Victor Juarez

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Colorado Rockies #28 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 40/High
  
  Track Record: Juarez made his full-season debut in 2022 with Low-A Fresno and spent the entire season with the Grizzlies. Juarez jumped to High-A Spokane for 2023. He made 20 starts and struggled to avoid hard contact. Juarez’s ERA jumped by a full run but his ERA estimators remained consistent.
  
  Scouting Report: Juarez mixes a fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. Juarez’s fastball sits between 90-92 mph at touches 93 mph with above-average ride and armside run. He commands the pitch well, but it’s a below-average bat-misser. He splits the use of his curveball and changeup fairly evenly. His curveball sits in the upper 70s and is a 12-to-6 downer. Juarez’s changeup sits between 83-85 mph with tumble and fade and has been his best-performing pitch over the last two seasons. Juarez’s slider sits in the mid 80s with gyro shape. He shows above-average control and has the ability to land all of his pitches in the strike zone, but his command lags behind and he’ll often miss in the heart of the zone.
  
  The Future: Juarez took a step backward in 2023, and he now projects as a depth starter in the big leagues.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 40 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 40 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 55
• 
  Ranked Colorado Rockies #12 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/Very High
  
  Track Record: Juarez was a well-known amateur prospect in Mexico and represented the country in the Little League World Series. He signed with the Rockies in 2019 for $500,000. Juarez split his 2021 season between the Dominican Summer League and the Arizona Complex League before hitting full-season ball in 2022. He finished as one of two teenagers to pitch 100 innings and record 100 strikeouts in the Cal League.
  
  Scouting Report: A slight righthander with a svelte, athletic frame, Juarez is a strong fluid mover who repeats his mechanics well. He deploys a simple, up-tempo operation with a high leg lift and a long but quick arm action before he slings the ball from a high three-quarters slot. Juarez's pitch mix consists of a low-90s four-seam fastball with pedestrian ride but above-average armside run, a curveball, slider and changeup. His curveball is a high-70s breaking ball with two-plane break and depth. He also utilizes a slider that became a big part of his arsenal late in the season. It sits in the low 80s with classic slider shape. His changeup was his most-thrown secondary and sits in the low-to-mid-80s with tumble and fade. All of Juarez's secondaries tunnel well off of his fastball, driving high rates of chase swings against each pitch individually. Juarez shows average command of his arsenal and could improve to above-average in his peak seasons.
  
  The Future: Juarez profiles as a No. 5 starter with a deep arsenal of pitches and command that plays above his pure stuff.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 40. Curveball: 55. Slider: 50. Changeup: 55. Control: 50.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/Very High
  
  Track Record: Juarez was a well-known amateur prospect in Mexico and represented the country in the Little League World Series. He signed with the Rockies in 2019 for $500,000. Juarez split his 2021 season between the Dominican Summer League and the Arizona Complex League before hitting full-season ball in 2022. He finished as one of two teenagers to pitch 100 innings and record 100 strikeouts in the Cal League.
  
  Scouting Report: A slight righthander with a svelte, athletic frame, Juarez is a strong fluid mover who repeats his mechanics well. He deploys a simple, up-tempo operation with a high leg lift and a long but quick arm action before he slings the ball from a high three-quarters slot. Juarez's pitch mix consists of a low-90s four-seam fastball with pedestrian ride but above-average armside run, a curveball, slider and changeup. His curveball is a high-70s breaking ball with two-plane break and depth. He also utilizes a slider that became a big part of his arsenal late in the season. It sits in the low 80s with classic slider shape. His changeup was his most-thrown secondary and sits in the low-to-mid-80s with tumble and fade. All of Juarez's secondaries tunnel well off of his fastball, driving high rates of chase swings against each pitch individually. Juarez shows average command of his arsenal and could improve to above-average in his peak seasons.
  
  The Future: Juarez profiles as a No. 5 starter with a deep arsenal of pitches and command that plays above his pure stuff.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 40. Curveball: 55. Slider: 50. Changeup: 55. Control: 50.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/Very High
  
  Track Record: Juarez was a well-known amateur prospect in Mexico and represented the country in the Little League World Series. He signed with the Rockies in 2019 for $500,000. Juarez split his 2021 season between the Dominican Summer League and the Arizona Complex League before hitting full-season ball in 2022. He finished as one of two teenagers to pitch 100 innings and record 100 strikeouts in the Cal League.
  
  Scouting Report: A slight righthander with a svelte, athletic frame, Juarez is a strong fluid mover who repeats his mechanics well. He deploys a simple, up-tempo operation with a high leg lift and a long but quick arm action before he slings the ball from a high three-quarters slot. Juarez's pitch mix consists of a low-90s four-seam fastball with pedestrian ride but above-average armside run, a curveball, slider and changeup. His curveball is a high-70s breaking ball with two-plane break and depth. He also utilizes a slider that became a big part of his arsenal late in the season. It sits in the low 80s with classic slider shape. His changeup was his most-thrown secondary and sits in the low-to-mid-80s with tumble and fade. All of Juarez's secondaries tunnel well off of his fastball, driving high rates of chase swings against each pitch individually. Juarez shows average command of his arsenal and could improve to above-average in his peak seasons.
  
  The Future: Juarez profiles as a No. 5 starter with a deep arsenal of pitches and command that plays above his pure stuff.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 40. Curveball: 55. Slider: 50. Changeup: 55. Control: 50.
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 50/High
  
  Track Record:: Signed out of Mexico in July of 2019, Juarez was a well known amateur player in his home country representing Mexico in the Little League World Series. He made his professional debut last summer in the Dominican Summer League before coming stateside for three September appearances. He was assigned to Fresno out of camp in the spring and was named California League pitcher of the week for May 16 to May 22.
  
  Scouting Report: An undersized righthander with plenty of remaining projection, plus arm speed and natural athleticism, Juarez deploys five pitches technically but is primarily working off of a three-pitch-mix comprised of a fastball, curveball and changeup. His fastball sits 91-93 mph with heavy bore and late life. He locates it extremely well to all four quadrants, allowing it to play above its velocity due to his command. His primary secondary is a high-70s curveball with late break and good depth. The shape plays well off of the fastball and lacks the hump typical of curveballs in the lower levels. He commands the curveball well and is adept at burying it for chase swings or stealing strikes at the bottom of the zone. His changeup is inconsistent but he flashes signs of an above-average cambio with tumble and fade. He&#39ll mix in a tighter slider in the low 80s and has flashed a cutter in the 86-87 mph range but both are rarely used. Overall, Juarez shows a starter&#39s feel for his arsenal with some projection remaining across the board.
  
  The Future: A young precocious arm who&#39s already holding his own as an 18-year-old in a hitter&#39s league, Jaurez has two average or better secondaries that project to be above-average by maturation and an average fastball that plays up due to his feel for the pitch. He&#39s an exciting young arm blossoming in the Rockies lower levels.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50. Slider: 45. Curveball: 55. Changeup: 50. Control: 55