Franco Aleman

Aleman has been scouted and flashing upside potential since his high school days and has bounced around Florida colleges over the last few years, starting at Florida International, then heading to St. John’s (River) JC and pitching his first season with Florida this spring. He’s a huge presence on the mound at 6-foot-6, 230 pounds with a fastball that sits around 93 and is regularly into the upper 90s, touching 98 mph at its peak this spring. Aleman split time as a starter and reliever this spring and scouts have seen him sitting 90-92 mph in a starting role, with more of a four-seam fastball (he used to be a sinker pitcher) this spring. Aleman throws a slider, changeup and curveball, and the slider flashes above-average in the low 80s with plenty of horizontal movement, but the curve and changeup are distant third and fourth offerings at the moment. Aleman posted a 5.74 ERA over 69 innings, with 65 strikeouts (8.5 K/9) and 21 walks (2.7 BB/9) but he remains incredibly inconsistent from outing to outing, struggling to find the zone one day and looking lights out the next. The Cuban-born righthander has arm talent, but a team has to bank on him becoming more consistent at the next level.