Bryce McGowan

McGowan entered the year as a potential sleeper pick thanks to reports of a step forward with his control last fall. McGowan has always had a big arm with impressive pure stuff, but high walk rates held him back during his first two seasons with Charlotte. That remained the case for McGowan this spring, as he posted a 4.84 ERA over 15 starts and 80 innings, with 99 strikeouts (11.1 K/9) and 55 walks (6.2 BB/9), which was good for the highest walk rate of his collegiate career. McGowan has a four-pitch mix that’s led by his fastball and slider. He sits in the 92-94 mph range and gets up to 97 with his fastball, and his slider is in the mid 80s with hard horizontal action to the glove side. He’ll get around the pitch at times, but when he’s on top it looks like a real above-average breaking ball. McGowan also throws a mid-80s changeup to his arm side that features diving action and arm-side fade and a low-80s curve with more three-quarter shape. McGowan is listed at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds and throws with a short arm action and a three-quarter arm slot, with some effort but not a significant amount. He has the four-pitch mix that could play in a starting role, but to do so will need to take a step forward with his strike throwing—which after three years at Charlotte has been consistently below-average.