Jonathan
Bowlan

5/23/18 - Strong, big boned frame, yet remarkably athletic for his extra large body type. Executed a balanced delivery; led with his front hip, worked down the hill and landed on-line. Showed arm strength and leveraged the ball against a mostly firm front side from a high three-quarters slot. Clean arm action with a full circle. May need some refinement in his lower half mechanics (some instability in his knee when landing), yet nothing major. His last start of the 2018 season was not nearly as good as his best at South Florida earlier in the season where he sat 92-96 mph with a plus slider for nine innings. Struck out 18 in that late April start, setting an American Athletic Conference record in the process. On this day, his stuff was much more pedestrian and the swing/miss less frequent. His fastball sat 88-92, touched a couple 93s. Dipped to 88-91 from the stretch. His first inning strikeout of Alec Bohm gave Bowlan 100 for the season. The third and fourth innings were his best as his fastball showed showed some weight down in the zone and induced several ground balls and swing/miss. Overall, his 82-84 mph slider showed fringe quality on the day, yet varied from below average to just above. Flashed a couple changeups at 83-84 mph, but it was a distant third pitch. A bit out of sync for whatever the reason, Bowlan looked uncomfortable the moment he took the mound in the first inning for what was likely his last start in a Memphis Tiger uniform. He is a likely top three round pick, possibly even higher depending upon how his best outing in Florida holds up in club’s draft room discussions. Profiles as a starter and reminds me physically and stuff-wise of former MLer Seth Rosin.