Top Prospects #15: Chris Dwyer

#15 Chris Dwyer


Age: 21
Pos: LHP
HT/WT: 6-3/210
Drafted: 4th Round of 2009 Rule IV Draft
College: Clemson
ETA: 2012

By now most Royals fans know the background on Chris Dwyer and that he was an extremely rare draft eligible freshman in last years first year player draft. This is because he was held back a year in elementary school and attended prep school. The fact that he is a draft eligible freshman has been spun by many within the organization as a positive, by I'm not so sure that I am buying that and I tend to view it as more of a negative. Sure you could argue that because he was just a freshman that there is potential for improvement, but my point is simple. A prospects development is judged by age and as far as development is concerned every year counts. I view Dwyer's situation as a negative because compared with most twenty-one year old pitchers he hasn't logged near as many quality innings and is thus behind in his development. For this reason I have Dwyer rated lower in my prospect rankings than most.

Dwyer exhibits an 89-94 mph fastball and a curve that sits in the low 80s both have the potential to be plus pitches to go along with a change up that needs much more development before it can be an effective pitch. Because of the quality of the first two pitches mentioned Dwyer has the potential to be a frontline starting pitcher, however if his change up fails to develop and his command doesn't improve then he will probably wind up in the bullpen.

I expect Dwyer to be pushed along and while he hasn't pitched in full season ball I envision him starting the season in the Wilmington rotation and if he starts hot he could get a midseason promotion to the Texas League. At this point I'm not a huge fan of Dwyer, and I don't like him as much as several other lefties in the organization. But the guy is a legitimate prospect and many people much wiser than myself love Dwyer as a prospect.