Astros Draft Jake Bloss

MLB.com

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 45 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

Bloss spent three years at Lafayette, largely pitching out of the rotation, while getting his undergraduate degree with a double major in math and economics. He moved on to Georgetown both to further his studies as a graduate student working towards a master's in finance and to keep pitching. His stuff has all ticked up, as well as his ability to use it, in 2023 en route to him being named Big East Pitcher of the Year and turning into one of the more intriguing senior signs in the class.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander has the makings of a legitimate four-pitch arsenal. He’s added some velocity since his Lafayette days with a fastball that averages around 93 mph and has touched 97 with good riding life to it, allowing him to miss a good amount of bats. He throws both a true overhand mid-70s curve and a harder, tighter low-80s slider, with the former typically a touch better than the latter, though both can flash above-average and elicit swings and misses. He doesn’t throw his changeup often or land it for strikes consistently, but it does show some fade away from left-handed hitters at times.

Bloss has done a much better job at finding the strike zone this year, but it’s still control over command. Though he is a graduate student, he was just 21 for the entire spring season. Maybe he’s a bullpen arm when all is said and done, but he could be a very good Day 2 value.

Athletic

Bloss transferred from Lafayette to Georgetown after getting his bachelor’s in three years and might be the first college fourth-year pitcher drafted this year after gaining about 2.5 mph from 2022. He’s 92-94 with two similar breaking balls that vary mostly in velocity, with primarily vertical break to both pitches, and a changeup that’s probably average when he gets it but that he used almost exclusively against lefties. The delivery works well enough and he showed average control this year, although I think he’ll benefit from some fine-tuning to make the arm swing more consistent. He turned 22 in June and doesn’t have much leverage unless he wants to wave his master’s degree around — actually, that might be pretty good leverage, I should try that sometime — so he could be an attractive under-slot guy in the third to fifth round, with an outside chance he develops as a starter.

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