The Diamondbacks have signed their top draft pick, 18th overall selection Bryce Jarvis, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. The right-hander agreed to a bonus worth $2.65MM, which comes in well under the recommended slot value of $3.48MM.
Jarvis, the son of former major league righty Kevin Jarvis, was a 37th-round pick of the Yankees a year ago, but he opted against signing. That proved to be a wise decision by the former Duke Blue Devil, who logged a a 2.81 ERA with 12.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 150 1/3 innings at the school. Notably, he and Mets righty Marcus Stroman are the only first-rounders Duke has produced to this point.
Jarvis entered the draft as a top 25 prospect according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (No. 21), FanGraphs (No. 23), The Athletic’s Keith Law (No. 24), and MLB.com (No. 25). McDaniel wrote that Jarvis has taken a major step forward of late, owing to increased arm speed and an improved breaking ball. Along with the breaker, the 22-year-old’s repertoire includes a mid-90s fastball and a quality changeup.
You mean future Cy Young winner, Bryce Jarvis. This dude is filthy, and I was so surprised to see him drop right into the D-backs lap at 18th.
Given the history of MLB draft success, this kid is much more likely to wash out of baseball in 4-5 years then to win a Cy Young award. College dominance rarely translates into MLB dominance. I wish him all the best (I like the Diamondbacks) but there’s not nearly enough there to predict him becoming a future Cy Young award winner.
I wasn’t looking at college dominance, I was just watching footage. This guy has some unique stuff. His fastball has a ton of spin rate (plus decent velocity), his changeup seriously looks like a fastball until 5 feet away from the plate, and it just moves so well. Curveball breaks well, though I’d say it’s definatley his 3rd pitch (doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s just not as elite as his other pitches).
I love the looks of Jarvis, and he kind of looks like a guy that IF we had a “normal” season, he’d finish in AA by the end of it. He’s that advanced, and just nasty.
Although wishful thinking, he could be in the rotation within a year or two because he is an advanced collegiate pitcher that has several plus pitches and control. Of course he needs to miss bats at all levels first.