Tampa Bay Rays Scouting Report: Rollie Lacy

Rollie Lacy became the Tampa Bay Rays newest prospect after their most recent trade which sent Brock Burke among others to the Texas Rangers in a three team trade with the Oakland Athletics. Lets get to know the new prospect.

An 11th round pick in last year’s draft by the Chicago Cubs, Rollie Lacy is a promising right-hander who will enter 2019 with his third organization in as many years. Rollie who now joins the Tampa Bay Rays, is 23 years old and a product of Creighton.

He was traded by the Cubs to the Rangers in the Cole Hamels trade and only months later traded to the Rays in the three team trade that sent Jurickson Profar to Oakland and Emilio Pagan to Tampa.

In 2018 he earned a promotion to High-A ball after a solid full season debut. Lets take a look at some of his numbers from his first two seasons of professional ball.

2017: Cubs AZL Rookie Team

19.2 IP / 0.92 ERA / 17K / .178 OppAvg

After a good start in the Arizona League he was promoted to the Cubs short season single-A affiliate where he surrendered 6 runs in only 9.2 innings of work. He followed his strong start in professional baseball with an even better sophomore campaign, which started with the Cubs full season single-A team.

2018: Full Season Single-A Cubs

16G (10GS) / 71.1 IP / 2.02 ERA / 84K/20BB / .203 OppAvg

After a fantastic start in 2018, Lacy was promoted to HiA where he made only 2 starts prior to being shipped to Texas. After the trade he pitched for the Rangers HiA affiliate.

2018: HiA Rangers

6G (6GS) / 28.1 IP / 4.45 ERA / 27k/13BB / .250 OppAvg

Career Numbers:

138.1 IP / 2.86 ERA / 148KK/41BB / .222 OppAvg

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To this point Lacy has had a successful beginning to his career. Rollie Lacy has posted a good earned run average, KK/BB ratio,  and opponents average in his first two seasons and I would only expect even better things out of the righty as he enters a Rays system known for developing pitchers.

Thanks to Adam McInturff at 2080 Baseball we have a solid scouting report of the 23-year-old. He features a three pitch mix that includes a fastball, slider and changeup. Lacy uses a low 3/4 arm slot and a funky delivery that he uses to disrupt the hitter’s timing.

Timing and pitchability is key for Lacy as his fastball only scrapes the lower 90’s. Due to his arm slot though, his fastball does have good run and sink and induces a fair share of ground balls. His slider is loose but if tightened could be an effective major league piece. As it sits right now in the low 80’s, it is effective against right-handed hitters. His changeup is already a good off speed pitch as he takes a good 5-6 MPH off compared to his fastball.

McInturff also mentions that he is an advanced strike thrower and shows advanced pitchability. As for his future with the Tampa Bay Rays, we could see the scrappy righty blossom as Yarborough did and end up as a bulk guy or a back-end starter. His funky delivery could also land him in the pen as a righty specialist. The latter option is more likely as McInturff mentions that his stuff simply isn’t dominant enough to outlast a lineup more than two turns through.

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I believe the future is bright for Rollie Lacy and it will be fun to watch him grow in the Rays system. Welcome to the Tampa Bay Rays system Rollie!