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Nick Sandlin, P
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Scouting report
The submarinering Sandlin had a ridiculous junior year at Southern Miss (144 strike outs and just 18 walks in 102 innings), his first as a starter since arriving at campus. He was thought to be one of the fastest-moving pitchers picked in the 2018 draft, and indeed Cleveland pushed him quickly through the system, assigning him to the Double-A bullpen to begin 2019, his first full pro season. He was quite good there, then moved to Triple-A for two weeks before he was shut down due to a forearm stress fracture that required surgery (he dealt with forearm issues earlier in the year, as well). He was back for the 2020 alternate site and instructs, and at the latter was back to sitting his customary 90-93, albeit with worse control than he had during his prospect peak. Sandlin's slider has cuttery, lateral actions rather than meaningful vertical movement on its own or as it relates to his fastball. He may need to find another secondary pitch to garner swings and misses. Sandlin's velocity resurged in 2021 and he looks more like a stable middle-inning piece now than an up/down reliever. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)