Cypress College RHP Jake Mahood Scouting Report, February 2018

Lots of sink here; fastball has a lot of arm-side run to go along with consistent sink, and he manipulates it well to get downward movement consistently. Particularly effective on arm-side corner, but shows advanced ability to back-door the pitch to his glove-side. Even in upper velocity band, fastball doesn’t lose life down or to arm-side; fastball only flattens out when he misses in the upper portion of the strike zone. Heavy pitch will draw quite a bit of ground balls with control good enough to succeed in the bottom third of the zone; if Jake Mahood can add velocity in the next couple years, he’ll have a very impressive, effective low-90s power sinker. Velocity: 83-87.

Changeup is already a very strong pitch with tons of late tumble to his arm-side that makes it a bat-misser against LHH and a ground ball machine for hitters from both sides. Shows very, very good feel with the changeup – goes to it early and often, and uses it in most any count with great arm action and arm speed. Plenty of tumble; life and arm speed gives it an appearance of almost stopping on the way to the plate; will get hitters out on front foot and miss barrels/miss bats. Arm action/arm speed are identical to fastball and make changeup indistinguishable out of the hand. Velocity: 75-80.

As good as his fastball/changeup combo is right now with potential for growth, the slider must improve considerably and has room to do so. Pitch shows 10-to-4 sweeping break without late bite or consistent great depth; tendency to stay on one plane at times and spin like a cement mixer; will not miss many bats and struggles to get off plane and miss barrels even with speed differential. Lots of work here to make slider dive to glove-side in equal/opposite tunnel as fastball and changeup dive to arm-side. Slider is far and away his third best pitch right now, with a ways to go. Velocity: 72-75.

Control is ahead of command, as to be expected for a pitcher at Mahood’s age/level. Struggles to command the ball to pinpoint spots on the corners of the plate consistently, but he can leave his repertoire low-middle and let it move naturally side to side. With as much life as he has in this repertoire, Jake Mahood has ample margin for error in hitting his spots, and a below-average command profile won’t necessarily hamper his future as a rotation arm.

Mechanics are interesting and unique; breaks hands early on very long backswing after leaving the glove at (or slightly before) he hits the top of his balance point. Very long arm action in the back shows off the ball for a long time, particularly to LHH. Can get overly horizontally rotational through delivery; three-quarters to low three-quarters release with ample pitch life; mechanics are identical/comparable with every pitch in his repertoire.

Really needs to add some velocity, because pitchability is high and depth/life on his repertoire is insanely good at times. Changeup has a chance to be a legitimate plus pitch, and a few miles an hour more on his fastball could really help his profile as a potential future pro arm. Some room left to grow into his body, particularly his lower half; listed at 6’2″ and 175 lbs. right now with a bit of physical growth likely left to come that could bump velocity a tick or two.

Fringe 2018 MLB Draft follow because of less-than-projectable velocity at this point in his career. If he adds a few miles an hour to his working velocity band (say, 88-92 mph), he’s going to be something to watch as a sinker/slider/changeup ground ball machine at the next level. Will benefit quite a bit by heading to a four-year school for the final two years of his amateur career after Cypress College, and should develop well at that level for a couple seasons. By the end of it, Jake Mahood may well be a legitimate MLB Draft follow.

Big jump here to imagine him a 50 FV, I know, but velocity improvements and some growth in the coming years give Jake Mahood a shot to develop a power sinker to go along with his very good changeup. The sum total there would be a ceiling as a back-end rotation arm at absolute best (hence the 50 FV to dream on), with perhaps a more likely swingman/long relief role (40-45 FV) somewhat more easily attainable in his future. Working more on projection here than tangible physical tools right now, and have to dream a little bit to see the path forward for Jake Mahood, but the fastball/changeup combination is a really good foundation upon which to build. MLB ETA: 2023.