Giovanni L. Soto LHP Detroit Tigers
5/18/1991
6-3 and 160 lbs
B-L T-L
Drafted – 21st round 2009 – HS, Puerto Rico
Bonus – N/A
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We’re going to start our breakdown of this young SP with an exclusive report from our Midwest League correspondent and resident Detroit Tigers expert, Dave Reiffer.
Take it away Dave.
In a Google search, if you spell his name Geovany instead of Giovanni, you will get mostly updates on a promising Chicago Cubs major league catcher. The correct spelling gets you a peek into the budding career of the surprising Giovanni Soto who was just recently chosen (along with top pick Jacob Turner) for the Midwest League All-Star game. Let it be known that BI reported on him first on April 15 as someone to watch.
At 18 years old, the 6-foot-3, 155-pound string bean lefty was selected on the 21st round of the 2009 amateur draft. He landed in the Gulf Coast League and was voted “Tiger of the Year” after a 4-0, 1.18 era performance in 13 games. Now, a year later, Soto has had to have gained at least fifteen pounds but still maintains an ultra-slender frame. In 57 innings, he has accumulated 55 strikeouts, only giving up 2 homeruns, and posted a 2.37 era.
Attending the West Michigan Whitecaps’ home opener this season, I watched Soto wow a crowd of 8,000 with a masterful performance. He punched out 10 hitters in five innings, only walking one. As exciting as an 18 year old striking out 10 hitters in five innings is, more impressive is how he did it. Soto threw strikes. Rarely, did he fall behind in the count. He kept the ball low and changed speeds like a more experienced pitcher. He induced many awkward swings and buckled knees with his stuff. The radar guns were not turned on at the ballpark so I won’t be able to report any velocities (if I had to guess, he probably hit 88-90mph), but more important than the gun readings is the fact that Soto knows how to pitch. Once he adds some meat to that skinny frame of his, he is bound to add velocity.
After the game, Whitecaps manager Joe DePastino lauded the young lefty for his coolness under pressure, for a near invincible performance in front of a large crowd, and for his stuff. Herein lies his biggest hurdle at this point of his young career. For the season, with the bases empty, his era sits at an amazing .69. With runners on, he is at 3.77. In scoring position, Soto looks uber-human with an ugly 7.70. His splits also show that he has more trouble with the small ball teams, like Bowling Green. The tenacious and grinding teams wear him down mentally and he makes mistakes. As his age, this shouldn’t be too much of a red flag. Soto simply hasn’t run into too much adversity. Yet. How he learns to handle it, will determine his ceiling, which could be a 2ndor 3rd starter.
To reach this ceiling, Soto will need to refine his five-pitch repertoire. Currently, he throws a FB, sinker, CB, cutter, and CU. As he matures, he’ll probably need to drop one or two of those offerings in favor of his strongest stuff. Because of his lanky body type and his high three-quarter motion, Giovanni will need to concentrate on repeating his delivery, his arm slot most importantly.
Do yourself a favor and continue to follow updates of Giovanni’s progress on this site. He has already out-pitched some top draft picks like Jacob Turner so he should definitely be on your fantasy baseball radar.
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Thanks for the report Dave. I’m going to take it from here and take a look at Soto’s peripherals just to prove that we’re not all look and see, but actually dig down into the numbers and see what we have. Soto has a sub-3 ERA and 62 K’s vs. 21 walks. So at age 19 we know that he’s using his pitches to the best of his ability at this time. What we need to take a look at next is his groundball rate which is excellent at 60%. So he’s young for his level, keeps and good 3/1 k/bb ratio and gets groundballs at an excellent rate. That’s why he hit our radar and why we’ve already told you to do the same.
Let’s take it to Aaron Bentley for a breakdown of some video of Giovanni Soto and see what the kid will need to work on as far his mechanics to continue his rise in the ranks.
TEMPO – 55
Anyone who has read a few of my breakdowns of pitching mechanics knows how I feel about pitchers who stop at the top of the windup before driving toward the plate. To anyone who hasn’t read any of my breakdowns – I hate it. Hate really isn’t a strong enough word. It makes me want to strangle coaches of all levels. You have probably figured out by now that Giovanni Soto stops at the top of his delivery. He does. I just hate how this robs any and all momentum away from a pitcher. I like the tempo of Soto’s delivery before and after his pause so I graded him up slightly. If he would just carry through the delivery, I’d be a fan.
WEIGHT TRANSFER – 60
There are things I like and things I don’t like here. Bad news first: Soto just doesn’t rotate his hips enough. His hips don’t get open to a point where he can really drive toward the plate. Instead his plant foot lands in a position where he has to throw slightly across his body. This obviously brings injury concerns, control concerns, and takes away from a pitcher’s ability to maximize their velocity potential. On the good side, Soto gets his front foot down at a good point, if just barely late. If he got it down just a bit earlier, maximizing the torque to get his arm going, I would grade him up.
ARM ACTION – 75
I don’t really have any major concerns with Soto’s arm action. It is crisp and clean. It gets going right after he gets his foot down which tells me that he’s not throwing with all arm. He’s got enough deception and it is simple and repeatable.
FOLLOW THROUGH – 65
He takes his arm all the way through and lets it decelerate normally. I would like to see him let the glove come through naturally, though. That not only creates more deception but also guides the torso around in a better way.
CONCLUSION
Continuing the flow in his tempo might put a negative spin on his command until he gets used to the new mechanics but it would be to Soto’s long term benefit to do so. Getting his plant foot more out in front will actually allow Soto to tack on some additional velocity while saving some stresses on his arm caused by the slight cross body motion. Other than those two corrections he’s got the making of a SP all the way. We like what we see long term.
OUR INSTINCT
Soto is going to make an appearance on our Mid Season Midwest League Watchlist this year. He’ll have a spot in the top tier and for good reason. Lefty SP’s of his age with room to grow and the ability to already make hitters miss while keeping his command at a very serviceable level don’t come a dime a dozen. Soto has upside and here and now skills. His name will start popping up everywhere soon. Giovanni Soto.
Check back soon for the Midwest League Mid season report for some more names to watch.
