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Ian Clarkin
Born: 02/14/1995 (Age: 19) |
| Bats: Left |
Throws: Left |
| Height: 6' 2" |
Weight: 215 |
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Kershaw-esque mechanics. Feature a big leg kick while he raises the hands above his head. Drives front hip forward and deliberately extends glove hand. Back foot is in the air prior to his release. When he does release he comes from a very high 3/4 arm slot.
Keeps all this movement when working out of the stretch. Hides ball well and showcases solid arm speed. Keeps release point for all his pitches but complex delivery gets in the way at times leaving his arm late coming through the zone. This leads to misses high and o his arm side. |
| Ryan Parker |
| 06/05/2014 |
| (Low A, ) |
| 5/14/14 & 5/31/14 |
| 55 |
| 2017 |
| Yes |
| Fastball |
60 |
90 |
93 |
Good velocity for a lefty on his fastball. Lacks the traditional lefty movement to his fastball. Comes in flat. Features good plane and he has no problem mixing locations on his fastball. Currently his control is better than his command leading to many pitches over the white of the plate. Raise in future grade comes from a predicted increase in his command as he at least shows a willingness to vary fastball location at the moment. Body is close to physical maturity so a velocity increase may be unlikely. |
| Curveball |
55 |
72 |
74 |
Big looping breaking ball. 12-6 action that when thrown correctly is a monster to low level hitters. He will throw it to both righties and lefties but has trouble extending to his glove side. Rather than work away with this pitch to lefties he tends to aim for the dirt right behind the center of home plate.
Movement wise it can get soft and show a noticeable "hump" on its trip to the plate. The movement is solid but doesn't feature any real "fall of a table" break. Between the overall movement and the ability for Clarkin to keep arm speed and not tip this pitch it will be a useable offering. |
| Changeup |
55 |
81 |
83 |
I believe this will be Clarkin's best off speed pitch when he is fully developed. The curveball will always look better but in terms of effectiveness his changeup wins out. Has both deception and just enough life to his arm side. He can also throw it for strikes or chase pitches to both batters. He is comfortable doubling up on the pitch and using it at any point in the count.
It's not as "sexy" as his big breaking ball but it has more utility. When thrown badly its not as bad as a hanging breaking ball as he tends to spike it. When its thrown well hitters are flailing. He seems more comfortable with his changeup and can bust it out at any time. |
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Body is close to physical maturity, delivery is athletic, and will have 3 solid offerings at the big league level. His command needs to improve but I'm much more comfortable in a guy like Clarkin being able to do so. He repeats well. He works both sides of the plate but simply catches too much of it right now. At worst he is JA Happ. At best he's Matt Harrison minus a few mph on the fastball.
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