James " IPK 2.0 " Kaprielian
http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/draftplayer?playerId=19585&wjb
Sturdy and reliable, Kaprielian has carved up Pac-12 hitters at will since
arriving on campus, striking out more than a batter per inning in each of his
freshman, sophomore and junior years. He's solidly built at 6-foot-4 and
(200(-plus) pounds with a delivery similar to that of Kyle Kendrick and Mark
Appel; he kicks his leg up and brings it back down before striding home,
while his head and shoulders dip in unison with his lower half. The arm works
pretty well, with some mild head violence and crunch in the shoulder, though
things aren't overwhelmingly violent.
His stuff is solid. Kaprielian will sit 90-94 mph, working more toward the
low end of that spectrum from the stretch. He relies heavily on his slider
and curveball, with the former being the superior of the two; it has short
but sharp two-plane movement in the mid-80s. His curveball bends in between
78 and 81 mph and has more depth than the slider, but is merely average. He
does an excellent job of keeping both down in the zone (or below) and
limiting hard contact. Kaprielian's changeup is firm at 84-86 mph. He barely
uses it, but scouts are very intrigued by it and think it might develop into
an above-average or plus pitch.
Kaprielian's stuff is good but lacks the kind of explosion he would need to
rack up a ton of strikeouts in pro ball. He's going to have to locate and
projects to do so. As such, he does have a chance to go in the mid- to late
first round as a potential middle-of-the-rotation arm.
BA
Kaprielian shined for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team last summer,
pitching through a family tragedy as his mother died at age 58 from
breast cancer in June. His mother encouraged him to keep his commitment
before she passed away, and Kaprielian had a strong summer. Kaprielian
knows how to finish hitters off when he’s ahead in the count, with a plus
curveball as his best pitch.
He can land it, vary the shape of it and bury it as a chase pitch, and his
feel for the curve is his strongest attribute. He has dabbled with a slider as
well but has focused on the fastball, curveball and solid-average changeup
for most of the spring.
Kaprielian ranked No. 73 on the BA500 out of high school in 2012, spurning
the Mariners, who took a 40th-round flier. His fastball velocity was
among the reasons Kaprielian didn’t sign out of high school, as he topped
out at 92, and his fastball velocity remains a question this spring. While
he sat 93-95 in a relief role during UCLA’s 2013 national championship run,
Kaprielian generally pitches with a somewhat flat, straight 90-91 mph
four-seam fastball. He was coming on late, including a no-hitter and
velocity touching 95 mph. That could push the polished, 6-foot-4, 200-pounder
into the top half of the first round.