Cubs’ Luis Devers Shows Poise Beyond His Years

In this era of high velocity and turbo sliders, 22-year-old righthander Luis Devers has excelled by different means.

“His fastball velocity isn’t going to overwhelm anybody, but it’s a high volume of strikes,” High-A South Bend pitching coach Tony Cougoule said.

“He can throw his changeup in any count. His changeup is probably one of the best in the organization. It’s got a ton of movement, a lot of swing-and-miss on it, but it’s his ability to attack the strike zone and believe in his stuff.”

Devers’ confidence and poise is evident in other ways.

“He’ll change his delivery. He’ll quick-pitch. He’ll slow down,” Cougoule said “There’s a lot going on. But he’s a true pitcher in every sense of the word. His stuff is only gong to get better.”

Devers signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2017. He began this season with Low-A Myrtle Beach but gained more attention after his July 6 promotion to South Bend, where he recorded a 1.05 ERA in 51.1 innings.

In 26 appearances this season, Devers went 13-3 with a 1.91 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 117.2 innings. He walked just 2.0 per nine innings and held opponents to a .206 average. He allowed two runs or fewer in 22 starts.

Devers was the organization’s pick as minor league pitcher of the year.

“He wasn’t a high prospect coming out of the Dominican,” Cubs vice president of international scouting Louie Eljaua said. “But he’s definitely a guy our scouts had their eyes on and liked because of his pitchablilty and all the intangibles he has.”

Devers possesses the ability to start or relieve, which is enhanced by a 53% groundball rate that ranked 21st in the minors among pitchers with at least 100 innings.

The bigger issues for the 6-foot-3 Devers involve sharpening a breaking pitch that can serve as a putaway pitch and adding a few ticks to his low-90s fastball.

“As long as he stays healthy and keeps throwing and follows our strength and conditioning and high performance program, I think there’s a chance for an uptick,” Eljaua said.