With their final pick of the night, Arizona went with another undersized player, this one on the mound though.
Having forfeited their second round pick for signing Corbin Burnes this last winter, Arizona went from picking #29 to not picking again until #92. With that third round pick, the Diamondbacks selected Brian Curley, a right-handed pitcher out of Georgia.
Curley is on the smaller size, especially for a starting pitcher. That said, there is plenty of reason to see starter development in him. Here is his basic profile:
Brian Curley, P, Georgia
DOB: 1 JUne 2003
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 212 lbs.
B/T: R/R
Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 60 | Cutter: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45
Curley’s first two collegiate seasons were with Virginia, before the Pirates selected him in the 165th round last year. Unsatisfied with that outcome, Curley returned to college on a transfer and became Georgia’s closer upon arrival. His time as a closer did not last long as he was so effective that he became Georgia’s Friday night starter.
Curley’s fastball gets plenty of attention, sitting 94-96. When working in shorter stints or reaching back, he can get to 100-101 repeatedly. Despite this strong fastball, Curley is more of a kitchen sink pitcher. He throws all his pitches in most any count to batters on both sides of the plate. His curve, slider, and cutter all grade as average or better. Some evaluators feel that his mid-80s slider is truly his best pitch, as it has good spin and great depth, something not usually seen in pitchers of his stature.
Because of his size, Curley is a max effort pitcher. This has resulted in some control issues. On the other hand, despite his stature and delivery, Curley has shown an increasing ability to maintain his velocity and movement later and later into games. This is a good sign for the Diamondbacks, as he is going to have to display some impressive stamina to stick as a reliever.
Curley was ranked as the #102 prospect in this draft, so right in the range where Arizona selected. Most of the better players still on the board are prep talents with signability concerns this late in the draft. However, Baseball America ranked him at #216. Given that YCPB, your mileage may vary on how one feels about Arizona taking this player at #92.
There is some obvious reliever risk in Curley. However, that reliever risk is as a fast-moving power reliever, likely as a closer. Between Forbes and Curley being taken with the second and third picks, Arizona is clearly ready to attack their pitching deficiencies head-on. Now, Arizona has to step up and figure out how to finally start unlocking some of their pitching talents.
From the Snake Pit’s Preston Salisbury:
Brian Curley
Curley spent his first two seasons at Virginia Commonwealth, and was drafted in the 16th round as a draft-eligible sophomore by the Pirates. Instead, he transferred to Georgia, and while he started the year in the bullpen, he finished as a Friday starter. He moved to a more difficult conference and saw his strikeout rate increase (substantially) and his walk rate decrease slightly. His improvements are even more impressive when considering that, since he began the year in the bullpen, just 10 of his 66 innings came before conference play. Some players who transferred to the SEC from smaller conferences feasted on non-conference opposition, but not Curley.
He was lower on prospect rankings because many evaluators consider him as a reliever. But some of that has to do with his size; he’s only 5’10”. MLB Pipeline sees him as a starter and had him ranked 102nd, while Baseball America sees him as a reliever and so had him 216th. He sits in the mid 90s and has touched triple digits, with a slider that has above-average spin rate and is his best pitch. He has more of a third pitch than Forbes, with a more traditional curveball, and has also thrown a cutter.
The Diamondbacks almost certainly see him as a starter long term, but he is a player who could move quickly and probably get outs from a big league bullpen today, although he’s probably done pitching for the year and will be held out to begin at Hillsboro next year, like Daniel Eagen.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the draft as the Diamondbacks will be back at it again tomorrow.