Unusual Suspects: 8/21/23

In today's post we look at five off-the-radar pitching prospects

“Unusual Suspects,” for the uninitiated, is a new weekly series that endeavors to unearth and give shine to prospects who are not in the proverbial spotlight. Last week’s inaugural edition expands on the raison d'etre of this series and calls the reader’s attention to five compelling position players.

This week’s edition, on the contrary, is devoted to five pitchers.

However, the studious reader should be forewarned that there will not be five new players each week. While this author’s aim is to uncover intriguing players, this series also serves as a space to further consider the cases of previously featured players.

As a reminder, or to edify the first-time reader (Welcome!), these are the specific eligibility requirements for “Unusual Suspects.” Aside from this author’s own judgement about what is and is not interesting, players are eligible for consideration if, at the time of writing, they:

• Are not on a 26-man MLB roster

• Maintain their rookie eligibility (i.e. fewer than 130 MLB at-bats or 50 MLB innings pitched)

• Were not selected in the 2023 draft

• Did not appear in any of the four pre-season Top 100 prospect lists at Baseball America, FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, or MLB Pipeline 

Players who have sky-rocketed onto mid-season lists may still appear in this column but will likely be referred to as “Usual Suspects.”

With that only somewhat necessary preamble out of the way, please find below, submitted for your consideration, this week’s “Unusual Suspects.”

Connor Cooke, RHP, Blue Jays

A 10th-round selection by Toronto in 2021, Connor Cooke has become an entirely different pitcher since his time at Louisiana-Lafayette. The right-hander has added two-to-three ticks to his fastball in each of his first two pro seasons, going from 89 to 91 as a collegiate starter to 95-97, topping out at 98, as a one-inning professional reliever.

While the velocity gains are impressive in their own right, what caught this author’s attention was the 3,000 RPM slider Cooke developed after signing with Toronto. It’s an elite pitch that’s largely relegated his 12-6 curveball to something he rarely flashes to steal the occasional strike.1

The 23-year-old is punching out 43% of hitters and walking just 6.6%. There isn’t any publicly available Statcast data from his time in Vancouver or New Hampshire this season2 but, of the 572 pitchers who have thrown more than 300 pitches in Double-A this season, he’s running the 10th-best CSW% (36.6%).3

Note: Cooke hit the IL on August 11 and hasn’t taken the mound since August 2.

Drew Thorpe, RHP, Yankees

Across High-A leagues this season, only 126 pitchers have thrown 1,000 or more pitches. Of those hurlers, Yankees right-hander Drew Thorpe owns the highest CSW% (34.10%) and second-highest Whiff% (37.9%). What makes the Cal Poly product so compelling is not the fact that a second-round pick is succeeding in his first full pro season, but how he’s doing it.

Thorpe doesn’t light up the radar gun—his fastball sits 90-92 and tops out at 94 with some sinking/tailing action—but he pounds the zone (11.31 K/9 to 2.54 BB/9) and keeps the ball in the yard (0.77 HR/9). Thorpe has a smooth repeatable delivery, commands his three-pitch mix (fastball, slider, changeup) to both sides of the plate, and any uptick in velocity is likely to rocket him up prospect lists and through the Yankees’ system. However, if his early returns in Double-A are any indication (2 GS, 14.2IP, 2 ER, 21K, 1BB) he could still push his way to The Bronx next season even without adding velocity.

Wen Hui Pan, RHP, Phillies

After signing Hao-Yu Lee in 2021, the Phillies turned to Taiwan once more during the 2023 international signing period, signing 20-year-old Wen Hui Pan to a $350,000 signing bonus in January.