Pitch Perfect?! A Dominant Day of Minor League Baseball Pitching

Cover Photo with images by Kelly O’Connor,

Wednesday brought a rainy day across the southeast, affecting some scheduled games, including the Carolina Mudcats and Columbia Fireflies series. Now, I will get a doubleheader on Friday.

Across Minor League Baseball, pitching was the dominant demographic, as we had few standout hitters but a lot of dominant pitchers on the mound. Pitch perfect, you say?

Let’s recap what happened across the entire landscape of pro baseball yesterday. If you are unfamiliar with the Dynasty Digest, it is a daily newsletter covering the previous days’ action. While the main focus is usually Minor League Baseball, I will also be hitting on MLB performances to know as well. 

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Each day, I will pick a hitter and pitcher who stand out and deserve the top spot on the sheet. Those players’ reports will be free for all to read. The rest will be paywalled for Dynasty Dugout Subscribers. The article is around 3000 words, giving you detailed player reports to encapsulate everything you need to know.

Jack Wenninger, RHP, New York Mets, 23, AA

I picked Wenninger as my offseason Mets’ sleeper prospect, but man, I did not believe he was going to take this kind of jump. Wenninger was the Mets’ sixth-round pick in 2023 out of the University of Illinois, and he took a big step forward in 2024. After some struggles on the surface in Single-A, having a 5.02 ERA, Wenninger posted a 3.12 ERA in High-A. In Single-A, the xFIP sat at 3.02, which suggests a lot of bad luck.

He appears to be taking another step forward as a pitcher, and we have to give the Mets' pitching development a lot of credit here, as they have done great work with some arms. Wenninger has made strong start after strong start this year, but Wednesday was his best. He tossed five scoreless innings with four hits and one walk, striking out ten batters. Wenninger generated just 12 whiffs, but added 21 called strikes while posting a 67 percent strike rate.

His fastball has continued to trend up from where it was in college, sitting 93-95 mph and touching 96. Wenninger throws two variations in a four-seam and two-seam, with the four-seam having 17 inches of IVB from his high 6’5” release height. The sinker has relatively high IVB as well, but has 14 inches of arm-side run versus just ten on the four-seam.

The changeup is Wenninger’s best secondary, sitting in the low-to-mid 80s with a nice depth and fading action. The curveball is an 11-5 shape with a heavy vertical drop. It sits in the upper-70s and misses bats at a high clip.

I mean it, when I say it, not enough people are talking about Jack Wenninger. He is just three percent rostered on Fantrax and looks like a legit arm.

Kohl Drake, LHP, Texas Rangers, 24, AA

Drake continues to be one of my favorite left-handed pitching prospects in the minors, and I can tell you, internally, the Rangers love this guy. After dealing with a back injury in the spring, Drake got a delayed start to the season. His first Double-A start was bad, but I’m not sure he was back to 100 percent. Over Drake’s last two starts, he has not allowed a run in 9.1 innings and has 16 strikeouts, including last night's dominant 10-strikeout performance.

In 2024, Drake moved three levels, finishing the year dominating Double-A hitters. He posted a 2.29 ERA across 106 innings with 148 strikeouts to just 31 walks. Age is probably a factor holding Drake’s stock from climbing higher, but I believe that with pitchers, it's the stuff and command that are evident, and you can see it playing out, regardless of the competition. Drake is one of those arms.

Drake sits in the 93-95 mph range with his fastball, registering between 15 and 18 inches of IVB with a nice horizontal run. Drake’s curve is his second most used offering, sitting in the low-80s with as much as -15 inches of IVB and sweeping action as well. He mixes an 82 mph changeup that plays well off his fastball and a slider in the 85-87 mph range.

Given that Drake spent time in Double-A last year, and the fact he is 24, he could wind up in Triple-A pretty soon.

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