Ventura, California —— At the top of this post, watch our scouting video of Cuesta College freshman right-handed relief pitcher Mitch Maynes, taken from his innings pitched during a recent Western State Conference road game against Ventura College.
Mitch Maynes scouting report notes
When you watch Mitch Maynes pitch, you ought to think one thing: Robb Nen. The former San Francisco Giants closer’s mechanics have effectively been reincarnated in Maynes, a freshman relief pitcher for Cuesta College who I saw throw a pair of scoreless frames against powerful Ventura College in mid-March, 2017. (You can watch Maynes on video at the top of this post.)
Maynes is slight (listed at 6’1″, 185 lbs.), and has plenty of room to grow into his body as he gets older, but there’s a foundation here that could make him into an above-average relief option for a four-year school. His fastball sits in the mid-80s, and has room to improve as far as velocity is concerned, but the command is decent right now and Maynes improves on it with good arm-side run and some sink when he gets on top of the ball. His mechanical hitch helps prevent arm lag, too, allowing him to more consistently stay on top of that fastball and show off all that sink and run he needs to succeed.
His slider is an intriguing pitch, and might be his best offering right now. It’s hard—probably too hard to be considered a curve or a slurve—and it breaks nearly straight down, with more depth than you’d expect out of a slider at this level. His command with it is average right now, but the feel is there and he understands how to use the pitch. As he improves arm strength and puts on weight over the next year or two, the slider should become a wipeout pitch that lands him a lot of missed bats and quite a few strikeouts.
Maynes is pitching just fine for Cuesta College right now (1-0 with one save and a 2.05 ERA in 11 games/22 innings pitched and just four walks allowed as of March 28), but he’s only whiffed 12 hitters in that time frame. He will need to miss more bats working out of the pen at his eventual four-year destination, and perfecting the slider will help. I think that’ll come in time, though, as Maynes gets stronger and improves arm strength. The fundamental base is here, he has some deception in his delivery and arm action, and his stuff has natural life that hints at success in his near future.
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Mitch Maynes scouting report: 140 characters or less
With good movement and a hard breaking ball, if Mitch Maynes improves arm strength and command, he could become a lights-out reliever.
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Mitch Maynes scouting report GIFs
Again, for video, you can see Maynes pitch against Ventura College at the very top of this post. If you’re interested in some of the life on specific pitches, here’s a better look at his raw stuff in GIF format, taken from that same outing against Ventura:
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In this Mitch Maynes scouting report:
Western State Conference | Cuesta College | Ventura College | Mitch Maynes
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