Rafe Schlesinger Report

Rafe Schlesinger - LHP - 4th Round - Cleveland Guardians

University of Miami (FL)

Schlesinger is 6’3 left-handed pitcher with an unorthodox arm slot for a starter with close to side arm action. His delivery reminds me a bit of Chris Sale with the M-shape that occurs as he delivers, although Sale’s isn’t as drastic. This delivery benefits his fastball greatly with his fastball coming in the mid 90s and generating good horizontal run as well. With the fastball coming in at a lower, side angle, it creates a higher perceived velocity as the ball starts low and appears to rise as it approaches the plate. He also adds to his fastball a slider that jets in hard on righties and does a great job at generating swing and miss too. Schlesinger also has a third pitch in a change-up which would be the key to his ability to stick as a starting pitcher at a high level. At the moment, the change-up offers little variance in velocity with his fastball, which is a problem, but if he can harness the ability to decrease the velocity, he sets up his potential with three plus pitches that can also generate swing and misses. A potential adjustment to his current change-up grip can provide a different break causing a better difference in velocity that he would be looking for. As it stands, the current two pitch selection of his fastball and slider is enough to point him towards a high leverage reliever role with the strikeout potential both pitches have to offer.