Amateur Draft Profile: Jose Fernandez, Pitcher, Alonso HS, Tampa, FL

Summary

Where is he projected to go right now?

ESPN: 17^th to the Los Angeles Angels

Baseball America: 24^th to the Tampa Bay Rays

Scouting Videos

What Scout's say about him...

Keith Law:

Fernandez caught a lot of eyes when he hit 98 mph in his inning in the 2010 AFLAC All-American Game, and for pure arm strength he's tough to beat in this year's prep class.

He'll sit 92-95 and can touch 97 as a starter, although I doubt he'll pitch above 95 in pro ball. His upper-70s curveball has good shape with a near 12-to-6 break. He also throws a 81-83 mph slider that would probably miss bats in A-ball right now, but he struggles with his release point on both breaking balls and as a result doesn't command either of them yet, with one often running into the other.

Fernandez is well-developed physically and there's little projection remaining. He starts his delivery with a high leg kick and tilts his pitching shoulder down to generate more leverage, although he doesn't rotate his hips much and has a slight arm wrap before he turns his pitching hand over. This is unusually good arm speed that, with his current size, mean the team that drafts him won't have to wait on him to fill out; he'll advance as quickly as his command and feel for his off-speed stuff develop.

Baseball America:

Even in a strong year in Florida last year, Fernandez stood out, and opposing hitters were measured by how they fared against him. He almost didn't get to pitch this season, as he was temporarily suspended pending an investigation into how much high school baseball he played in Cuba. It took two attempts for Fernandez, his mother and his sister to escape the island nation, and he's motivated on and off the field. One scout termed his demeanor as "high-level confidence." Fernandez has those who doubt his age and he'll be 19 before the mid-August signing date. He throws three swing-and-miss pitches: a fastball that sits 90-95 mph with heavy sink at times and a pair of breaking balls. Scouts aren't sure if Fernandez means to throw both a slider and a curve, but his slider can be sharp and his curve at times has 12-to-6 break. He's shown flashes of a changeup as well and could wind up as a four-pitch workhorse. Sturdy at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, Fernandez has a mature body and will have to work to maintain his conditioning.

Jonathan Mayo:

A very strong fastball-slider combination to go along with an outstanding feel for pitching and plus mound presence has Fernandez as another of the hard-throwing high schoolers hoping to hear his name called in the first round.

Fernandez has been up to as high as 97-98 mph this spring and can sit comfortably in the 93-95 range. He's picked up some velocity as the spring has progressed. His slider has the chance to be an out pitch, one with late movement that is nasty at times. He's got some feel for a changeup, but it needs work and is behind the other two offerings. He's around the strike zone more often than not, with advanced control for his age.

He'll have to stay on top of his conditioning, but the combination of a live arm and pitchability is a rare commodity indeed.