Luis Patino

Other than the high-risk nature of young pitchers who throw hard, Patino has few flaws. At 6-foot, he is undersized for a right-handed starter; he struggles to generate groundballs (38.4 GB% at High-A); and he dealt with a blister at the end of the season -- sometimes blisters reoccur. Everything else about the 20-year-old generates glowing praise. He has been the youngest starting pitcher in every full-season league he has played in. With his arsenal, it is easy to see why. His pitches all have excellent life, and it starts with his mid-90s fastball, which is a 70-grade pitch. He throws a hard slider that flashes plus and is working on getting more consistent with his changeup. His command/control improved as the season went on and he made two starts at Double-A as a 19-year-old. With good health, he will throw 100-plus innings for the first time and could reach the majors in some capacity.

A dominant full-season debut allowed Patino to emerge as a top-five pitching prospect in the top system in baseball, which is no small feat. Among Midwest League pitchers who threw at least 80 innings, Patino had the lowest FIP (2.33), lowest WHIP (1.07), highest K-BB% (22.4) and also happened to be the youngest pitcher in that subset. He dominates with a mid-90s fastball and a pair of potentially plus breaking balls. His changeup is still a work in progress, but given his age and advanced feel, it would not be surprising if that too ended up being a plus pitch for the 6-foot, 192-pound righty. He threw 70-plus pitches in all but one of his 17 starts, so he has experience turning a lineup over multiple times. While there is a temptation to ding shorter righties, Patino’s repertoire will allow him to have success at the highest level. From a dynasty-league perspective, the only knock is that he is a pitching prospect who is a couple years away from the majors.