2019 Texas Rangers draft preview: Jimmy Lewis

2019 MLB Draft Preview: Jimmy Lewis scouting report

The 2019 MLB Draft is less than two weeks away — the first round kicks off on June 3, 2019 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #8, their second round pick is at #50, and they have Milwaukee’s competitive balance pick, acquired in the Alex Claudio trade, which is #41.

Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today, we are looking at Austin high school pitcher Jimmy Lewis.

Jimmy Lewis is a 6’6”, 200 lb. righthanded pitcher from Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas, where he is a teammate of Brett Baty, the third baseman who has garnered Nolan Gorman comps. Lewis turned 18 in November, and throws in the low-90s, with a quality curveball and a feel for a changeup. He’s committed to LSU currently.

There is a good deal of variability with the rankings on Lewis at this point. Baseball America has Lewis ranked at #54 on their top 500 rankings, with Lewis moving up the boards this spring as he has added velocity. MLB Pipeline has him at #63 on their list, noting his size gives him projectability while his delivery is “fairly simple” for a pitcher of his size. Fangraphs has him at #42 on their list, while Keith Law, who tends to be more bullish than many on righty prep pitchers, is the high guy on Lewis, slotting him at #31.

Lewis would seem to be someone in the mix for the Rangers at either #41 or #50 — Fangraphs mocked him to Texas at #41 on their most recent mock. He fits the profile of guys they target, being big, projectable, and athletic. With his curveball and feel for his changeup, he’s the type of guy who could get into a professional organization, add velocity, and suddenly rocket up the charts. He could also flame out, as so many prep pitchers do.

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