Jake Cosart Stats & Scouting Report

Full name Jake Edward Cosart
Born 02/11/1994 in Houston, TX
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 175 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Seminole State College (FL)
Drafted in the 3rd round (103rd overall) by the Boston Red Sox in 2014 (signed for $450,000).

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After going undrafted as a 6-foot-1, 145-pound outfielder out of Texas, Cosart attended Duke, where he redshirted and then did not throw a pitch in game action before transferring to Seminole State. Jake's older brother Jarred was a teammate of Astros lefthander Brett Oberholtzer, who attended Seminole and helped the younger Cosart reach campus. Cosart, a plus athlete who has gained strength to be 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, has elite arm speed and touched 98 mph in the fall, though his fastball has played at 92-95 with life this spring. His curveball shows above-average potential at its best, but has not been consistent and offers a large velocity separation. Given Cosart's hand speed, some evaluators believe his newly added slider could become his best breaking ball. Both pitches have a ways to come. He offers a changeup that gives him enough of a secondary mix to be sent out in the minors as a starter, though some believe his best long-term role will be in the bullpen. Improved strike-throwing ability will also be a key for the 20-year-old, but he is an athlete with bloodlines and has some of the best arm strength in the class.

Top Rankings

After Cosart struggled to a 5.45 ERA in nine starts at short-season Lowell in 2015, the Red Sox made the decision not to wait on his probable move to the bullpen. As a reliever, he didn't need to hold anything back, and he showed one of the quickest arms in the system while regularly showing 94-99 mph fastballs mixed with an inconsistent curve that flashed plus but was sometimes was thrown too slowly to be effective. He also has been working to add a splitter. Chiefly on the strength of his fastball, Cosart dominated at low Class A Greenville and high Class A Salem in 2016, where he posted a combined 1.78 ERA with 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings. There were times when Cosart made opponents look bad, but in other instances, his rotational, max-effort delivery created struggles with his release point and resulted in the same control problems that plagued him as a starter. His walk rate of 4.6 per nine innings underscores that. On the right day, Cosart has the weapons to out-stuff batters at lower levels, though his mechanics may make it hard to achieve consistent effectiveness. He needs to improve his control and secondary stuff to emerge as a big league option.

After going undrafted as a 6-foot-1, 145-pound outfielder out of Texas, Cosart attended Duke, where he redshirted and then did not throw a pitch in game action before transferring to Seminole State. Jake's older brother Jarred was a teammate of Astros lefthander Brett Oberholtzer, who attended Seminole and helped the younger Cosart reach campus. Cosart, a plus athlete who has gained strength to be 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, has elite arm speed and touched 98 mph in the fall, though his fastball has played at 92-95 with life this spring. His curveball shows above-average potential at its best, but has not been consistent and offers a large velocity separation. Given Cosart's hand speed, some evaluators believe his newly added slider could become his best breaking ball. Both pitches have a ways to come. He offers a changeup that gives him enough of a secondary mix to be sent out in the minors as a starter, though some believe his best long-term role will be in the bullpen. Improved strike-throwing ability will also be a key for the 20-year-old, but he is an athlete with bloodlines and has some of the best arm strength in the class.