ADK

Ryan Rolison, P

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Scouting report

College lefties up to 96 who have good feel for spinning a breaking ball are typically in the first round mix, and this was the case with Rolison, who sometimes struggled with holding his stuff and command deep into games at Ole Miss. He seemed to be moving past that in 2019, his first full pro season, when his walk rate was lower than it ever was in college and he showed more varied and sentient fastball usage. But Rolison's alt site and instructs looks were more like during college. His fastball command was pretty loose (typically later in outings) and his below-average changeup missed in the zone an awful lot, forcing Rolison to lean on his curveball a ton (it's his best first-strike pitch and most consistent putaway pitch). Heuristically, I want to bet on a lefty with such a good breaking ball, but if Rolison can't command his fastball then hitters will just sit on that curveball, which opposing college lineups seemed to be doing in his worst D-I outings. Scouts came away from instructs thinking he had a lot of relief risk and Rolison's heater has been in the 90-92 range this spring. The chance for a rebound, and that Rolison might experience a velo bump if he were put in the bullpen, means he should still be in an impact FV tier, but he's trending more and more like a fifth starter. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)