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With the 24th pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, the Atlanta Braves have selected Ryan Cusick, a pitcher from Wake Forest. Cusick is a 6’6, 225 pounds who hits and throws right-handed. He was originally drafted in high school in the 40th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds from Avon Old Farms HS in Avon, Connecticut. He joins former teammate Jared Shuster as Wake Forest’s second pitcher drafted in the first round by the Braves for the past two years.
Rankings
Baseball America – 39
Perfect Game – 22
Pipeline – 26
Fangraphes – 20
ESPN – 31
Athletic Law / Keith – 12
Talking Chop – 103
Statistics
2019 – 19 G / 12 ST, 65.2 IP, 6.44 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 55 K, 29 BB
2020 – 4 G / 4 ST, 22.1 IP, 3.22 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 43 K, 18 BB
2021 – 12 G / 12 ST, 70.0 IP, 4.24 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 108 K, 32 BB
Scouting Report
Fast Pitch – 70
Cusick has a big fastball that gets a real plus rating, sitting in the mid-90s and hitting up to 102 MPH in the past. The pitch has a ton of movement, which is not surprising given that the Wake Forest program is a heavy pitch analysis program.
Curve – 55
Cusick has a curve with potential and has had a lot of swings and misfires. The problem is, he’s just not consistent enough to see him scoring better than above average right now, even though he sometimes blinks like a positive pitch.
Change – 45
Change is a pitch that requires real projection on it to even be a marginal average pitch because it not only needs a lot of refinement, but it’s also a pitch that he has rarely used at this stage of his career. , which is not surprising for a guy with this type of power arm.
Command – 45
Command is not Cusick’s strong suit, as he also plans to have marginal average mastery of his arsenal. He saw a tic in his command and even yet it is not a particular strength for him.
Future
Cusick has decent potential if all goes well for him, but with major questions about his command and his third pitch for a college pitcher, it looks a lot more like a reliever profile than a rookie profile.
Thoughts on the choice
It’s a tough choice as Cusick’s profile screams relief and not a starter in some ways (especially the ordering and questions about the change) like the top rated and still available Ty Madden does. That choice could be a bit underslot, which could at least allow the Braves to make some type of move in the second round tomorrow.
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