Daniel Espino

The main knock on Espino for dynasty is that he's still over a year away from the majors and a lot can go wrong in that amount of time. However, his stuff is electric. He struck out 152 in 91.2 innings across Low-A and High-A as a 20-year-old and his fastball and slider are already devastating pitches. A very strong and athletic right-hander, Espino is 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds. While he is shorter than most righty starters, his arsenal suggests he will be a starter all the way. His curveball and changeup should be average or better pitches, and his 8.2 BB% at High-A was an encouraging mark for a pitcher his age with his high-octane stuff. There are a ton of quality arms ahead of Espino on Cleveland's organizational depth chart, so a 2022 debut seems nearly impossible, but he could be up in 2023 if he stays healthy.

A chiseled 6-foot-1, 205-pound prep righty whom Cleveland selected with the 24th overall pick in 2019, Espino has some of the nastiest stuff in the minors. He is easy to identify in videos due to his long arm action, and so far he has thrown enough strikes to project as a starter. His mid-90s fastball can touch 99 mph and is a 70-grade pitch. Espino's slider, curveball and changeup all have a chance to be 60-grade pitches, which would amount to a frontline-caliber repertoire. The big question is whether he will eventually be able to bring his dominant stuff to the mound in five-plus inning stints over a full MLB season, as he has been handled with kid gloves thus far. He spent the summer impressing at the alternate site, but a minor shoulder injury prevented him from pitching in the fall instructional league, which serves as a small reminder of the extreme risk that was already a part of the package.

Of all the pitchers selected in the 2019 draft, Espino has the most obvious upside. A chiseled 6-foot-2, 205-pound righty who was born in Panama but moved to the U.S. in 2016, Espino's fastball is an upper-90s monster with excellent life. He also throws two breaking balls that each have the potential to be plus pitches, along with a fourth-pitch changeup. After selecting him with the 24th overall pick, the Indians helped make his delivery a little less violent, but he still walked 10 batters in his first 23.2 pro innings. He was touching triple digits as an 18-year-old before the draft, which in itself is a medical red flag -- pitchers that age who throw that hard often deal with elbow trouble at some point on their march to the majors. The range of outcomes, from frontline starter to shutdown reliever to a career that is derailed by arm injuries, is incredibly wide.