Low Slot Helps Giants’ Jack Choate Achieve High-A Success
Ninth-round pick. From a Division II program. With a fastball that sits in the low 90s.
That résumé doesn’t scream “top prospect,” but lefthander Jack Choate’s production sure does.
The 2022 draftee is a 6-foot-6, 249-pound southpaw from Assumption University in Worcester, Mass. The 23-year-old has thrived in pro ball with 139 strikeouts in 106 innings to go with a 2.29 ERA.
With High-A Eugene this season, Choate pitched to a 2.38 ERA through eight starts. He notched 44 strikeouts and just six walks in 34 innings.
Choate said that when he got into pro ball, he had to convince himself that he could duplicate the success he enjoyed in the Northeast 10 Conference.
“I had to think back,” he said, “and be like, ‘Hey, you can do this. This is just baseball. At the end of the day, it’s the same game and it’s always gonna be the same game, no matter who’s at the plate.’ “
Choate uses a four-seam fastball, slider and changeup. He calls his changeup something of split-change and it is his go-to pitch. What enhances his effectiveness is a delivery with a low arm slot.
Choate has tried to emulate Chris Sale’s delivery and arm slot. Giants farm director Kyle Haines likened Choate’s arm slot to that of another prominent tall lefthander, Madison Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP with the Giants.
Haines said because Choate throws from that low slot, it’s “just a tough angle on hitters. So his stuff will tend to play up to the hitters compared to maybe any radar-gun readings.”
Choate could become just the second Assumption alum to reach the big leagues. First baseman Chris Colabello was the first.
“Lefties who throw a lot of strikes with a couple of good pitches tend to pitch a long time, tend to overachieve significantly,” Haines said.
Choate “might not jump off the page at you on your first scouting report look, but his production and also his stuff will carry him to a very high level in this game, I know that.”
