Atlanta Braves Scouting Report on Reliever Devan Watts
Jul 10, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; A major league game ball and rosin bag sit on the dugout rail prior to being used in the game between the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Atlanta Braves drafted Devan Watts in the 17th round this past June and he made a big impression in his first season in the organization.
Who Is He?
Watts was selected by the Atlanta Braves out of Tusculum College in Tennessee in the 17th round of the June 2016 draft. While he had a tremendous strikeout rate his final year at Tusculum (62 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings), he also put up a 3.10 ERA and showed some control issues (15 walks and 7 wild pitches in those 49 1/3 innings).
Watts was originally assigned to Danville, but after 4 scoreless appearances without allowing a single hit or walk while striking out 3 over 4 innings, he was bumped up to Rome. Watts was inserted at Rome’s closer once he was up. He kept his ERA under 1 in his time with Rome, dominating Rome hitters.
The final line on the season for Watts was 20 games, 23 2/3 innings pitched, a 0.76 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and a 6/26 BB/K ratio. He did not allow a home run the entire season.
Congrats to TC baseball player Devan Watts on the selection & I'm so glad it was the Braves! #PioneerUp #bravos pic.twitter.com/KhRfrtWCUN
— Coach Hensley (@CoachHensleyTC) June 26, 2016
Scouting Report
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Size/Delivery
Devan is listed at 6′ and 205 pounds. That looks accurate overall. He works exclusively out of the stretch as a reliever, and he has a slight delay just before his foot hits the ground that can throw off a hitter, but otherwise, he has a fairly standard stretch motion.
Watts comes to the plate with a 3/4 arm slot that is a hair below typical 3/4 slot, but not low enough to be a “low 3/4” slot by definition. He really does well with the tick delay before he drops his lead left leg in holding his hips and torso to explode them all together toward the plate, helping his control and especially helping his velocity.
Pitches
Watts features a sinker/slider combination that really is tough for hitters to square up. His fastball sits in the low-90s, and there were some reports as high as 96 this year, though his college reports and game reports I had topped out at 94-95. The ball is HEAVY, though, which is impressive coming from a guy at 6′ tall to get that kind of weight on the ball that you typically see from guys in the 6’5+ range.
The slider has excellent bite and works in the low-80s. He gets surprising run on the slider. Most guys get arm side run on their slider, but his works glove side, and that seems to really throw off hitters to see slider spin from a right-handed thrower that breaks toward the left-handed batting box.
Watts is working on a change as well. He reports that he has been using it in warm ups, but if he can mimic his solid power sinker with a change, that would be a devastating 3-pitch mix that could honestly work in a rotation, but it would be incredible in the bullpen.
Video
.@Braves select @tusculumbasebal Devan Watts in 17th round of @MLBDraft | https://t.co/vXVHaNNjRh #PioneerUp pic.twitter.com/Kh46mYlQA4
— TusculumPioneers (@TusculumSports) June 11, 2016
Future Outlook
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Where the comparison should provide Braves fans with more encouragement is that Kintzler has pitched in parts of seven big league seasons with 226 games that he has appeared in, with a 3.33 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, along with a 58.6% ground ball rate. I think that is a path for success for Watts as is, but that change could definitely add to his weapons and change this substantially.
Watts showed enough at Rome in 2016 that he will likely end up in Brevard County to start 2017, but the team may feel a reason to start him at Rome again to start the season. He’s definitely showed poise at the back of the bullpen.
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