Devin Smeltzer

A cancer survivor, Smeltzer has long endeared himself to scouts with his never-say-never attitude and work ethic. He inspired the annual Swing For The Cure Camp, an event held in the northeast each year to raise money for children with health concerns. Smeltzer was a 33rd-round pick of the Padres out of high school in 2014, didn't sign and attended Florida Gulf Coast. After a year of pitching for FGCU, Smeltzer transferred to San Jacinto (Texas) and posted an excellent 2016 campaign. His fastball works in the upper 80s and sneaks into the low 90s when he needs a little extra oomph. His best offspeed pitch is his changeup, which he throws for strikes and uses to induce poor contact. Smeltzer has a slider that earns fringe-average reviews from scouts, but flashes sharp break when it's on. He'll need to continue getting stronger, but he has good control of a three-pitch mix and he's lefthanded, so teams will be interested in signing him. He struck out 20 in his final start, though he threw 140 pitches in the NJCAA World Series outing.