Diamondbacks Prospect Kyle Amendt Hones Stuff in Fall League

Kyle Amendt is a Diamondbacks relief prospect pitching in the Arizona Fall League.

Kyle Amendt throws in the bullpen during the Arizona Fall League media day at Scottsdale Stadium on Oct. 4, 2024, in Scottsdale, Arizona. / Megan Mendoza/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Kyle Amendt arrived at Southeastern Community College out of high school with no other pitch than a fastball. He knew he needed to start working on a curveball. Growing up in Iowa, he was a big St. Louis Cardinals fan.

"I watched Adam Wainwright with the Cardinals all the time. I just went and I started watching his curveball. He's got a big one. It's fun to look at, fun to watch. So, I watched that quite a bit."

Amendt also watched a lot of Clayton Kershaw and knew he wanted a 12-6 curve. The easiest way to get there was to raise his arm slot. Whereas he used to throw from a high three-quarter slot, he raised it even higher to get the break on the curve.

"So, that way, I could create the depth I wanted." Amendt said. "Then from there, the fastball kind of just followed with it. And now it's just – it's natural throwing that way."

The arm slot is extremely high, reminiscent of former Diamondback Josh Collmenter, who famously threw hatchets in his youth, leading to his unique throwing style. The over-the-top delivery creates deception and difficulty picking up the ball.

The drills his coach used to help him get there were different, but no less unorthodox. Amendt described that process.

"My pitching coach at my junior college that first semester had me throwing Gatorade bottles into a fence. He was like, you just want to get it spinning over itself. I was like, alright. So, I just started doing it and it kind of stuck. Started doing it more and more, and my curveball started getting better and better."

Fast forwarding, Amendt became an All-American as a shutdown relief pitcher at Dallas Baptist University. Taken in the ninth round of the 2023 draft, the big right-hander has moved quickly through the Diamondbacks' system.

He started out his professional career in 2023 with 12 scoreless innings between rookie ball and Low-A Visalia. He began the 2024 season in High-A Hillsboro, but he wouldn't stay there long. He gave up just one run and struck out 27 batters while walking just two in 13.1 innings.

Promoted to Double-A Amarillo, he found the going slightly tougher, but still posted a 2.89 ERA in 18.2 innings at that level. He struck out 30 batters, but the walks crept up a bit to eight.

That earned him yet another promotion to Triple-A Reno in early August. It was in the Pacific Coast League that he faced his first adversity. He gave up seven runs in 12 innings for a 5.25 ERA. The problem was walks, as he issued 14 free passes. He still struck out 18 batters however.

Now 24 years old, the 6'5", 237 pound Amendt is pitching in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters, an elite prospect league with six teams playing each other in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Each team is comprised of seven players from five different organizations, giving them a chance to develop and showcase their talents.

Discussing the situation, and what he needs to do to improve, Amendt was very candid. "I kind of stumbled there at the end in Reno. Walks went up. Strikeouts were still kind of there, but the walks went up more. Just limiting the walks and just going back to commanding the zone like I did."

Amendt also addressed the pitching environments in Amarillo and Reno. He clarified the incorrect pitch classifications in Statcast. He throws a low-90's fastball, a curve, and a slider. Statcast mislabeled many of his four seamers as cutters.

"With going up there, [to Reno] the way the elevation changes, you kind of get used to how your stuff's moving at certain elevations. Like here, my fastball carries at 20-plus [Induced Vertical Break]. When I get to Reno, it doesn't carry at 20-plus. So, if I get any sort of horizontal on it, the system automatically thinks it's a cutter because I have less vertical break on it."

While he acknowledged the difficulty of pitching in thin air at high elevation, he refused to use that as an excuse.

"My first outing in Reno, I gave up a home run that was probably a flyout at any other ballpark and any other place that I would play at, so that's definitely different. But, honestly, I'd say the biggest change moving up the levels, it's not really tied to sea level or anything. It's just the hitters. They're better hitters, especially when you get to AAA."

You have guys coming back doing rehab stints in the AAA, there are guys that have had a substantial amount of big league time. So, I mean, they know the zone well and they're good hitters. It's that. You still got to go out. They still got to hit. You still got to pitch."

Now pitching in the Arizona Fall League presents opportunity for Amendt at both organizationally and personally. "I do enjoy it down here. And being able to play with some of the guys I got drafted with, too, like Tommy [Troy], Gino [Groover], Phil [Abner], and also playing with Dylan Ray and Yu-Min Lin is fun, too. I'm enjoying it."

The Fall League is very much a hitter's league; the average runs per game is currently 6.92, and the league OPS is .835. But Amendt has showed he belongs in his first two outings. In 2.1 innings he's struck out four batters while walking just one, allowing just one unearned run. He knows how good the hitters are in this league too.

"They're good. It's a great league. Obviously, all these guys are prospects. The orgs think very highly of them to send them here. So, it's been really good competition."

The Arizona Diamondbacks organization thinks highly of him as well. Kyle Amendt is on the fast track for a crack at the major league roster sometime in 2025. How well he pitches in the Fall League and the early going in Reno will determine just when that call-up comes.