A's minor leaguer Steven Echavarria stands out in this category

Jason Burke | Nov 9, 2024

Millburn's Steven Echavarria pitches to Pascack Valley. Pascack Valley defeats Millburn, 5-3, in the Group 3 semifinal on Monday, June 14, 2021, in Hillsdale. North Group 3 Baseball Semifinal / Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The A's selected right-hander Steven Echavarria in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Millburn High School. In his first pro ball action, he started 19 games with the High-A Stockton Ports in 2024, though the results likely aren't what he was expecting. Yet, in a new article over at Baseball America, they said the Echavarria is actually a standout. Allow us to explain.

In 2024 Echavarria began his pro career by going 0-5 with a 6.55 ERA, tossing 57 2/3 innings in those 19 starts. He held a 1.91 WHIP, walked 12.8% of the batters he faced, and had a tough time getting his feet under him in general. That said, his FIP was slightly better at 5.06, and his BABIP was ridiculously high at .393. The MLB league average BABIP this past year was .291, which shows that the right-hander was pretty unlucky.

Did we also mention that Echavarria is just 19? He turned 19 in August, too, so he tossed most of his innings at the age of 18, which brings us back to the Baseball America piece.

According to BA, Echavarria ranked at the top of the 18-year-olds in "stuff" by their metric of STF+. His STF+ of 108 was the highest of any pitcher his age, and would place him in the middle of the top-10 in the age ranges ahead of him too.

The way that BA explains "stuff" is, "for a four-seam fastball, metrics such as average velocity, induced vertical break, extension, vertical approach angle, and horizontal break result in a “stuff” score that is correlated to run value, whiff rate, and xwOBA against. We repeat this process for each pitch in a pitcher’s arsenal–using the specific metrics that inform that pitch type’s stuff score–and then an overall “stuff” score for the pitcher is created based on weighting each pitch’s stuff by the frequency in which it is thrown."

They also have a stat called nSTF+, which is where they normalize the statistic by "rebalancing the STF+ of each pitch type against the average STF+ for that pitch type." In that category, Echavarria was even better, holding a 110 nSTF+.

After being selected in the third round and signing for an above-slot $3 million, the A's knew that Echavarria has the potential to be nasty. He currently ranks all over the place in the A's system among the different publications.

BA has him slotted at No. 10 with a 50 future grade, though they value his risk as extreme. This is due to his age and relative lack of experience in the minors. As he racks up more and more innings, it'll be easier to get a better gauge on him as a prospect.

MLB Pipeline ranks him the lowest, all the way down at No. 14. They also rate him as a 45 FV, though they haven't updated his bio since before the 2024 season began, so that could change as they update the system rankings.

Finally, FanGraphs is the highest on Echavarria, ranking him at No. 6 in the Athletics' system, though their rankings are also a little out of date. They still include both Mason Miller, who has since graduated from prospect status, and Royber Salinas, who has since re-joined the Atlanta Braves this winter.

While Echavarria is considered one of the A's top prospects, he also isn't expected to reach the Majors anytime soon. The estimated time of arrival for the righty is currently listed at around when the A's proposed Las Vegas ballpark opens.