Ben Casparius

Casparius saw occasional playing time as an infielder and a reliever during his 2018 and 2019 seasons at North Carolina before transferring back to his home state to play for Connecticut. After sitting out 2020, Casparius broke through with an outstanding 2021 campaign, tying for seventh in the nation in strikeouts with 123 punchouts in 88 innings through the end of the regular season. At 6 feet, 208 pounds, Casparius isn't that big, but he has a quality three-pitch mix, operating off a fastball that sits at 89-93 mph and can reach 95. His fastball is arguably his third-best pitch, with a pair of secondary offerings that can miss bats. His go-to offspeed pitch is his slider, a 50 to 55 offering on the 20-80 scale. Some scouts see a potential plus slider, and he leans heavily on his fastball/slider combination against righthanded hitters. Against lefties, Casparius mixes in more changeups, and while he doesn't use it as much as his slider, it's the pitch that gets the highest whiff rate. His changeup flashes plus with excellent lateral action at its best and sometimes good drop as well, a true swing-and-miss pitch against pro hitters. Casparius is a good athlete with an efficient, repeatable delivery, but his fastball command needs to improve, which is why some scouts see his future in the bullpen. Others see a starter's three-pitch mix and enough strikes to project him as a solid back-end starter.