Unowned
Nick Bitsko, P
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Scouting report
Bitsko announced in January of last year that he was reclassifying from the 2021 draft class to 2020's, making him one of the youngest players in the class but also giving teams a short window of time in which to evaluate him with his imminent availability in mind. That window closed quickly due to the pandemic, so teams' opinions of Bitsko were driven by what he did in the Fall of 2019 (he was 92-96 in front of heavy-hitting eyeballs at East Coast Pro) and, in the case of some teams, what they saw in the bullpen just before the shutdown and any pitch data Bitsko generated thereafter. In all instances, Bitsko's arm strength, curveball, and touch-and-feel command were on par with first round high school arms, though that demographic's track record is scary and has been devalued by teams. That, combined with the possibility that some teams weren't be comfortable taking a player they've barely seen, made Bitsko's stock pretty volatile. He seemed like someone's overslot target in the comp round but the Rays took him before he could fall that far and gave him $3 million. After experiencing fits and starts of shoulder soreness and discomfort during his post-draft remote training, Bitsko elected to have labrum surgery. His timetable to the big leagues isn't really any different but he's certainly now a more volatile prospect since recovery from shoulder issues is much more variable than elbows. (At-home dev)