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I see a trend here. That trend is that the Phillies really love Thomas Eshelman and want to fill the system with clones of him. Seabold is a 6’3” 185 lbs RHP from Cal State Fullerton (Eschelman’s alma mater, even). His Fastball sits 92-94 MPH, but prior to mid-season was an upper 80’s pitch. His control/command is excellent, probably at least 60, and that allows his stuff to play up. He complements the Fastball with an average Changeup and a fringe average breaking ball.
Weirdly in BP’s Mocking the Draft series on Thursday they mocked Seabold to the Phillies, but only because they determined he had the 8th best name in the draft. While the Fangraphs article made me feel better about the Spencer Howard pick, this article does nothing to help me feel good about Seabold. I can totally get behind a strategy of drafting guys based on potentially predictive metrics, but awesome names is a strategy you use to determine your March Madness bracket, not draft baseball players.
Anyway, back to analysis. Judging by the video below from Moore Baseball, Seabold seems to have about as old timey a delivery as his name suggests. Big kick, but quick to the plate. Clean mechanics, not really much to clean up. Perhaps move to the 3rd base side of the rubber a little to hide pitches better, but I can only see minor tweaks needed.
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If the velocity holds he’s a quick through the system #4 Starter. If the velocity improves and his breaking ball shows improvement to Average he could be a solid #3 Starter who occasionally dominates thanks to his command. A pretty safe pick in the 3rd and both he, Haseley and Howard could be in the Majors by Opening Day 2020.