Carter Rustad

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #168 prospect in 2019 draft
  A high school righthander with easy actions and projection is what you get with Rustad. He has a thin, 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame with a quick arm and easy three-quarter delivery with minimal effort. The San Diego commit has been up to 96 mph with his fastball and even touched 97 mph at an early start in Arizona. There's a high spin rate on his fastball, though his velocity tends to fall off toward the middle and end of his outings, dipping into the 88-91 mph range. Rustad has shown feel for spinning a breaking ball at times, and this spring he separated the pitch into two distinct offerings: a slider and a curveball. However, scouts have graded both pitches as below-average this spring, with a solid changeup currently his best secondary. Rustad has plenty of starter traits and elements to like as a projection arm, with athleticism and good feel to locate his fastball, but he'll need to add strength, hold his velocity deeper into games and make strides with his breaking pitches to fully realize his upside.

• December, 2018 Scouting Report
  A high school righthander with easy actions and projection is what you get with Rustad. He has a thin, 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame with a quick arm and easy three-quarter delivery with minimal effort. The San Diego commit has been up to 96 mph with his fastball and even touched 97 mph at an early start in Arizona. There's a high spin rate on his fastball, though his velocity tends to fall off toward the middle and end of his outings, dipping into the 88-91 mph range. Rustad has shown feel for spinning a breaking ball at times, and this spring he separated the pitch into two distinct offerings: a slider and a curveball. However, scouts have graded both pitches as below-average this spring, with a solid changeup currently his best secondary. Rustad has plenty of starter traits and elements to like as a projection arm, with athleticism and good feel to locate his fastball, but he'll need to add strength, hold his velocity deeper into games and make strides with his breaking pitches to fully realize his upside.