Los Angeles Dodgers: Luis Pasen Scouting Report, September 2017

Phoenix, Arizona —— Entering play on Friday night, Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitching prospect Luis Pasen is 0-0 with a 1.91 ERA over 22 relief appearances split between the rookie-level Dominican Summer League Dodgers and the Arizona League‘s AZL Dodgers, with 41 strikeouts against 15 hits and 14 walks over 28.1 innings pitched. I observed the 22-year-old Dominican in his August 14 relief appearance on the road against the AZL Brewers; below is Baseball Census‘ full Luis Pasen scouting report, including video.

Luis Pasen Scouting Report — Video

Our video of Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitching prospect Luis Pasen shows his game pitches across that entire August 14 relief appearance against the AZL Brewers, where he allowed no runs over two innings of work, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out four hitters and earning the save:

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Luis Pasen Scouting Report — Notes

Dominant across two levels in 2017, Luis Pasen has above-average feel for all three of his pitches and is building the foundation to become a serviceable relief arm in time. He shows off a fastball, a slider, and a changeup, with the fastball his most advanced pitch to date. It sits 90-93 mph and gets considerable arm-side run, boring in on righties and at times proving tough for Pasen to even control to his arm-side. It doesn’t have much downward movement in addition to its run, but the life is very late, Pasen throws it hard, and more velocity should be on the way in the next couple years, so I believe it has a chance to be an above-average pitch thanks to its late life and (hopefully) a bit more velocity over time.

Pasen couples the fastball with a slider that sits 77-80 mph right now. It has good tilt and consistent downward 10-to-4 break, but the Los Angeles Dodgers righty needs to learn to throw it harder, because even with depth it can be too slurve-like. He’s missed bats with it at this level and his numbers speak for themselves, but he’ll need to tighten it considerably to have success as he moves up the minor league ranks, especially if he’s to remain a late-inning high-leverage reliever. Nevertheless, he has advanced feel for the pitch to both sides of the plate, and that bodes well for his ability to make more nuanced adjustments with it going forward. His third pitch right now is a changeup that sits 80-82 mph, and there’s not much to it; some modest tumble and a bit of arm-side run, but it functions more as a show-me pitch than a bat-misser at this point in his career. Luis Pasen throws it for strikes, though, and it could yet become an average or slightly above-average offering to use against lefties when the slider won’t be as effective.

Luis Pasen Scouting Report — Projection

Listed at 6’0″, 175 lbs., Luis Pasen is a good athlete with ample room to grow into his body, and he moves around well on the mound. He has a pretty good understanding of how to set up hitters at this point in his career, too, and struck me as one of the more advanced relievers I observed during my time in the AZL in August — especially considering this is just his second year of pro ball and he’s not the product of a major college program. That, coupled with the fact that he’ll turn 23 in January, suggests he might jump into full-season ball at Low-A Great Lakes to begin 2018. He has the pitch life and stuff to succeed there; improved command and a harder look to his slider will go further in pushing him forward as a fringe bullpen arm in the coming years.

Seeing as how he’s a relative unknown with an unannounced signing bonus per Dodgers Digest, and considering his age (21) at the time of signing, it’s likely the Los Angeles Dodgers obtained him for a bargain price. In that regard, he could become a relative steal for them down the road, and though he’s a long ways from making a big league impact, I think a potential short relief (7th inning type) ceiling could well come to fruition because of his advanced feel for his arsenal. Don’t confuse yourself about Luis Pasen being a prospect or a future closer, despite his exceptional stats this summer, but developing a serviceable short relief arm out of him would undoubtedly be another win for an exceptional farm system.

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