Erick Fedde returned stateside in 2024 and had a career-best main league season. One 12 months after going 20-6 with a 2.00 ERA for the KBO’s NC Dinos, the 32-year-old right-hander logged a 3.30 ERA and a 3.86 FIP over 31 begins between the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. His earlier massive league campaigns had been comparatively rocky. From 2017-2022, Fedde customary a 5.41 ERA and a 5.17 FIP with the Washington Nationals.
Fedde, whom St. Louis acquired ultimately summer time’s commerce deadline as a part of an eight-player, three-team swap, entered skilled baseball with excessive expectations. He was drafted 18th general in 2014 regardless of having undergone Tommy John surgical procedure throughout his junior season on the College of Nevada Las Vegas. When our 2017 Washington Nationals Prime Prospects checklist was revealed in March of that 12 months, Fedde was ranked third within the system, behind Victor Robles and Juan Soto.
What did Fedde’s 2017 scouting report appear to be? Furthermore, what does he consider all of it these years later? Wanting to seek out out, I shared a few of what our lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen wrote, and requested Fedde to reply to it.
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“As a junior at UNLV, Fedde was a possible top-10 decide till he blew out in Might.”
“Fairly correct,” Fedde stated. “Going into my junior 12 months, I used to be projected to go on the finish of the primary spherical, and simply sort of saved climbing because the 12 months went. Sadly, I used to be harm simply earlier than the draft. I feel I had TJ two days prior. But it surely all labored out. I used to be nonetheless in a position to go within the first spherical, which was actually cool.
“Jeff Hoffman, who was drafted [ninth overall] by the Blue Jays, was sort of the large right-hander forward of me. He blew out earlier within the 12 months. I feel he was sort of up there with me and Aaron Nola at one level. We have been taking a look at presumably high 10, though I don’t know if there was a particular crew.”
“Fedde’s fastball largely sits 90-94 and can contact 96 with a little bit of sink and run.”
“I’d say that’s fairly spot on,” Fedde replied. “I didn’t actually begin throwing onerous till that sophomore-to-junior summer time; that’s after I began getting up there. I used to be a constant 92-93, however the massive factor I bear in mind was that I might maintain velocity, if not achieve it, as the sport went on. That’s one thing I feel scouts loved.”
“Fedde’s out pitch is a slider, largely 81-84 mph, that flashes plus however can get slurvy and lose chew when he doesn’t get on high of it.”
“Yeah, 100%,” he acknowledged. “I feel I used to be throwing a sweeper earlier than I knew what a sweeper was. A few years in the past that grew to become the whole rave — it grew to become the belle of the ball within the sense of pitching — and it’s sort of what I threw. At the moment we might name it slurvy, however in in the present day’s world it’s a sweeper.”
“His arm slot can get slingy and low, making it onerous for him to drive the ball down.”
“I imply, at that time my life all I did was throw the ball down within the zone,” Fedde countered. “At the very least mentally, that’s what I used to be attempting to do.”
“Not all scouts are enamored of Fedde’s supply. His decrease half is frail, typically unbalanced, and at occasions performs no function in his supply in any respect.”
“I used to be a skinny man,” recalled Fedde, who now stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 205 kilos. “I feel I left for the draft at like 175 kilos. So, I assume I most likely relied on whip and quickness as an alternative of energy. I don’t know. Possibly that got here into the thought of my having an absence of leg use.”
“If Fedde can enhance his presently fringy, mid-80s changeup, he’ll have a viable three-pitch combine and above-average command of it.”
“Yeah, I really feel like I’ve at all times been fairly good with command,” he stated. “It’s one thing that I’ve leaned on all through my profession. The changeup actually stunk all the best way up till a few years in the past. In order that’s very true. I lastly really feel like I’ve an honest changeup. After which, as I obtained into professional baseball, I discovered a cutter so as to add to my combine. Now it’s a four-pitch combine.”
“He initiatives as a sinker/slider mid-rotation arm.”
“I feel it’s been sort of east-to-west that manner,” Fedde stated. “I’ve been in the midst of rotations. I positively would by no means say that I’ve been a primary. However yeah, simply continue to grow and hopefully push to the highest finish of rotations. Final season was my finest up to now, for positive. I had quite a lot of struggles early, quite a lot of studying. However like [the scouting report] stated, if I can get an excellent changeup… I imply, I feel the changeup actually modified my profession.”
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Earlier “Previous Scouting Reviews Revisited” interviews may be discovered by these hyperlinks: Cody Bellinger, Matthew Boyd, Dylan Stop, Matt Chapman, Ian Happ, Jeff Hoffman, Matthew Liberatore.