MLB.com's Jim Callis chimes in on Jacob Misiorowski's potential

Jul. 13—The term to describe players in baseball that have made a rapid ascension up draft rankings is helium.

With the MLB draft set to start Sunday and run through next Tuesday, highly touted Crowder College product Jacob Misiorowski has plenty of helium — so much that he could become the highest drafted player in school history — surpassing former ace and Milwaukee Brewers lefty Aaron Ashby who was selected in the fourth round in 2018.

The power righty has been on scouting radars since his days at Grain Valley High School near Kansas City, but he's never gotten a chance to pitch significant innings since 2019.

A hamstring injury kept Misiorowski from pitching in front of scouts going back to the summer after his junior year on the showcase circuit. His senior season got wiped out due to COVID-19 and then Misiorowski tore his meniscus in his first start at Crowder in 2021.

But finally healthy this spring, Misiorowski posted one of the more dominant seasons in school history while leading the Roughriders back to the JUCO World Series. In 15 starts, he went 10-0 with a 2.72 ERA and struck out 136 batters in 76 innings.

"He's one of the more fascinating guys in the draft," MLB.com and MLBPipeline.com senior writer Jim Callis said. "There were scouts who were always intrigued by him because he could spin, he threw hard and he was kind of raw. This year he finally got a chance to pitch and put things together.

"The strike throwing was a concern, but he really made progress with that. He showed one of the best fastballs in the draft. I don't think anybody who saw him at the (MLB Draft) Combine was like, 'Oh, who is this guy? We don't know who he is.' They have all seen him pitch before, but he showed more arm strength than anybody at the combine. It has really been an impressive year."

EVALUATING HIS ARM

It's easy to see why Misiorowksi's become so heralded as a prospect.

First, it's his size at 6-foot-7, 190 pounds. Misiorowski sits in the mid-90s for several innings and repeatedly hits 100 miles per hour.

On top of that, Misiorowski is an analytical dream for front office executives. At last month's draft combine, his fastball topped out at a whopping 2,816 revolutions per minute and averaged 2,688 rpm — the highest spin rates of any pitcher at the event.

"With his size, his extension, spin rates, approach angle and the velocity, it's a very difficult combination," Callis said before reiterating. "It's right up there with the very best fastballs in this draft."

Misiorowski also possesses a mid-80s slider.

"The slider can be pretty devastating when it's on," Callis said. "It has got good depth to it. JUCO guys chase it out of the strike zone, and I think the question is when he faces more experienced hitters is he going to make it look enough like a strike? Is he going to throw enough for strikes to still be successful? It just overmatched JUCO hitters, who as you could imagine, are gearing up for a guy that hits 100. It's like, 'OK, I'll have to swing pretty early.' But then they get a slider that's way out of the zone.

"It's a pitch he'll need against better hitters. I don't think anybody has really seen much of a curveball or changeup out of him, so he's going to be primarily a fastball-slider type."

Of course with a power righty of Misiorowski's stature, questions arise about the ability to throw strikes and repeatability with delivery.

Callis admitted control is a question, but certainly not something that's a detriment for Misiorowski.

"No. 1 there is not a long history of throwing strikes," Callis said. "It doesn't bother me too much because here's the thing — he's still pretty young (20). He's not super experienced. He can get a lot stronger, which would theoretically give him more strength and help him repeat his delivery and throw more strikes. He made progress down the stretch. Like I said, it's really the first full season he's pitched since 2019. There's just not a lot of history on the mound.

"He didn't pitch in '20 and he barely pitched in '21. You saw progress. I think another way you could look at it too — let's say he winds up having iffy control at best — maybe he's only a reliever with the fastball-slider. The stuff is really good that he can still be a valuable reliever."

GRADING HIM OUT

MLBPipeline.com currently ranks Misiorowski 78th overall in the draft class. On the 20-80 scouting scale, the publication gave him a 70 grade fastball, 55 slider and 45 control for an overall score of 50.

According to MLB.com, the assigned slot values for the Free Agent Compensation Picks round — which is where Misiorowski projects — range from $873,300 to $806,800.

Misiorowski is currently signed to further his college career at Louisiana State University.

"I kind of know right now what I'm doing, I'm going to LSU and I'm kind of set there," he said last month. "If something else arises, I will look at my options, but right now, it is pretty easy. I can't look at that stuff (draft rankings). I just have to keep my head down and keep going."

By this time next week, things could be different. Callis firmly believes Misiorowski will be Crowder's highest drafted player.

"With the way he pitched down the stretch, I think he goes in the top three rounds," Callis said. "I think he could go in the second or third round. You talk about a guy who is one of the best arms in the draft. It's a really intriguing body. You can sit there and dream because he's still 6-7, 190.

"He could get stronger and improve his control, maybe he adds more velocity too. There's so much untapped potential because he's barely pitched. You are excited about what he's showing now, but I also think there's room for him to get a lot better in certain areas. There's a lot of upside.

"The JUCO guys don't get as much exposure, but he's so talented and has an exciting pitch mix with the fastball-slider combination. He's going to go really high."