Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: Five College Pitchers To Keep An Eye On

Isaiah Coupet

The second lefty of the day we’ll look at is Isaiah Coupet. There’s certainly some risk with Coupet, but he has some nasty breaking stuff, with some even considering him the best swing-and-miss pitcher in this year’s draft. If you believe in his ceiling, he’s one of the more interesting names of today’s article.

Coupet pitched to a 3.55 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 4.5 K:BB ratio through 50 innings of work. As stated earlier, getting batters to whiff at his offerings has never been an issue. Coupet clocked in with a phenomenal 34.6% strikeout rate this season. Walks have been an issue for him in the past, but he turned in a walk rate of just 7.7%. His home run rate was his weakest area, but he still had a solid 0.90 HR/9.

While Coupet gets a ton of strikeouts, it’s not because his fastball is overpowering. He only sits in the low-90s and is an average pitch at best. But both his slider and curveball are elite. Coupet generates 3000+ RPMs on both his breaking offerings. They both project as well above-average pitches, though his slider has more potential. He’ll occasionally toss a mid-80s changeup, but he rarely uses the pitch.

Coupet’s control was definitely trending upward this year, as was his command, but he still can get a little shaky with his ability to locate consistently. His wind-up has a lot of moving parts, which could be a potential culprit to his ability to hit his spots. However, it does add some deception.