Pedro Strop is the player to be named later in the trade that sent Mike Gonzalez to the Texas Rangers.
Pedro Strop is a power pitcher who can throw 94-95 mph with some late life off to the right side of the plate. His slider has some work for repetitive action, but shows as a potential swing and miss offering in the mid 80s.
He does have a drop off the table splitter that plays well in smaller parks, but his command of that pitch needs some improvements to become effective at the major league level.
Mechanically, he shows quality lower half movements with his drive to the plate and solid rotation from the lower half. His arm action is rather tough and a has great deal of whip action that could pose arm issues in the future. He tends to ride out his arm and it drags through the zone after he has already landed and drove forward, and this places an extreme amount of pressure on the shoulder. Since he is a relief pitcher, it tends to mask injuries and that bug may have left the room as he matured.
Overall, he is a guy that can eat a late inning with two potential power pitches. If he can get a feel for the slider and splitter at the same time, he could be flat out tough to hit. He needs to see action at the major league level and a solid catcher that keeps him in rhythm and hitters off balance. He is a solid hard throwing bullpen type that could be a 7-8 inning power arm in the Orioles’ bullpen.
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