a long-reliever in emergency roster situations. However, difficult to see a path to ML impact without a significant change to the profile.