Position: RHP
Born: 5/27/1995
Ht: 6’4″ Wt: 200 lb
Acquired: Received from Kansas City Royals in Melky Cabrera trade, July 30, 2017
Career Stats
FutureSox Prospect Rankings
- #24 – 2017 Midseason
- #25 – 2018 Preseason
FutureSox Media
Accolades
- Carolina League All-Star, 2017 Midseason
Scouting Report
Puckett signed for a cool $1.2 million when he was selected in the second round (67th overall) in 2016. This Pepperdine product was ranked the fifth best prospect in a somewhat thin Royals system coming into 2017, according to Baseball America. Any athlete would likely appreciate what a privilege that alone would be, but for Puckett that appreciation may run a little deeper. In 2011, he suffered an epidural hematoma from a car accident and spent weeks in a coma while in high school. He had been a promising prep quarterback, but the off-field incident ended his football career.
In his pro debut he pitched in rookie ball and Low-A. Puckett booked a combined 3.68 ERA helped by keeping batters off the basepaths (7.7 H/9, 2.3 BB/9), but didn’t strike out a ton of guys (6.9 K/9). In 2017 he went to High-A and the Carolina League. He was traded to the White Sox at the trade deadline, but stayed in the Carolina League with Winston-Salem instead of Wilmington. His core numbers and peripherals all ballooned a bit, but his K-rate jumped to 7.9 per 9.
Elbow issues kept him out of 2018. He missed 2019 as well and the pandemic canceled the 2020 minor league season.
Since his draft year, Puckett’s prospect stock has dropped. His success to this point has been more about “pitchability” than raw stuff. Spanning reports as noted above, his fastball runs anywhere from 89 to 94, and he excels at locating it. His best pitch is likely his change-up, described as plus by BA. He also throws a curveball that is a little further behind in development. Puckett has a good pitcher’s frame, creates downward plane and works the lower part of the zone efficiently.
Major League Outlook: Back-end starter or reliever
ETA: 2022