Orion Kerkering

Kerkering pitched strictly out of the bullpen for South Florida during his first two seasons with the program, but in 2022 bounced back and forth between the starting rotation and bullpen. His results were mixed, but scouts think when he gets into an established role at the next level, he could find more success. He posted a 5.72 ERA this spring over 67.2 innings, with 91 strikeouts (30.3 K%) and 19 walks (6.3 BB%). A 6-foot-2, 204-pound righthander, Kerkering mostly pitches off a fastball/slider combination. His fastball sits around 93 and gets up to 97 with average life and his mid-80s slider is a high-spin pitch (2,700-2,900 rpm) that was used more than 40% of the time this spring and generated whiffs at a 41% rate. It’s a potential plus offering that could be a consistent swing-and-miss pitch at the next level. He has also thrown a show-me changeup in the mid 80s that is used mainly against lefthanded hitters and has some slight fading life. It wouldn’t be surprising for a team to draft Kerkering, put him in a reliever role and continue to up his slider usage at the next level.