2020 MLB draft profile: Shane Drohan

Update (6/17):

Shane Drohan came to FSU as the 4th best LHP in FL, but ran into early struggles when he reached campus. In his freshman season, he walked ten batters in just 4.1 IP and gave up 10 runs. The command didn’t get much better his sophomore season, but you could see the present ability to miss bats. In 2019, he still had a BB/9 over 8, but had an ERA of just 3.66 over 51.2 IP.

It wasn’t till Jimmy Belanger was hired as FSU’s pitching coach that it all started coming together for the southpaw. Belanger sped up Drohan’s lower half, which got his arm and body more in sync. Early in the season, you could see he was still pressing on the bump, which led to some walks, but the misses weren’t nearly as egregious as the previous seasons. It started to all come together in Drohan’s last two starts against two top 15 teams.

Against Texas Tech, he struck out a career high nine batters and gave up just three hits. If it weren’t for an error in the fifth inning, he would’ve got through five innings with just one walk and one earned run. The next weekend, he went 5.1 IP against Duke, while walking just two. He gave up five hits and four runs, but four of the hits were bloopers or weak dribblers. The results might not have been there for the lefty, but you could see the product was starting to come all together.

Predicting where Drohan will go in the draft is hard for multiple reasons. The pure ability he posses is a first round talent. The questions come in his consistency, efficiency, and command. His draft status likely depends on how teams approach this year’s draft. Some teams may play it safe, others may take big risks. I’d be surprised if a team doesn’t take a shot with him by the end of the third round, which would make him the first FSU southpaw drafted in the top five rounds since Sean Gilmartin was taken in the first round in 2011.

Drohan’s raw stuff and arsenal has never been the issue. He’s athletic and flexible in his delivery. He gets down the hill with ease, releasing the ball at a long extension point from his 6’3 frame. The arm whip creates easy velocity from a low effort delivery. His lanky frame makes him one of the more projectable college pitchers on the board. Physically, Drohan is one of the most impressive southpaws in the draft. He also produces some of the best spin rates in the draft, which many teams are shifting their focus towards in the analytical wave.

The fastball sits in the 91-93 MPH range, reaching up to 94 MPH. The high spin rate and long extension point makes the ball jump on hitters. He does a good job of using the FB up in the zone, tunneling it with his breaking ball.

The curveball is Drohan’s out pitch against lefties and righties. Against righties, it often sweeps behind the back foot, working off the high-and-inside fastball. For lefties, the pitch is almost unhittable, as it sweeps away from them. Drohan is working on getting the pitch to have more of a 12-6 shape to it. The high spin rate makes the pitch a tight, quick breaker, rather than a loopy breaking ball that hitters have time to react to.

Drohan’s changeup doesn’t have much depth to it like others’ changeups, but rather has late fade. The late fade makes it hard for batters to recognize off the FB. He likes throwing it to the arm-side of the plate, as righties get it off the end of the bat, and it tails under the hands of lefties.

You can see the southpaw’s full live pen from last week in my tweet below: