MLB Scout's Video View: Analyzing Royals Prospect Daniel Lynch

Image credit: Daniel Lynch (Photo by Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images)

While the game is away, Baseball America is digging into its video database and asking scouts around the game to analyze what they see from some of the sport’s best prospects. Today’s subject is Royals lefthander Daniel Lynch.

Lynch was part of the Royals potentially epic 2018 draft class, which featured a glut of high-end pitching at the top. Lynch was Kansas City’s third pick that year, preceded by Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar and followed by Kris Bubic, Jonathan Bowlan and (two rounds later) Austin Cox.

He missed a chunk of the 2019 season with arm discomfort but returned in time for the Arizona Fall League, where he impressed scouts and ran his fastball up to 99 mph.

If baseball is played in 2020, Lynch will get his first test against upper-level competition. He could reach the big leagues in 2021. He ranks as the Royals’ No. 2 prospect and No. 39 on this year’s Top 100.

Here our our previous installments:

Here is a video of Lynch from the Arizona Fall League, followed by what our scout had to say.

SCOUT: Lynch has a good body, a loose arm and is a good athlete. There is some fall-off to the delivery after release but he repeats the delivery well and gets plus extension down the hill. There is some concern on my part with the land-foot pivot finish and think it holds him back from a plus-command guy and limits him to just average command.

The stuff is good. He has plus fastball with plus spin with velocity—between 92-97—and sits comfortably at 93-95. There are no eye-catching indicators with vertically induced movement or any plus horizontal movement properties, but the extension and pure velocity really helps the fastball play through the zone. I really like Lynch’s ability to use both four-seam and two-seam fastball actions. He gets more run with the two-seamer and can hold true line with the four-seamer.

Lynch likes to pitch inside and create discomfort for hitters in the box. His best secondary pitch for me is his changeup. He throws the pitch with plus arm speed and gets some sinking and tailing action. That makes it tough for righties to stay on the pitch. The changeup is a plus pitch against righties and also plays well against lefthanders.

Lynch’s slider has a chance to be plus as well. He can manipulate the pitch and play with the velocities. He’ll dip the pitch down to the low 80s to give it more of a slurve look, but the pitch is at its best when thrown in the 86-88 mph range with short and hard tilt. The slider is effective against both lefties and righties, but Lynch struggles to command it and will need to learn the feel in the zone as he climbs the ladder.

Presently, Lynch beats Class A hitters with his fastball and has two potentially plus secondary pitches but is going to need better command and control of his slider to use it as a get-ahead weapon.

I like him as a middle-of-the-rotation starter with three potentially plus pitches and average command. He should be able to get strikeouts and miss bats in a number of ways. If he can use his secondary pitches more effectively early in the counts, Lynch will arrive quickly in Kansas City.