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Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Noteable, Successful Softy Tossing Pitchers

Pitch velocity is going up in the baseball world, but these Pirates prospects still throw 90 and under.

ByNoah Wright|
U-32 senior Owen Kellington fires a pitch vs. Lamoille in East Montpelier on Tuesday, May 18,
U-32 senior Owen Kellington fires a pitch vs. Lamoille in East Montpelier on Tuesday, May 18, | SARAH MILLIGAN/for the FREE PRESS via
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Righty Owen Kellington

Owen Kellington is one of the Pirates’ best soft-tossing pitching prospects. A high school draft pick out of Vermont in 2021, Kellington is in his first season where he’s getting an extended look. It’s been an up-and-down year for the right-hander.

He has a solid 3.90 ERA, 0.94 HR/9, and 28% strikeout rate, but he’s also allowed walks at a 15.2% rate and has a 4.80 FIP. Kellington has done well recently, with 2.43 ERA, 4.11 FIP, and 1.15 WHIP since June 30th. He’s still striking out batters at a high rate (29.5%) and isn’t allowing many home runs (0.61), but still dishing out too many free passes (14.8%).

In Kellington’s most recent outing, he averaged just 89.4 MPH with his four-seam fastball, topping out at 90.8. However, he does throw with above-average spin with 2300-2500 RPM. He throws three more offerings: a low-spin changeup, a curveball, and a slider. His change-up and curveball are potentially plus pitches and his slider is his least-used offering. Kellington is the definition of a junk baller, with both his curveball and changeup being his best offerings.

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