Brock Porter Stats & Scouting Report

IP	8.1
ERA	6.48
WHIP	2.04
BB/9	14.04
SO/9	8.64

Full name Brock Matthew Porter
Born 06/03/2003 in Milford, MI
Profile Ht.: 6'4" / Wt.: 208 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Orchard Lake St. Mary's
Drafted in the 4th round (109th overall) by the Texas Rangers in 2022 (signed for $3,700,000).

View Draft Report

Porter is the top prospect on a talented St. Mary’s Prep high school team and one of the best prospects to come out of Michigan in years. He should become the first high school first-rounder out of the state since Nick Plummer (No. 23) in 2015. The lanky and still-projectable 6-foot-3, 188-pound righthander established himself as one of the top pitchers in the class last summer, when he showed a fastball that was regularly in the mid 90s, an elite changeup and multiple quality breaking balls. Porter has a chance for two 70-grade pitches with his fastball—a pitch that has been up to 100 mph and regularly touches 97-98 mph—and a devastating changeup that features tremendous velocity separation, arm-side fading life and tumbling action. The pitch is one of the better secondary offerings in the class (rivaling fellow prep righthander Dylan Lesko’s changeup) and it regularly stymies hitters in the upper 70s. He sells it with impressive arm speed and shows advanced feel to locate the pitch and spot it down in the zone and below it for swings and misses. On top of his fastball/changeup combination, Porter throws both a curveball and a slider. The former is in the mid-to-upper 70s with top-down shape and the latter is in the lower 80s with three-quarter breaking action. Scouts believe the slider has a chance to be an above-average offering, but he’ll need more consistency with the pitch. Part of that inconsistency with spin could stem from a longer arm action, which is one of the few critiques in Porter’s game. There’s significant depth in the back side of his arm stroke, with some tilt in his delivery as well that could lead to inconsistencies, but in general Porter has repeated well and filled up the zone with strikes. He’s more of a control-over-command pitcher now but has the sort of power stuff to more than get away with that sort of accuracy. Porter is committed to Clemson, but with Dylan Lesko’s injury this spring he has a chance to be the first pitcher selected in a down class of college arms.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

BA Grade: 55/Extreme

Track Record: In 2022, the Rangers forfeited their second- and third-round picks as a penalty for signing World Series cornerstones Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. They took Kumar Rocker with their first-round choice, signed him for an under-slot deal and used the savings to sign Porter, one of the highest-upside high school arms in the class. Porter’s bonus was $3.7 million, the fourth-round record by a wide margin. The righthander spent all of his first full season in 2023 at Low-A Down East, which advanced to the Carolina League finals.

Scouting Report: Porter’s bread and butter is his changeup, a filthy pitch that is a true plus offering. His changeup sits in the low 80s and features late, hard drop and is thrown with enough velocity separation and conviction to get swings and misses from both lefthanded and righthanded batters. His changeup complements a four-seam fastball that also grades out as a future plus. It sits around 94 mph and earns high marks for its nearly 2,500 rpm spin rate and a nearly 30% whiff rate. The question all year long was whether Porter could find a suitable breaking ball, and late in the year he found one. After scrapping a curveball, he opted for a sweeping slider in the low 80s that featured more than 15 inches of horizontal break. The next step is improving his control, which was poor all season long and resulted in a 14% walk rate and an overall strike rate of just 57%. Scouts suggested that part of the reason for the control issues was because his delivery, while repeatable, was too uptempo and would leave him fatigued after a few innings. He pitched five innings just twice all season.

The Future: Porter will advance to High-A in 2024, when he’ll work on continuing to sharpen his breaking ball and throwing more strikes. If he can check those boxes, he has midrotation upside.

Scouting Grades Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 40
BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme

Track Record: After the Rangers took Kumar Rocker at No. 3 overall in 2022, the industry wondered if they had a plan to spend big with their next selection, which came in the fourth round after they'd forfeited their second- and third-round picks by signing free agents Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. That theory proved true with Texas' selection of Porter, whom they signed for $3.7 million. The bonus is far and away the highest for a fourth-round pick, besting Giants righthander Eric Silva's 2021 bonus by roughly $2.2 million. Porter did not pitch during the remainder of the regular season and participated in instructional league without getting into a game.

Scouting Report: Porter stands out for his mid-90s fastball with heavy sink and a devastating low-80s changeup that rivaled Padres first-rounder Dylan Lesko for the best in the 2022 class. His changeup is effective because it's thrown with excellent conviction, features a velocity separation of roughly 18-20 mph from his fastball and has hard, trapdoor action down and away from righthanded hitters. Porter still has plenty of projection remaining on his 6-foot-4, 208-pound frame and could begin touching triple digits--he has a goal of reaching 103 mph one day--as he adds strength. The next step will be to settle on a breaking ball that best fits his arm action. He currently throws both a curveball and a slider, with the latter a bit ahead of the former. The Rangers are leaning toward a slider or a slurve going forward. Porter's arm action is very long and could stand to be cleaned up to improve his control and command.

The Future: Porter's first official action is likely to come in the Arizona Complex League in 2023 with a chance at a move to Low-A late in the year. If he can find an ideal breaking ball to complement his fastball and changeup, he'll have a chance as a midrotation starter.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60. Curveball: 50. Slider: 55. Changeup: 60. Control: 50

Draft Prospects

School: St. Mary’s Prep, Orchard Lake, Mich. Committed/Drafted: Clemson
Age At Draft: 19.1
BA Grade: 60/Extreme
Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 70 | Cutter: | Control: 50
Porter is the top prospect on a talented St. Mary’s Prep high school team and one of the best prospects to come out of Michigan in years. He should become the first high school first-rounder out of the state since Nick Plummer (No. 23) in 2015. The lanky and still-projectable 6-foot-3, 188-pound righthander established himself as one of the top pitchers in the class last summer, when he showed a fastball that was regularly in the mid 90s, an elite changeup and multiple quality breaking balls. Porter has a chance for two 70-grade pitches with his fastball—a pitch that has been up to 100 mph and regularly touches 97-98 mph—and a devastating changeup that features tremendous velocity separation, arm-side fading life and tumbling action. The pitch is one of the better secondary offerings in the class (rivaling fellow prep righthander Dylan Lesko’s changeup) and it regularly stymies hitters in the upper 70s. He sells it with impressive arm speed and shows advanced feel to locate the pitch and spot it down in the zone and below it for swings and misses. On top of his fastball/changeup combination, Porter throws both a curveball and a slider. The former is in the mid-to-upper 70s with top-down shape and the latter is in the lower 80s with three-quarter breaking action. Scouts believe the slider has a chance to be an above-average offering, but he’ll need more consistency with the pitch. Part of that inconsistency with spin could stem from a longer arm action, which is one of the few critiques in Porter’s game. There’s significant depth in the back side of his arm stroke, with some tilt in his delivery as well that could lead to inconsistencies, but in general Porter has repeated well and filled up the zone with strikes. He’s more of a control-over-command pitcher now but has the sort of power stuff to more than get away with that sort of accuracy. Porter is committed to Clemson, but with Dylan Lesko’s injury this spring he has a chance to be the first pitcher selected in a down class of college arms.

Scouting Reports

BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme

Track Record: After the Rangers took Kumar Rocker at No. 3 overall in 2022, the industry wondered if they had a plan to spend big with their next selection, which came in the fourth round after they'd forfeited their second- and third-round picks by signing free agents Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. That theory proved true with Texas' selection of Porter, whom they signed for $3.7 million. The bonus is far and away the highest for a fourth-round pick, besting Giants righthander Eric Silva's 2021 bonus by roughly $2.2 million. Porter did not pitch during the remainder of the regular season and participated in instructional league without getting into a game.

Scouting Report: Porter stands out for his mid-90s fastball with heavy sink and a devastating low-80s changeup that rivaled Padres first-rounder Dylan Lesko for the best in the 2022 class. His changeup is effective because it's thrown with excellent conviction, features a velocity separation of roughly 18-20 mph from his fastball and has hard, trapdoor action down and away from righthanded hitters. Porter still has plenty of projection remaining on his 6-foot-4, 208-pound frame and could begin touching triple digits--he has a goal of reaching 103 mph one day--as he adds strength. The next step will be to settle on a breaking ball that best fits his arm action. He currently throws both a curveball and a slider, with the latter a bit ahead of the former. The Rangers are leaning toward a slider or a slurve going forward. Porter's arm action is very long and could stand to be cleaned up to improve his control and command.

The Future: Porter's first official action is likely to come in the Arizona Complex League in 2023 with a chance at a move to Low-A late in the year. If he can find an ideal breaking ball to complement his fastball and changeup, he'll have a chance as a midrotation starter.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60. Curveball: 50. Slider: 55. Changeup: 60. Control: 50
BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme

Track Record: After the Rangers took Kumar Rocker at No. 3 overall in 2022, the industry wondered if they had a plan to spend big with their next selection, which came in the fourth round after they'd forfeited their second- and third-round picks by signing free agents Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. That theory proved true with Texas' selection of Porter, whom they signed for $3.7 million. The bonus is far and away the highest for a fourth-round pick, besting Giants righthander Eric Silva's 2021 bonus by roughly $2.2 million. Porter did not pitch during the remainder of the regular season and participated in instructional league without getting into a game.

Scouting Report: Porter stands out for his mid-90s fastball with heavy sink and a devastating low-80s changeup that rivaled Padres first-rounder Dylan Lesko for the best in the 2022 class. His changeup is effective because it's thrown with excellent conviction, features a velocity separation of roughly 18-20 mph from his fastball and has hard, trapdoor action down and away from righthanded hitters. Porter still has plenty of projection remaining on his 6-foot-4, 208-pound frame and could begin touching triple digits--he has a goal of reaching 103 mph one day--as he adds strength. The next step will be to settle on a breaking ball that best fits his arm action. He currently throws both a curveball and a slider, with the latter a bit ahead of the former. The Rangers are leaning toward a slider or a slurve going forward. Porter's arm action is very long and could stand to be cleaned up to improve his control and command.

The Future: Porter's first official action is likely to come in the Arizona Complex League in 2023 with a chance at a move to Low-A late in the year. If he can find an ideal breaking ball to complement his fastball and changeup, he'll have a chance as a midrotation starter.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60. Curveball: 50. Slider: 55. Changeup: 60. Control: 50
BA Grade: 60/Extreme

August Update: Porter is the top prospect on a talented St. Mary&#39s Prep high school team and one of the best prospects to come out of Michigan in years. The lanky and still-projectable 6-foot-3, 188-pound righthander established himself as one of the top pitchers in the class last summer, when he showed a fastball that was regularly in the mid 90s, an elite changeup and multiple quality breaking balls. Porter has a chance for two 70-grade pitches with his fastball—a pitch that has been up to 100 mph and regularly touches 97-98 mph—and a devastating changeup that features tremendous velocity separation, arm-side fading life and tumbling action. The pitch is one of the better secondary offerings in the class and it regularly stymies hitters in the upper 70s. He sells it with impressive arm speed and shows advanced feel to locate the pitch and spot it down in the zone and below it for swings and misses. On top of his fastball/changeup combination, Porter throws both a curveball and a slider. The former is in the mid-to-upper 70s with top-down shape and the latter is in the lower 80s with three-quarter breaking action. Scouts believe the slider has a chance to be an above-average offering, but he&#39ll need more consistency with the pitch. Part of that inconsistency with spin could stem from a longer arm action, which is one of the few critiques in Porter&#39s game. There&#39s significant depth in the back side of his arm stroke, with some tilt in his delivery as well that could lead to inconsistencies, but in general Porter has repeated well and filled up the zone with strikes. He&#39s more of a control-over-command pitcher now but has the sort of power stuff to more than get away with that sort of accuracy.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70. Curveball: 50. Slider: 55. Changeup: 70. Control: 50.