Pitching Ninja was wowed by one particular pitch of Kansas City Royals’ Jackson Kowar
When he throws a pitch at Angel Stadium on Monday night, Jackson Kowar will be the fifth player and the fourth pitcher from the Royals’ 2018 draft class to make it to the big leagues.
Kowar will follow Brady Singer, Kris Bubic and Daniel Lynch as making a start for the Royals. The other player drafted in 2018 to make it to the majors: outfielder Kyle Isbel.
Last summer, Kowar was part of the Royals’ summer camp at Kauffman Stadium ahead of the shortened 2020 season.
Kowar also pitched this spring and caught the eye of Pitching Ninja, the popular Twitter account of Rob Friedman. One pitch in particular was highlighted: Kowar’s change-up.
When Kowar was still at the University of Florida, Friedman shared this overlay of Kowar’s fastball and change-up, and you can see why it would cause problems for hitters:
Last week, Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs wrote a story headlined, “Nine low-hype prospects who are getting close to the majors.” Kowar was on the list and Goldstein raved about Kowar’s change-up and mentioned a pitch that’s made a big difference for Kowar.
“The mid-90s fastball and one of the better change-ups in the minors have been as advertised, what has changed is his breaking ball, which has gone from fringy-at-best to perfectly average in terms of spin and shape. It’s a much-needed wrinkle for Kowar to succeed as a starter,” Goldstein wrote.
A year ago, MLB Pipeline had a story with the headline, “Filthiest secondary pitches among top prospects.”
Here is what was written about Kowar: “The right-hander throws his plus-plus change-up in the mid-80s with fastball-like arm speed, turning it over well to impart late fade and tumbling action that nets him whiffs against hitters on both sides of the plate.”
So look for that pitch to be utilized by Kowar during Monday night’s game.
