Nathan Dettmer

School: Texas A&M Source: 4YR

Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.2
BA Grade:45/High
Tools:Fastball: 50. Slider: 55. Changeup: 45. Control: 40.

Dettmer is a large, physical righthander with a long track record as a starter for Texas A&M. He pitched well as a freshman and sophomore, but his walk rate jumped from 6.4% in 2022 to 12.4% in 2023 and the 6-foot-4, 230-pound righty posted just a 6.32 ERA over 17 starts and 72.2 innings of work. He attacks hitters with a three-quarter slot from the first base side of the rubber and has a three-pitch mix. His fastball averaged 93 mph and touched 96 this spring, but it’s a low-spin heater with sinking and running action that creates more groundball contact than whiffs up in the zone. He’s always generated a groundball rate higher than 50% with Texas A&M, and that was again the case in 2023. His breaking ball previously blended in shape and varied from an upper-70s curve to a low-80s slurvy slider, but he added more power to the breaking ball and it now has mid-80s velocity with three-quarter shape and generated a 36% whiff rate. He has a low-to-mid-80s changeup as well that’s more frequently used against lefthanded hitters, but he lacks feel for the pitch and leaves it up in the zone too much. Dettmer flashed loud stuff last fall, and scouts were hoping to see him take a step forward and miss more bats, but he instead had the same strikeout numbers with more walks.