Ryan Bruno Stats & Scouting Report

Full name Ryan Peter Bruno
Born 01/04/2002 in Wellington, FL
Profile Ht.: 6'3" / Wt.: 221 / Bats: L / Throws: L
School Stanford
Drafted in the 7th round (205th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023 (signed for $140,000).

View Draft Report

School: Stanford Source: 4YR

Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.5
Bruno had massive arm talent out of high school, to the point that scouts called him a potential day one talent, but control issues held him back from that status and he made it to campus at Stanford. Bruno has continued to struggle with control in college, but was an effectively wild reliever in 2022 who posted a 2.72 ERA in 39.2 innings despite a 19.8% walk rate. The 6-foot-3, 221-pound lefthander regressed to the mean in 2023, with similar peripherals but a 5.29 ERA over 34 innings. Bruno creates uncomfortable at-bats thanks to a lower, three-quarter slot and a slight crossfire delivery that adds deception. He has two potential plus offerings, starting with a fastball that averaged 94 mph this spring and has been up to 100. His secondary is a firm, upper-80s changeup that he used more than 20% of the time and generated an impressive 65% whiff rate. Bruno threw the pitch about three ticks harder in 2023 than he did in 2022, with scouts preferring the greater velocity gap of the 2022 version of the fastball/changeup combination, though his strikes increased from 59% to 66% year-over-year on the cambio. Bruno has also thrown a firm, upper-80s slider but almost never uses it. Bruno has top-100 arm talent, but day three touch-and-feel, which will make him a polarizing and high-risk profile on draft day.

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Draft Prospects

School: Stanford Source: 4YR

Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.5
Bruno had massive arm talent out of high school, to the point that scouts called him a potential day one talent, but control issues held him back from that status and he made it to campus at Stanford. Bruno has continued to struggle with control in college, but was an effectively wild reliever in 2022 who posted a 2.72 ERA in 39.2 innings despite a 19.8% walk rate. The 6-foot-3, 221-pound lefthander regressed to the mean in 2023, with similar peripherals but a 5.29 ERA over 34 innings. Bruno creates uncomfortable at-bats thanks to a lower, three-quarter slot and a slight crossfire delivery that adds deception. He has two potential plus offerings, starting with a fastball that averaged 94 mph this spring and has been up to 100. His secondary is a firm, upper-80s changeup that he used more than 20% of the time and generated an impressive 65% whiff rate. Bruno threw the pitch about three ticks harder in 2023 than he did in 2022, with scouts preferring the greater velocity gap of the 2022 version of the fastball/changeup combination, though his strikes increased from 59% to 66% year-over-year on the cambio. Bruno has also thrown a firm, upper-80s slider but almost never uses it. Bruno has top-100 arm talent, but day three touch-and-feel, which will make him a polarizing and high-risk profile on draft day.
Bruno’s pure arm talent, handedness and athleticism could have made him a day one consideration, but given the shortened season and his previous control questions that could be a hard sell for teams. Last summer Bruno showed a lively delivery out of a 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame that had plenty of room for more weight, and slung fastballs in the 94-95 mph range at his best. However, the control of that pitch—along with his entire arsenal—was well below average and some evaluators have said that Bruno’s control questions are among the biggest in the prep class, at least among prospects in Top 300 consideration. There’s effort to his delivery, with head-whacking action in his finish and an arm that will fly out of sync frequently. He’s shown three secondaries, including a curveball in the 75-78 mph range, a slider in the low 80s and a changeup in the 81-83 mph range. All those pitches are in nascent stages, as Bruno struggles to get on top and land them consistently, and because of that scouts have had difficulty grading them with any real conviction. His control will need to improve significantly before scouts know what they are really dealing with and they weren’t able to watch him enough this spring to see if he had taken those steps. Because of that, Bruno could make it to campus at Stanford, where he’ll look to refine his game and start tapping into his lofty potential.