Luis Ysla

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Boston Red Sox #22 prospect in 2017
  In his first full season in the Red Sox organization, Ysla showed the power lefthanded arm that drew Boston to him in the August 2015 trade that sent Alejandro De Aza to the Giants. Ysla sits in the mid-90s with a two-plane fastball that misses bats. That pitch alone should play in the majors if he can throw it for strikes, though its value is mitigated by the fact that he hasn't developed a consistent secondary pitch as a complement. Given that Ysla's fastball tends to cut to his glove side, he showed significant reverse splits while working as a reliever in 2016. Righthanded batters hit just .225 against him at Double-A Portland (plus one Triple-A appearance) while lefties mashed him at a .321/.404/.523 clip. Still, he struck out 30 percent of the lefties he faced. If he improves his slider and uses it to attack the inner part of the plate, he could emerge as the primary lefthanded bullpen option on the farm, particularly now that the Red Sox have added him to the 40-man roster.
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  Ranked Boston Red Sox #25 prospect in 2016
  Acquired from the Giants at the end of August 2015 for outfielder Alejandro De Aza, Ysla already owns a mark of distinction as the first player acquired by the Red Sox in a trade under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Ysla is an intriguing power arm with a chance to be an impact lefthanded reliever down the road. Signed by the Giants as a lanky 20-year-old out of Venezuela, he had a strong fullseason debut at low Class A Augusta in 2014, recording a 2.45 ERA with 8.5 strikeouts and 3.3 walks per nine innings. In 2015, his ERA soared to 6.21 at high Class A San Jose prior to his trade, in part because his walk rate spiked to 4.6 per nine, but his strikeouts likewise jumped (10.6 per nine innings). If he can throw strikes, then Ysla's fastball-slider combination with deception-creating funk in his delivery should give him a strong chance to be a left-on-left weapon, and if he can successfully incorporate his changeup (rated the best in the South Atlantic League in 2014 by opposing managers, but not a pitch of distinction in 2014), he has the ceiling of a setup man.
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  Ranked San Francisco Giants #21 prospect in 2015
  When the Giants have tried to make a big splash in Latin America, it's generally gone very poorly. But when the Giants sign older pitchers for less money, they often get a nice payoff, like what they may get from Ysla, a little-noticed, inexpensive signing from Venezuela as a 20-year-old. He dominated the Rookie-level Arizona League in his 2013 pro debut and was just as good at low Class A Augusta in 2014, leading the South Atlantic League in ERA (2.45). Ysla goes right at hitters with a high-effort, slinging delivery that leads many scouts to peg him as a future reliever. His stuff plays either as a starter or reliever. He gets ahead of hitters by locating his 92-94 mph fastball, then his plus mid 80s mph changeup finishes them off. His 80-81 mph slider is erratic, but is average at its best. He'll help anchor the high Class A San Jose rotation in 2015.