2019 #14 Prospect: Drew Rom - LHP

[Tony-OH]

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2019/11/12/orioles-14-prospect-drew-rom-lhp/

[Frobby]

Thread title has a typo in Rom’s name.   
 

I definitely see the Wells comp.    Hopefully Rom can progress through the system as Wells has.  

[ChosenOne21]

Huh, I really thought the selling point on Rom was the potential to add velocity. Doesn't seem like that's likely from the write-up

[Big Mac]

31 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Thread title has a typo in Rom’s name.   
 

I definitely see the Wells comp.    Hopefully Rom can progress through the system as Wells has.  

I see the Wells comp too.  I guess the disconnect I'm having is what accounts for the dramatic discrepancy in K rate between Rom and Wells at Delmarva?  

[MDtransplant757]

Is it to late to give up on Rom getting more velocity? The Wells comp is nice, but his upside would go up if he had more speed on his pitches. 

[LookinUp]

For both Rom and Wells, I think I'd just characterize the rankings as different strokes for different folks. I like that each are in the organization, but I really don't value either from an upside perspective. If the goal is to be able to carefully manage a couple of future major leaguers so they can get some outs before getting hit hard, they seem like the guys. I think they get a lot of points because their minor league results are so good. They're better performers than many of their peers, but I think some of those guys will pass them by over time, so I'm personally looking forward to other write-ups to come.

I do like that Rom is 19. The write-up addresses the likelihood of adding velocity, but I'm not quite as down on that possibility for a 19 year old just because there are so many ways to optimize a delivery and add some physical maturity (even though he has a pretty mature body now) that could result in a few ticks. For a pitcher like this, 3 MPH would make a huge difference. In that sense, I'm higher on Rom than Wells.

[weams]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Thread title has a typo in Rom’s name.   
 

I definitely see the Wells comp.    Hopefully Rom can progress through the system as Wells has.  

Got it. 

[weams]

42 minutes ago, ChosenOne21 said:

Huh, I really thought the selling point on Rom was the potential to add velocity. Doesn't seem like that's likely from the write-up

I always have velocity hopes. 

[LookinUp]

Means' velocity ticked up last year. I think I also saw Luke (on twitter?) say that his spin rate also went up. He was a few years older than Rom. There's certainly hope.

[Ruzious]

56 minutes ago, weams said:

I always have velocity hopes. 

For me, it's more spin rate dreams. 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Big Mac said:

I see the Wells comp too.  I guess the disconnect I'm having is what accounts for the dramatic discrepancy in K rate between Rom and Wells at Delmarva?  

That's a good question. In my mind Rom's offspeed pitches are further along than Wells were at the same time. Wells was mostly a fastball, curveball guy and Rom's change is better than Wells. Rom could very well be better than Wells as they are similar prospects, but Wells gets the slight nod because he's already had success at AA. 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, MDtransplant757 said:

Is it to late to give up on Rom getting more velocity? The Wells comp is nice, but his upside would go up if he had more speed on his pitches. 

He has a fairly mature body so you typically don't see a ton more velocity from these guys. Saying that, with all the technology that helps maximize guy's deliveries now and Rom's willingness to learn, I would not be a surprised if he ends up throwing a little harder.

[Luke-OH]

1 hour ago, ChosenOne21 said:

Huh, I really thought the selling point on Rom was the potential to add velocity. Doesn't seem like that's likely from the write-up

He’s not traditionally projectable. I think if he’s going to throw harder it’s more of holding his best velocity (89-92) than adding. But like others said, more people are training for velocity specifically so you never know. 

The breakdown between Wells and Rom is basically what Tony just said. Rom has much better offspeed stuff than Wells at the same age, but there’s more command for Wells and less risk because he’s done it at higher levels.

[Big Mac]

10 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

That's a good question. In my mind Rom's offspeed pitches are further along than Wells were at the same time. Wells was mostly a fastball, curveball guy and Rom's change is better than Wells. Rom could very well be better than Wells as they are similar prospects, but Wells gets the slight nod because he's already had success at AA. 

Very helpful explanation, thank you. 

[MDtransplant757]

15 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

He has a fairly mature body so you typically don't see a ton more velocity from these guys. Saying that, with all the technology that helps maximize guy's deliveries now and Rom's willingness to learn, I would not be a surprised if he ends up throwing a little harder.

Considering all the baseball schools opening up around the country now that are using Trackman cameras, I think seeing an uptick if the Orioles decide to send him to one of these schools wouldn't surprise me. Read an article a while ago about how now Rays prospect Michael Plassmeyer used one of these schools in college to get better command and better velocity on his pitches, and the results got better every year in college. Something like that for Rom would be massive IMO