Juaron Watts-Brown

ANALYSIS
Watts-Brown, an athletic 6-foot-3, 190-pound righty, redshirted in 2021 at Long Beach State and transferred to Oklahoma State for the 2023 season. His most impressive feat as an amateur was logging a 3.71 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and a 45:15 K:BB in 34 innings (eight starts) in the Cape Cod League last summer, which really helped his stock. Watts-Brown's low-90s fastball (touches 96 mph) has excellent movement (19 inches of induced vertical break, per Baseball America), but he really leans on his mid-80s slider. He likes to use it as a chase pitch, but his command and control are shaky, and pro hitters won't chase the slider as often as amateurs, especially when he's bouncing it in front of the plate. His curveball and changeup are solid third and fourth offerings, respectively. There is significant reliever risk with Watts-Brown, given his fringe-average control (12.8 BB% this year for OSU).