Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Underrated Teenage Pitching Prospects

Right-handed pitcher Owen Kellington

Drafted in the 4th round of the 2021 MLB draft, Owen Kellington was picked out of U-32 High School in Vermont. Vermont isn’t typically a hotbed for baseball talent, but Kellington stood out like no other prospect. He had just a 0.22 ERA and struck out 133 batters in just 49 innings of work. That meant that 90.5% of the outs made against him were strikeouts.

Kellington’s mechanics draw comparisons to Ubaldo Jimenez. Like Jimenez, Kellington has a big open-side wind-up and outward tilt to his delivery. But he doesn’t have as much power as the former Colorado Rockie ace.

Kellington currently sits around 88-90 MPH with his fastball but locates it well. It also has very good left-to-right movement. His curveball is really good. It has a quick drop to it that can get a lot of swings and misses. His change-up is still developing, but he has a feel for it. Plus, his command isn’t bad either.

FanGraphs likes Kellington for his “underlying traits.” He’s still only 19-years-old but has a tall frame. He’s 6’3″ 195 pounds, so there’s room to grow here. While he might never be a hard thrower, he has a lot of movement on his fastball, and if he adds another tick or two of velocity, he’ll make an already plus fastball an even better pitch.