San Diego right-hander Luis Patino was No. 50 on my top 100 this past winter on the strength of his electric stuff, but his outing on Wednesday in Peoria, Arizona, against the Royals' high-A team was my first opportunity to see him live. His stuff truly is electric -- I'm not sure there's a better adjective to describe it -- although I can also see reasons to pump the brakes a little bit on his prospect hype, given his size and delivery.
Patino, born in Barranquilla, Colombia, was at 93-96 mph on Wednesday with absurd spin on the pitch and some natural cut. I could actually see the spin on the ball (sorry, I can't measure spin rate with my eyes ... yet), which I can't remember happening with any prospect before, and his fastball moves enough that I had to ask if he was trying to cut it (he's not). His entire arsenal is strong, though -- his 82-83 mph slider breaks like a whiffle ball, although he also showed he could shorten it up to keep it in the zone, and he throws an upper-80s changeup with hard tumble like a split-change even though it's a traditional grip. His only pitch that wasn't obviously above average was his upper-70s curveball, but it's average and he throws it for strikes, making it more useful in the context of his other weapons.
Patino's arm is incredibly quick, but there is some effort to the delivery, especially at release when he can't keep his head steady. He has great balance over the rubber, with a very old-fashioned full windup, and gets big extension out over his front side -- so now imagine that 94 mph fastball moving like no fastball you've ever faced before, and it's coming out of his hand a little closer to your face than you're used to seeing. He cuts himself off a little bit, so there's some cross-body action to his delivery, but it likely also gives him deception against righties. Best of luck, hitters.
He's on the smaller side for a right-handed starter, listed at 6 feet, 192 pounds, so well-built but short, although I think his extension and fastball life probably mitigate most of the concerns I'd typically have about a 6-foot (or less) right-hander as a starter. As young as he is -- he'll pitch this entire year at 19 -- I'd fast-track him, because you're not waiting on stuff here, and he doesn't have any trouble throwing any of his pitches for strikes. Challenge him in Double-A, and if he keeps blowing hitters away, move him up ... and yes, I'm aware I'm saying I'd put him on a path that gets him to the majors this year before he turns 20. Assuming Patino will still be healthy and this good in five or six years is folly, but he will probably be ready to help this team contend in 2020. The Padres should start him on that path now.
• Patino was so good he overshadowed the opposing starter, 2018 first-rounder Brady Singer, the first of the five starters the Royals chose to lead off their draft class last June. Singer (No. 6 in Royals system) was 91-93 with some arm-side run, with an above-average slider at 81-83 that he moved around well and a below-average curveball at 78-79 that blended into the slider sometimes. Singer still has a low slot and short arm action that's hard for him to repeat and puts stress on his arm, while that slot also makes the curveball less effective because he can't get any depth on the pitch. I also still don't see a real weapon for left-handed batters here. He's extremely competitive and went right after some pretty famous guys in San Diego's lineup, so he'll get the most out of what he has, but there are multiple red flags here that may prevent him from holding up as a starter.
• In addition to having one of the best names in the minors, San Diego shortstop prospect Tucupita Marcano (No. 11 in Padres system) can really hit, although he's smaller than I expected (and not his listed height of 6 feet). He showed an excellent eye and very direct swing, using his hands more than his lower half, so there's probably not much power to come there without some mechanical changes. He ran average out of the box. Esteury Ruiz hit ahead of him in the lineup and ran above average, working with a very wide base and no stride, just a toe tap as a trigger. Xavier Edwards showed a really solid swing with good hip rotation and strong balance.
• Moving over to Salt River Fields, D-backs shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm played during Arizona's camp day scrimmages -- their Triple-A team played their Double-A roster, and their A-ball rosters played each other -- and showed off his electric hand speed by crushing a homer off a left-handed pitcher. He continues to fill out without losing any of those quick-twitch actions that made him a high-upside prospect in the first place, and he also keeps showing the range and quickness to profile as an above-average shortstop in the majors. I think I may have ranked him too low this January when I had him at No. 32; he might be a top-10 prospect in the game by next winter.
• Chisholm and D-backs outfielder Kristian Robinson (No. 93 overall) are both Bahamian, heading up a wave of prospects from a new hotbed of baseball talent; Chisholm is the better prospect, but Robinson is almost as tooled-up and more physical at 19 than Jazz was at that age. Robinson played in the low-A game and showed bat speed but had a very hard time recognizing off-speed stuff, completely missing a couple of changeups from right-hander Justin Lewis and whiffing on breaking stuff in an earlier at-bat. He's striding early and hard, so his weight is off his back leg, getting him out in front on off-speed pitches and leading to a back-side collapse that will rob him of power -- and he does have raw power that could still make him a star.
• A couple of A's prospects really didn't look good on Monday in games at the Diamondbacks' place. Austin Beck (No. 5 in A's system) ran a tick below average, but worse was the total lack of power -- he squared up a couple of balls but they went nowhere off his bat, and even the sound of the contact was off, like he was swinging a wet newspaper. He was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2017 draft on the promise of huge tools, especially power, but hit just two homers in a full season in low-A last year. Outfielder Jameson Hannah was their second-round pick last year, out of Dallas Baptist; he was also supposed to have plus speed but ran just fringe average and his swing was stiff with a long path to the ball.