Evan Shaw is a LHP who will be in KU’s weekend rotation this year after two successful seasons at Cochise College (JUCO). Shaw will be 23 years old on Draft day this year, so this will be a huge year for him as it relates to his draft stock and the signing bonus that comes with that. I saw Shaw several times this fall and believe he’ll prove to be KU’s best rotation arm and I believe his draft stock will continue to rise this spring. Let’s take a closer look at Shaw:
Frame: | Long, lean build with a high waist and plenty of room for added strength in future years. |
Delivery: | Rhythmic SWU, high leg lift, no turn. Level shoulders throughout, online stride, average hip/shoulder separation. Minimal head movement, balanced finish. |
Arm Action: | ¾ slot- Medium arm circle, hook behind, looseness present. |
Here’s a side view of Shaw’s mechanics in full speed and a slow-motion look mixed in:
Shaw has three pitches in his arsenal (FB, SL, CH) but he primarily relies on his FB/SL combination. Out of the 4-5 fall outings I saw of Shaw, I counted less than half a dozen CH’s he threw in game-action and none of which have shown average or better potential to my eyes. I see the CH having at best below-average “show-me pitch” potential in the future.
Pitch: | Remarks: |
Fastball: | (91-93/T94): Four-seamer. Maintained velocity throughout all outings. |
FB Mvmt/Life: | FB shows solid carry through the zone and will flash late running action. |
FB Command: | Control well ahead of command at present. Consistently in the zone but has lacked precision in my looks. |
Slider: | (80-83): Bread and butter offering. Manipulates the shape of breaking ball- best ones show late, sharp two-plane break to them. Offering can really neutralize LHH’s. |
Changeup: | (84-86): Minimal action on offering, by far the least used pitch in his mix. Has flashed slight depth in warmups. |
Below are videos of Shaw’s fastball and slider over a few different outings this past fall:
Shaw has average deception overall, with left-handed hitters seemingly having a much tougher time picking up the ball out of his hand in comparison to right-handed hitters.
Coming into the 2024 college season, I think Shaw profiles more as a RP in pro ball simply because the fastball command is below average and I’ve yet to see a useable third pitch for him to utilize, something he’ll need much more in the pro ranks especially without above-average (or even average) overall command.
Shaw will be an arm that I think will be very productive for the Jayhawks this season and I think will put up impressive strikeout numbers along the way. He’s someone who I look forward to seeing progress throughout the spring and get out to see several times. I’ll post a full report with grades and projections after I see him outside of a scrimmage setting.