Dodgers’ Lefty Tom Windle Shows Power Stuff

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

Tom Windle, LHP, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (LAD, High-A – most recently viewed 8/27 at Rancho)

Windle was an arm scouts noticed out of the bullpen for U. Minnesota as early as his freshman year, but the big power lefty had his breakout when he got his first sustained chance to start in the Cape Cod League before his junior season.  At 6’4/215 with a power fastball-slider combo from the left side, Windle gives scouts a lot to like and their main concern before the draft, his changeup, has made progress since the Dodgers took him in the 2nd round in 2013. The changeup still comes and goes and the fastball sits in the low 90’s, but he can dial it up to 93-95 mph when needed.  The biggest concern with Windle now is his stiff delivery with an awkward finish and some recoil.  His command is just good enough to start now, but these types of deliveries don’t usually age well and sometimes can contribute to diminishing stuff, so Windle is walking a tight rope to get to his #4 starter upside.

Fastball: 50/55, Slider: 50/55, Changeup: 45/50+, Command: 40/45+, FV: 50  –Kiley

In his first full season in the minor league ranks, the 22-year-old Tom Windle displayed consistency and steadiness in the high-A California League. But without the flash or high upside potential, his projected role may create some Dodgers fans to feel disappointed.

Fastball: 50/55

Windle began the outing working 89-91 mph, but would eventually settle in at 91 mph while touching 93 mph a handful of times. The fastball velocity is just solid-average, but coming from the left side, and there’s some projection in the body that he may be able to work above-average with additional strength and stamina.

Windle would occasionally alter his arm slot at times by design, creating different arm angles for the opposition to time up and identify. He can also manipulate the movement on his fastball, altering between cutting and arm side run, though the offering straightens out at its peak velocity of 93 mph.

Slider: 50/55

Windle will consistently change the length of the break on his slider, varying between long and short breaking action, creating two distinct looks for one offering.

His short breaking features short horizontal break, and typically comes in at 80 mph on the radar gun. The pitch fails to fool hitters, but he shows an advanced feel for commanding the pitch to both sides of the zone. While it isn’t his best slider, it does allow him to get ahead of hitters without relying on his fastball.

The longer breaking slider is the better of the two, and is Windle’s put-away pitch. The pitch typically hits 85 mph on the radar gun, breaking far away from the hands of same-sided batters. But there isn’t much sharpness to the pitch, as it can get loose and soft as it breaks. It also stays relatively one-planed in its action. It is often used as a chase pitch with two-strikes.

Changeup: 40/45

Windle’s changeup will be his biggest obstacle in sticking in a starting rotation for the long-run, as the pitch presently grades out as just a below-average offering without much future projection. The changeup routinely comes in at 79 mph, showing some light fading action with a touch of sinking action. But due to Windle’s stiff arm action and tendency to short arm the baseball, the pitch will lack the expected finesse and deception one would prefer to see, creating consistency problems.

Command: 45/50

I would characterize Windle’s arm action as stiff rather than loose, and he doesn’t possess standout athleticism in the body or the delivery. In fact, it’s as if he short arms the baseball, failing to continue to rotate his backside after release and continue his deceleration process. In spite of that, he shows a strong feel for his delivery, as he’s able to consistently repeat his mechanics while working inside and around the zone, though it is more control than command.

He remains loaded in the upper half while the arm gets up and through on time. But the timing can be inconsistent due to how Windle moves his momentum and body towards home plate at the peak height of his leg kick. Ultimately, the command profile isn’t great, but he has enough feel in all areas to reach average command.

Summary

The Dodgers 2013 2nd round draft pick should reach the majors and provide value to his parent organization, but I believe it will be as a reliever rather than a starter. But since Windle lacks the power arsenal to get through a major league order one or two times, it also excludes him from profiling as a weapon in the backend of a bullpen.

Ultimately, I see Windle profiling somewhere between a seventh inning reliever and lefty specialist. The reason for the distinction is because I think a manager could certainly have enough confidence in him to face a right-handed batter, if there’s one splitting a pair of left-handed batters in the lineup, so it’s a tad more than the typical run of the mill LOOGY.