Austin Voth: Low-Minors Ace, But What Sort of Prospect?

When our other prospect writers submit scouting reports, I will provide a short background and industry consensus tool grades.  There are two reasons for this: 1) giving context to account for the writer seeing a bad outing (never threw his changeup, coming back from injury, etc.) and 2) not making him go on about the player’s background or speculate about what may have happened in other outings.

The writer still grades the tools based on what they saw, I’m just letting the reader know what he would’ve seen in many other games from this season, particularly with young players that may be fatigued late in the season. The grades are presented as present/future on the 20-80 scouting scale and very shortly I’ll publish a series going into more depth explaining these grades.   -Kiley

Austin Voth, RHP, Washington Nationals (Double-A Harrisburg)

Voth was drafted in the 5th round in 2013 out of U. Washington and has performed well since signing, but most scouts don’t think the raw stuff is there to be a long-term impact starter.  One scout mentioned Tanner Roark as a best case scenario (which also opens up another can of worms), but we’re playing the odds here and it seems like he fits the best in the bullpen.  He’s mostly in the high-80’s as a starter but has been up to 95 mph in the past and scouts think that will come back in short stints (my pitch grades are in his current starter role).  As a three pitch guy with advanced feel and two potential above average pitches in short stints, Voth could be a real weapon.  Not a bad return just a year away from signing him for $272,800. 

Fastball:45/45+ , Curveball: 50/55, Changeup:45/50 , Command: 50/55  -Kiley

Austin Voth put up some truly eye-popping numbers at both the Low-A and High-A levels, and I saw his final start at the latter stop before a (less successful) late-July promotion to Double-A. It’s easy to buy into his production, but it’s important to separate Voth’s talent from his track record.

Fastball: 40/50

VothFB

I saw Voth throw in a day game, where adrenaline isn’t always flowing as much as in night contests, and he initially came out throwing just 86-88 mph, which was concerning. However, as he settled into the game, he showed the ability to get the pitch up to 92 mph when he needed to. He’ll add and subtract from the offering and shows some feel for spotting it, particularly over the outside corner to right-handed batters. The pitch is mostly straight, but it shows some cutting action at times when he works it to his glove side. He does work down in the zone with some consistency, helping him get more ground balls with the pitch than its fairly flat trajectory would suggest. Reports of his velocity in other outings are inconsistent–more than one source has told me he’s hit 95, while others have seen him work more in the upper 80s/low 90s as I did. Finding a way to more consistently be on the harder side of that divide would give Voth a big lift, turning an offering that only flashes average now into one that sits there.

Curveball: 55/60

VothCB

The curveball is Voth’s best pitch, a 74-78 mph 11-to-5 power breaker with considerable and sharp bite. It can be effective to both lefties and righties, and Voth shows the ability to get both quality strikes and chases with the pitch at times. It should round into a plus offering as he gains more experience, giving him an out pitch that can keep his strikeout rates around league-average.

Changeup: 45/50

VothCH

Voth’s changeup comes in at 80-84 mph, and like his fastball, it has some occasional cutting action–a few even looked like sliders, but I was told they were all changeups. He sells the pitch with solid arm speed and has reasonable velocity separation. It’s a bit of an inconsistent offering, flashing average at times when he gets good sink but looking very ordinary at other times. Because it doesn’t have the typical fade of most changeups, it’s unlikely to be more than an average pitch in the future, but it should play around average if he can spot it.

Command: 40/55

Voth has an easy delivery that assists him in spotting his pitches; his A-ball numbers reveal a pitcher who had little trouble avoiding walks against low-minors bats. He does have some work to do in his sequencing, though, as he tends to spike his offspeed pitches at times and also doesn’t come inside as much as he should–these inconsistencies likely contributed to his poor outcomes in his late-season Double-A run. Given that that stretch constituted the first thing anywhere close to a roadblock in Voth’s ascension, it’s hard to get too worked up about it, and he should be able to adjust and develop above-average command in time.

Summary

Those who saw Voth’s dominance in late 2013 and most of 2014 may fantasize about the former fifth-rounder developing into a statistical monster at the major league level, but it’s unlikely that these lofty dreams will be realized, as he projects to have only one significantly above-average pitch and likely won’t come with the elite command needed to make that arsenal play up to extreme levels. Still, Voth clearly has some assets, with a good breaking ball, a fastball and changeup that could end up playing average or (slightly) better, and enough pitchability to get quite a bit out of that raw stuff. That puts his ceiling in between a #3 and #4 starter, and given his quick rise so far, he has a very solid chance to at least come close to that more reasonable expectation.





Nathaniel Stoltz is a prospect writer for FanGraphs. A resident of Bowie, MD and University of Maryland graduate student, he frequently views prospects in the Carolina and South Atlantic Leagues. He can be followed on Twitter at @stoltz_baseball.

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Hurtlockertwo
9 years ago

That Cuban player Despaigne that pitches for the Padres. Dude throws the kitchen sink and can get batters out.

Odrisamer Despaigne
9 years ago
Reply to  Hurtlockertwo

cállate, puta. este artículo no se trata de mí.