The Phillies selected Griff McGarry, a 22 year old RHP from the University of Virginia in the 5th round of the draft today.
Here’s his Baseball America scouting profile.
Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 175 | B-T: R-R
Commit/Drafted: Rangers '17 (31)
Age At Draft: 22.1
McGarry has never had issues striking out batters, but he’s also never had issues walking them. Through the first 126.2 innings of his Virginia career, McGarry struck out 178 batters (12.6 K/9) but also walked 129 (9.2 BB/9). That sort of control will prevent him from having any significant role at the next level, but scouts keep coming back because McGarry’s stuff is so impressive and the rare times he’s locked in and throws the ball over the plate, he looks dominant. Take his outing against Dallas Baptist in the Super Regional as an example: he pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just two hits while striking out 10 batters and walking three. His fastball sits in the 93-94 mph range but gets into the upper 90s and he gets a ton of swings and misses on a low-80s slider that has plenty of two-plane break. On his best days, McGarry sits with a 70 fastball, plus breaking ball and plus changeup, but he also has bottom-of-the-scale control.
