Chayce McDermott - Fantasy Baseball Prospects Waiver Wire Stashes (Week 9)

BALLER MOVE: Stash in Deeper Leagues

CALL-UP ETA: June

ANALYSIS: Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Chayce McDermott has been one of the best arms in the minor leagues this month. Through the first half of May, he holds a 1.54 ERA and 0.69 WHIP in two starts with an impressive 19:3 K:BB ratio.

In April and his lone start in March, he struggled with a 3.80 ERA, 1.92 WHIP, and a 30:23 K:BB ratio. McDermott posted similar results with Triple-A Norfolk last season with a cumulative 2.49 ERA and 1.01 WHIP, which is quite similar to his cumulative 3.00 ERA and 1.48 WHIP total now.

When looking at his underlying metrics, it seems that McDermott has only slightly improved his K rate (31.2%—32.9%) compared to last season. He has also shown less command of his pitches, with a significant increase in walk rate (11.7%—17.4%), which is not a good sign.

Chayce McDermott notches his 100th Triple-A strikeout in just his 17th start with the Tides. It's the quickest a Norfolk pitcher has reached the 100 strikeout mark. pic.twitter.com/2RnqXQVyNK

— Tides Notes (@TidesNotes) May 4, 2024

However, the Baltimore prospect has shown a remarkable transformation in his past two starts. When comparing two of his starts this season, one a recent outing on May 3 and the other on April 10, we can see several reasons he is improving.

First, he generated 43 swings in his recent outing compared to just 37 in his earlier start. Thirteen of those swings in his May outing were for strikes, while only eight were swinging strikes in his April start.

The primary reason for this was his increase in velocity. Recently, one of his breaking pitches, his curveball, averaged 77 mph compared to just 73 mph earlier in the season. This has helped him begin to generate more swinging strikes.

With how well he is pitching at Triple-A and the recent slight uptick in velocity suggests that the 25-year-old has a solid chance to make his major league debut this summer.

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