Adam Ravenelle

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Detroit Tigers #8 prospect in 2017
  The Yankees chose Ravenelle out of high school in Sudbury, Mass., in 2011, but he chose to spend the next three seasons at Vanderbilt instead. He got the final six outs of the Commodores' 2014 College World Series championship. Ravenelle's hallmarks are his premium pitcher's body and top-end fastball. The pitch took a jump this year, moving from 93-97 mph into triple digits. His fastball also gets excellent sink when his mechanics are in sync and is capable of getting swings and misses. His main secondary offering is a slider that tops out in the low 90s and breaks more vertically than horizontally. Though his fastball can touch 101 mph, the Tigers have reminded Ravenelle that he doesn't need to throw that hard to get outs. His coaches have worked to make his delivery smoother and less rotational. After a second straight assignment to the Arizona Fall League, Ravenelle will likely return to Double-A Erie to start 2017.
• 
  Ranked Detroit Tigers #29 prospect in 2016
  After three years pitching for Vanderbilt, Ravenelle overhauled his mechanics and saw his stuff jump, prompting the Tigers to sign him for $412,400 as a fourth-round pick in 2014. A reliever at Vanderbilt, Ravenelle stayed in that role with the Tigers, showing the ability to miss bats and keep the ball on the ground albeit with spotty command in his first full season in the low Class A Midwest League. He pitched in the Arizona Fall League, but he gave up 10 runs in 10 1/3 innings and walked eight batters there. At his best, Ravenelle flashes two plus pitches, led by a 93-97 mph fastball with heavy, boring action that gets groundballs and weak contact. His slider is a plus pitch at times, but it's extremely inconsistent, flattening out into a below-average pitch too frequently. He walked 5.0 batters per nine innings in the Midwest League, so he will need to learn to throw more strikes to reach the big leagues as a middle reliever.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #113 prospect in 2014 draft
  Like other several other Vanderbilt prospects, Ravenelle hails from the Northeast, a Massachusetts prep product who was a 44th-round pick of the Yankees in 2011 but chose to go to school. He has overhauled his mechanics since high school, to positive effect, with a fastball that tops out at 97 mph, sitting in the mid-90s, with a slider that's inconsistent but a plus pitch when it's on. He has worked exclusively as a reliever for the Commodores but has an athletic, prototype pitcher's body at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds and a clean delivery, so he has a chance to start in pro ball. He'll likely start early in his pro career if only to get innings. Even after pitching in summer ball the last two years, he still had fewer than 100 career innings. Ravenelle's fresh arm and ideal frame make him a college pitcher to dream on.

• December, 2016 Scouting Report
  Background: The Yankees chose Ravenelle out of high school in Sudbury, Mass., in 2011, but he chose to spend the next three seasons at Vanderbilt instead. He got the final six outs of the Commodores' 2014 College World Series championship, punctuated with a whiff of Virginia shortstop Daniel Pinero, now his teammate in the Tigers system. Scouting Report: Ravenelle's hallmarks are his premium pitcher's body and top-end fastball. The pitch took a jump this year, moving from a 93-97 mph offering into one that surges into triple digits with regularity. His fastball also gets excellent sink when his mechanics are in sync and is capable of getting swings and misses. His main secondary offering is a slider that tops out in the low 90s and breaks more vertically than horizontally. And though his fastball can get as high 101 mph, the Tigers have tried to remind Ravenelle that he doesn't necessarily need to throw that hard to get out. His coaches have worked to make his delivery smoother and less rotational in the hopes of harnessing his knockout stuff.
  
  The Future: After a second straight assignment to the Arizona Fall League, Ravenelle will likely return to Double-A Erie to start 2017. He should work in high-leverage relief situations if he develops the way the Tigers believe.