Jared Southard

Southard was one of the bright spots out of the Texas bullpen this spring. The physical 6-foot-2, 220-pound righthander went 4-1, 2.76 with 46 strikeouts in 29.1 innings. Hitters had plenty of issues with his fastball/slider mix that was simply too potent at times to do anything with. Southard has plenty of take off in his 93-95 mph fastball with late run generating swings and misses up in the zone. However, most of his strikeouts come from his slider. The 85-87 mph knockout pitch is tight with late movement, diving off the plate and accumulating its fair share of whiffs. He sells the pitch extremely well from his low-three-quarter slot. His slider and fastball look similar coming out of his hand. Southard could be a quick mover as he already has the fastball-slider combo package of an MLB reliever.