Phil Pfeifer Stats & Scouting Report

Full name Philip James Pfeifer
Born 07/15/1992 in Knoxville, TN
Profile Ht.: 6'0" / Wt.: 200 / Bats: L / Throws: L
School Vanderbilt
Drafted in the 3rd round (101st overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015 (signed for $222,500).

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Pfeifer won four state championships at Farragut High and set a Tennessee state record for career wins with 46. He became an important member of the Vanderbilt staff in his first two seasons in college, before missing the 2014 season for a personal issue. The now redshirt junior returned to the mound this season and has become one of the Commodores most important pitchers. He began the season in the bullpen and saved five games before moving to the rotation in the middle of spring. Pfeifer has some deception in his delivery, which makes him hard to pick up and helps him pile up strikeouts. His fastball typically sits around 90 mph and both his curveball and changeup are solid offerings. Pfeifer has pitched well as both a starter and a reliever this spring and could start his professional career in either role. If a team sends him out as a reliever, he could move quickly through the minor leagues.

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Pfeifer holds the Tennessee high school record with 46 wins in his career at Knoxville's Farragut High, but his baseball career was almost derailed soon after. Drug and alcohol abuse slowed his career at Vanderbilt, eventually culminating in a wake-up call when he was suspended for the Commodores' 2014 national championship season. Pfeifer sobered up, returned to the mound in 2015 and remade himself as a draft prospect. The Braves picked him up in a June 2016 trade that sent Bud Norris to the Dodgers. Pfeifer is a two-pitch lefty reliever, but those two pitches are good enough to get him to the big leagues. His above-average 93-95 mph fastball has played up in relief, but his strikeout pitch is a big downer curve. It's a big breaking pitch that hitters can pick up quickly, but his ability to locate it in any count makes it an above-average pitch. Lefties have been generally helpless against him, hitting .200 with just three extra-base hits (all doubles) in 130 pro at-bats. But Pfeifer's control is below-average, which limits his effectiveness. Pfeifer will return to Triple-A Gwinnett to try to tame his control, but with even fringe-average control, he's a lefty matchup reliever.

Pfeifer won four state championships at Farragut High and set a Tennessee state record for career wins with 46. He became an important member of the Vanderbilt staff in his first two seasons in college, before missing the 2014 season for a personal issue. The now redshirt junior returned to the mound this season and has become one of the Commodores most important pitchers. He began the season in the bullpen and saved five games before moving to the rotation in the middle of spring. Pfeifer has some deception in his delivery, which makes him hard to pick up and helps him pile up strikeouts. His fastball typically sits around 90 mph and both his curveball and changeup are solid offerings. Pfeifer has pitched well as both a starter and a reliever this spring and could start his professional career in either role. If a team sends him out as a reliever, he could move quickly through the minor leagues.