Levi Sterling Report

Levi Sterling was named minor league pitcher of the week June 15th-21st in the Florida State League (A) after his strong performance for Bradenton. Sterling is currently listed as the Pirates 13th prospect, according to MLB.com and has had some mixed results this year but turned in a solid outing this past week. Sterling is in his second full professional season but is still just 19 years old, leaving plenty of room for growth.  

In his outing against Clearwater, Sterling showcased his ability to miss the barrel of the hitters with the arm side run he gets on the fastball. While tagged as a sinker, it profiles more as a two-seam as he does not get much depth on it. He clearly feels more comfortable commanding the fastball arm side to either handed hitters, which often allows him to jam righties and get towards the end of the bat off lefties. The velocity is still progressing as he averaged 92.8 this outing but the frame (6’5”, 202) shows promise with some progress in the weight room and mechanically.  

The cutter/slider was the go to secondary pitch sitting in the mid to upper 80s. While they were tagged as separate pitches, the movement plot makes it seem like this is really one pitch that Sterling looks to manipulate depending on the situation. Combined they generated 3 whiffs and got plenty of in zone takes. The hitters seem to struggle with the tunnel between the fastball and slider, suggesting this combo can certainly be effective at the next level.  

The changeup racked up the highest run value this outing thanks to the multiple weak ground outs Sterling was able to induce with the pitch. While the movement profile still needs some work before it becomes a real above average offering, the command and results of it were certainly positive. Creating more depth on the offering and taking a couple ticks of velocity off would move this pitch from a 40-50 grade pitch to likely a 60.  

To round out the arsenal, Sterling has a curveball that has more slurve action to it due to his lower release height. In this outing, the run value can be misleading because of how many balls he threw with it, but when he executed the offering, results were good (66% whiff). It is by far his largest movement pitch, so it is harder to control but stuff wise it is probably his best. The combination of velocity, spin (2600-2700), and depth on the pitch make it 60 grade with command improvement available.  

Grades