With the 155th pick, the Chicago White Sox decided to give right-handed pitcher Tanner McDougal a spin. The fifth-rounder out of Silverado H.S. in Henderson, NV, signed for a whopping $850,000. The slot value for the pick is $340,000 providing hard evidence of how much the White Sox covet the big righty. McDougal’s value skyrocketed after an eye-popping performance at the first MLB draft combine. With high spin rates on his breaking pitches, a mid-90s fastball and the University of Oregon waiting, McDougal had the stuff and the leverage to earn a big payday.
This continues the trend of the White Sox drafting and paying high upside pitchers from the high school ranks in the early rounds. McDougal will join recent high school draftees Andrew Dalquist, Matthew Thompson and Jared Kelley on the farm.
The Frame
At 6’6” and 210 pounds, McDougal has a frame that scouts salivate over, and he’s got the fastball to go with it. At 94 MPH, he ranked in the 99th percentile among pitchers in the class. The White Sox love power arms, but it was his off-the-charts-spin rate on his breaking pitches that captivated scouts.
Prep Baseball Report provides Trackman data showing a spin rate of 3117 on Feb 7, 2021.
In a conference call conducted shortly after the draft, White Sox Scouting Director Mike Shirley referring to his breaking ball as elite and unique.
“Tanner McDougal is a high upside right-handed starter who has elite metrics. His breaking ball has 3,000 spin, so it’s this elite weapon that the science of the modern game says is unique. It’s athletic, it’s 6-foot-5, its’ a starter,” said Shirley.
To go along with his top two pitches, McDougal also features a slider and a changeup. The slider has a 73 mph velo and a 2756 spin rate. His changeup comes in at 88mph with a spin rate of 1788, per Prep Baseball Report.
There’s Video
Spin rates and velo are fun to talk about, but what does he look like in live-action? Here’s a video of him courtesy of 2080 Baseball from the Area Code Games in Emerson, GA, last summer. The video shows a bit of wildness, but his delivery looks reasonably consistent. His all-important plant foot is landing in the same spot. He’ll need to work on timing up the rest of his delivery, but this is normal for someone still in high school.
On the FutureSox Podcast, scouts as well as MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis elaborated on the high school righty and several other 2021 draft selections. The signing of McDougal rounds out an impressive class of young arms and another draft White Sox fans can feel good about.
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command seems to be an issue at this point