Chayce McDermott - 2/14/23

A closer look at Baltimore pitching prospect Chayce McDermott

Prospect Spotlight 🔦

Chayce McDermott, RHP – Age: 24 – B/T: L/R, 6’3’’ / 197 – Orioles (AA)

• Born: 8/22/98 (Anderson, IN)

• Draft: 2021, Houston Astros, 4^th Round. Acquired by the Baltimore Orioles via trade in 6/22

• College: Ball State University

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Now one of the Orioles top pitching prospects, Chayce McDermott was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 4^th round of the 2021 Draft out of Ball State University. Ball State is a lesser-known school but has become somewhat of a pitching factory in the Midwest and has had many pitchers drafted over the years, most notably Drey Jameson (Comp 1^st-2019) and Zach Plesac (12^th-2016). For many scouts during the summer prior to the draft and the spring, it was hard to get a read on McDermott, who had impressive stuff and physical projection, but lacked feel for his breaking balls and overall command of his repertoire. The Astros, who were coming off of losing their first two picks from 2020 and 2021, were looking for high upside talent to make up for the lack of premium picks, saw how good his raw stuff was and made a bet on him in the fourth round. Given their strengths in pitching development, for a pitcher as raw as McDermott was, Houston was a good landing spot for him.