Pittsburgh Pirates: Non-Tendered Pitchers Worth Pursuing

Melvin Adon

Formerly ranked as the San Francisco Giants 15th best prospect on FanGraphs, Melvin Adon was a starting pitcher farmhand. However, the flamethrower made the transition to the bullpen in 2019. H

e spent most of his time at Double-A where he tossed 45 innings posting a 2.60 ERA, 2.93 FIP and 2.92 xFIP. Adon struck out batters at an insane rate of 31.2% and only surrendered two home runs. However, Adon struggled to find the strike zone consistently walking 26.

Adon saw a 10.1 inning stint at Triple-A where he gave up 16 earned runs, but again, it was a small sample size. He still had a 3.89 FIP through those 10.1 innings he worked.

What makes Adon an interesting pitching prospect is his elite level stuff. Adon carries an 80 grade fastball. That pitch sits in the high-90s and tops out at 102 MPH. With 2600 RPM, it has the second most spin in the minors during last season. His slider is also on an elite level with a 60 grade and 2700 RPM. He also occasionally throws a change up, but his bread and butter is the fastball/slider combo.

Adon is 26-years-old. He has two elite level pitches, ones that helped him rack up insane strikeout numbers in 2018 and hasn’t seen much playing time above Double-A. He definitely has plenty of potential as a late inning arm.