Seth Elledge

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #22 prospect in 2021
  TRACK RECORD: When the Cardinals traded Sam Tuiavaila to the Mariners at the trade deadline in 2018, they acquired an eventual replacement. Elledge had a dominating MLB debut on Aug. 16, when he struck out five in 2.2 hitless innings. He struggled with his control, but he was a regular option in the Cardinals' bullpen in September.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: There's little subtlety to Elledge's approach. He has two pitches, and likes to work up and away with his 92-95 mph, above-average fastball. The pitch has late life and run to get swings and misses at the top of the zone. The fastball sets up Elledge's plus, low-80s slider, which has above-average depth but generally is a chase pitch. Only one out of every four he threw in the majors finished in the strike zone, but he can start it out over the plate before it dives to the dirt down and away from righthanders. Lefties hit . 316/.458/.842 against Elledge because he doesn't throw anything that breaks away, so they can focus on the inner half of the plate. He can locate to his gloveside but not armside.
  
  THE FUTURE: Elledge was entrusted with pitching the seventh and eighth innings when the Cardinals were behind. Now he needs to earn Mike Shildt's trust to work in higher-leverage situations.
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #25 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: Elledge followed a long line of hard-throwing Dallas Baptist relievers and set a school record with 26 saves his junior year. The Mariners drafted him in the fourth round in 2017 and traded him to the Cardinals one year later for Sam Tuivailala.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Elledge has an imposing frame at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds and uses it to his advantage. He has a slight cross-body delivery, helping him hide the ball and prevent hitters from picking it up. Elledge's high-spin fastball sits 91-93 mph and plays up with late life and carry through the zone. He backs it up with a hard, downer curveball in the low 80s that flashes average. Elledge's big body and high-effort delivery cause him to lose his balance and result in below-average control. He has a career rate of nearly four walks per nine innings
  
  THE FUTURE: Elledge is in position to join the Cardinals bullpen in 2020 as a low-leverage middle reliever. He'll open the season back at Triple-A.
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #24 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: Elledge's 26 career saves at Dallas Baptist set a school record before the Mariners drafted him in the fourth round in 2017. Thirteen months later, the Mariners traded Elledge to the Cardinals for Sam Tuivailala at the trade deadline.
  
  Scouting Report: Elledge is a classic, big-bodied reliever with a fastball and slider. He pitches exclusively from the stretch and has a slightly cross-body delivery, adding a tick of deception to his potent stuff. Elledge's fastball sits 93-94 mph and plays up with late life and carry, and he backs it up with an 83-84 mph slider that flashes average with sharp vertical break. Elledge has a lot of effort in his delivery and loses his command and control, particularly on his fastball.
  
  The Future: Elledge has a chance to be a middle-to-late inning reliever if he can tighten his fastball command and overall control. He is slated to begin 2019 at Double-A Springfield.
• 
  Ranked Seattle Mariners #17 prospect in 2018
  After drafting Gonzaga reliever Wyatt Mills in the third round, the Mariners popped another college bullpen arm in Elledge one round later, signing the hard-throwing Dallas Baptist product for $400,000. After pitching in four games for short-season Everett, Elledge spent most of his first pro season with low Class A Clinton, saving five games and posting an outstanding 35-to-6 strikeout-to-walk mark in 21 innings. Elledge's top pitch is a 92-95 mph fastball with a high spin rate and late life that gets plenty of swings and misses. He's also got a hard downer curveball at 78-83 mph, an average pitch that he throws to both sides of the plate and a changeup that he uses infrequently. While his deceptive delivery is high-energy and high-effort, Elledge repeats it well and commands all of his pitches. Considering the success in his first try at full-season ball, Elledge may be ready to start 2018 at high Class A Modesto with a move to Double-A later in the season. As a robustly built reliever with a big fastball, Elledge could move quickly through the system.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #303 prospect in 2017 draft
  Yet another in the long line of hard-throwing Dallas Baptist relievers, the 6-foot-3, 233-pound Elledge is the Patriots' all-time career saves leader with 26. He gets swings and misses with a 92-95 mph fastball that will touch 96-97. Elledge's fastball has late life. And he shows an ability to control and command it both arm-side and glove-side with a relatively simple delivery. Once he gets ahead with his fastball, he mixes in a hard curveball that grades out as average and like his fastball, Elledge can use it to both sides of the plate. He likes to backdoor it to catch the outside corner against lefthanded hitters. The combo helped him strike out 11.9 batters per nine innings this spring.

• March, 2021 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: When the Cardinals traded Sam Tuiavaila to the Mariners at the trade deadline in 2018, they acquired an eventual replacement. Elledge had a dominating MLB debut on Aug. 16, when he struck out five in 2.2 hitless innings. He struggled with his control, but he was a regular option in the Cardinals' bullpen in September.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: There's little subtlety to Elledge's approach. He has two pitches, and likes to work up and away with his 92-95 mph, above-average fastball. The pitch has late life and run to get swings and misses at the top of the zone. The fastball sets up Elledge's plus, low-80s slider, which has above-average depth but generally is a chase pitch. Only one out of every four he threw in the majors finished in the strike zone, but he can start it out over the plate before it dives to the dirt down and away from righthanders. Lefties hit . 316/.458/.842 against Elledge because he doesn't throw anything that breaks away, so they can focus on the inner half of the plate. He can locate to his gloveside but not armside.
  
  THE FUTURE: Elledge was entrusted with pitching the seventh and eighth innings when the Cardinals were behind. Now he needs to earn Mike Shildt's trust to work in higher-leverage situations.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: When the Cardinals traded Sam Tuiavaila to the Mariners at the trade deadline in 2018, they acquired an eventual replacement. Elledge had a dominating MLB debut on Aug. 16, when he struck out five in 2.2 hitless innings. He struggled with his control, but he was a regular option in the Cardinals' bullpen in September.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: There's little subtlety to Elledge's approach. He has two pitches, and likes to work up and away with his 92-95 mph, above-average fastball. The pitch has late life and run to get swings and misses at the top of the zone. The fastball sets up Elledge's plus, low-80s slider, which has above-average depth but generally is a chase pitch. Only one out of every four he threw in the majors finished in the strike zone, but he can start it out over the plate before it dives to the dirt down and away from righthanders. Lefties hit . 316/.458/.842 against Elledge because he doesn't throw anything that breaks away, so they can focus on the inner half of the plate. He can locate to his gloveside but not armside.
  
  THE FUTURE: Elledge was entrusted with pitching the seventh and eighth innings when the Cardinals were behind. Now he needs to earn Mike Shildt's trust to work in higher-leverage situations.
• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Elledge followed a long line of hard-throwing Dallas Baptist relievers and set the school record with 26 saves. The Mariners drafted him in the fourth round in 2017 and traded him to the Cardinals one year later for Sam Tuivailala.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Elledge has an imposing frame at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds and uses it to his advantage. He has a slight cross-body delivery, helping him hide the ball and prevent hitters from picking it up. Elledge’s high-spin fastball sits 91-93 mph and plays up with late life and carry through the zone. He backs it up with a hard, downer curveball in the low 80s that flashes average. Elledge’s big body and high-effort delivery cause him to lose his balance and result in below-average control and spotty fastball command.
  
  THE FUTURE: Elledge is in position to join the Cardinals bullpen in 2020. He’ll open back at Triple-A.
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Elledge followed a long line of hard-throwing Dallas Baptist relievers and set a school record with 26 saves his junior year. The Mariners drafted him in the fourth round in 2017 and traded him to the Cardinals one year later for Sam Tuivailala.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Elledge has an imposing frame at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds and uses it to his advantage. He has a slight cross-body delivery, helping him hide the ball and prevent hitters from picking it up. Elledge's high-spin fastball sits 91-93 mph and plays up with late life and carry through the zone. He backs it up with a hard, downer curveball in the low 80s that flashes average. Elledge's big body and high-effort delivery cause him to lose his balance and result in below-average control. He has a career rate of nearly four walks per nine innings
  
  THE FUTURE: Elledge is in position to join the Cardinals bullpen in 2020 as a low-leverage middle reliever. He'll open the season back at Triple-A.
• July, 2018 Scouting Report
  Elledge fits the profile of many of the hard-throwing arms from Dallas Baptist. The 2017 fourth-rounder hasn’t disappointed in his first full season, posting a miniscule 0.93 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 29 innings through the end of June. The fastball comes out hot, sitting 90-95 mph with the possibility for more velocity in the future. His best secondary pitch is a sharp slider, but he needs to improve the command and control of all three of his pitches.