Damion Carroll: Rays Find Great Velo Even in 6th Round

As late as the 6th round, teams are unlikely to find a player who can do it all. There is always going to be some flaw. But you look for one great tool and hope everything else comes together. Damion Carroll is a clear example of that.

Carroll, who was drafted out of King George High School in Virginia, is 6’4″, 205 (he also plays basketball) and may have some projection remaining. But already he shows some nice velocity on his fastball, with his fastball, which is consistently in the low-90’s and touches 95 MPH. That’s what he has right now. The rest of his game needs a lot of work. Carroll has shown a couple of breaking balls in a curveball and a slider, with the curveball showing more potential than his slider, featuring occasional sharp 11-to-5 break. He also throws a changeup in the infancy stage of development. But with Carroll the Rays are seeing the velocity he has right now and they’ll worry about secondary pitches once he’s signed. It’s also nice that Carroll is known for his happy-go-lucky personality. You never know what will happen with Carroll and there’s a ton of risk with him, but not many pitchers can throw 95 MPH. The Rays see the upside with Carroll if his fastball gets consistently to the mid-90’s after he fills out and his secondary pitches develop. The Rays have had success drafting electric arms in the later rounds, with Matt Moore coming coming first to mind. Maybe Carroll will be able to pan out as well.