When our Arizona Diamondbacks Prime Prospects record was revealed in December, Eric Longenhagen described 24-year-old Kyle Amendt as “a late-blooming illusionist righty with a reduce/rise fastball and a misleading supply.” Our lead prospect analyst went on to say that the bodily imposing 6-foot-5, 255-pound hurler had “a 15% swinging strike price in 2024, among the many finest within the org, despite the fact that his fastball sits simply 88-92 mph.” Not totally bought on the overall bundle — command is among the many considerations — Eric assigned Amendt a 35+ FV.
His unorthodox type of pitching and minor league numbers nonetheless recommend a future position in an enormous league bullpen. Together with the aforementioned 15% swinging strike price, the 2023 ninth-round pick of Dallas Baptist College logged a 2.86 ERA, a 2.38 FIP, and a 40.3 Ok% over 44 innings throughout Excessive-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. And his supply is certainly distinctive. Eric referred to as it “over-the-top trebuchet arm motion,” including that Amendt “hides the ball ceaselessly.”
Presently a non-roster invitee at D-backs camp, Amendt mentioned his supply and three-pitch arsenal through the Arizona Fall League season.
———
David Laurila: I’ve heard that you’ve got an unorthodox supply. How would you describe it?
Kyle Amendt: “Like a excessive left-handed slot as a righty. My curveball is a left-handed curveball, and my fastball is wherever from an 11:45 to a 12-[o’clock] tilt. All the pieces appears prefer it’s coming from immediately over my head.”
Laurila: What’s story behind your supply?
Amendt: “It sort of began after I was attempting to throw a very large 12-6 curveball. The best means for me to consider doing that was to get as excessive as I may. That regularly labored itself into my fastball, and now it’s simply naturally how I throw the baseball. I wasn’t all the time as excessive. After I was in highschool, I used to be nonetheless excessive — it was a excessive three-quarters — however nothing loopy like it’s now.”
Laurila: Like a left-handed curveball is an attention-grabbing strategy to describe it. Are you pronating lots once you launch the ball?
Amendt: “I’m not pronating; I’m really not good at pronating in any respect. I spin my curveball very well. I throw somewhat gyro slider. But when I attempt to throw a changeup of any kind, I can’t do it. I simply can’t get to the within of the ball. I feel my arm slot sort of performs into that. Being so excessive, I don’t actually give my hand time to get to any actual pronation.”
Laurila: I assume you’ve been instructed that you simply’re misleading?
Amendt: “Sure. I’ve a really quick arm motion out of glove-break. That’s a part of it. I cover the ball properly after hand-break. It sort of sits proper behind my hip space, after which it’s sort of whippy-fast, up and going. Added in with the funky supply — me going to the plate — it’s very misleading in nearly each facet. I additionally carry the ball very well. My perceived velocity might be up there somewhat bit, too.”
Laurila: What are the metrics in your fastball?
Amendt: “Its robust to say precisely due to the associates. I used to be in Amarillo in Double-A, and that’s at elevation. On good days, my carry was 16 to 18 [inches] there. In [Triple-A] Reno, it was 14 to 16, though I may run it as much as 18 each occasionally. Right here [in the AFL] I’m usually 20-plus. It’s not as elevated, so the ball sort of performs somewhat extra true with the way it’s going to maneuver. Velocity-wise, I used to be about 89 to 92ish.”
Laurila: What in regards to the metrics in your different pitches?
Amendt: “The curveball was 78 to 80 [mph], and -9, -10 [vertical] with wherever from being fairly 12-6 — zero H-break — to… I feel I averaged perhaps three arm facet on it. So, +3 on the horizontal axis.
“The slider was 85-86. It’s a gyro slider, and in my final outing it was 4 vert with one horizontal. I attempt to preserve it fairly near zero-zero. That means I run proper down the axis on the plot.”
Laurila: A sweeper most likely wouldn’t be an possibility given your excessive arm slot…
Amendt: “Yeah. I’ve by no means messed round with one in any respect. It’s additionally one thing that may be fairly properly reverse of what I’m attempting to do. I’m attempting to be north-south, and having one outlier east-west actually wouldn’t assist me an excessive amount of.”
Laurila: What do you contemplate to be your finest pitch?
Amendt: “I’d say my fastball. It’s my favourite one, too. It’s the best to find. However probably the most enjoyable to visually take a look at is the curveball. I get swings-and-misses. I get a whole lot of takes on it, too. For probably the most half, I attempt to throw it in-zone. With two strikes, each as soon as in awhile I’ll attempt to go down. Now that I’m in professional ball, it’s been somewhat bit simpler to get swings-and-misses down. After I was in faculty, I didn’t get them beneath the zone. If I needed a swing-and-miss on the curveball, I needed to be in-zone.”
Laurila: That appears counterintuitive. I’d anticipate gamers on the faculty stage to chase extra.
Amendt: “I feel what occurred is that I received higher at tunneling, and realizing the place my tunnel wanted to be off of my fastball in an effort to get a swing-and-miss on the curveball down. In faculty, it was curveball in-zone, after which I may go heater up. That was just about what I did. Now, if I can get it center to center down for a strike, I really feel like I can go curveball within the dust and get a swing-and-miss. And even when I get a take, then I can return to the fastball.”
Laurila: Would you establish as an influence pitcher?
Amendt: “Yeah, I’d. I’m not going to attempt to cover something from you. I’m going proper at hitters. It’s sort of like, ‘Right here’s my finest, attempt to hit it.’”
