Ryan Jensen

Jensen started his career in the bullpen for Fresno State before transitioning to a starter’s role in 2018 with mixed results. His 2019 season has been much better, as Jensen became the Bulldogs’ Friday starter and helped lead the team to a Mountain West Conference championship with a 3.09 ERA over his first 84.1 innings. While Jensen stands at just 6 feet, 180 pounds, he has big-time stuff with a fastball that’s been as high as 98 mph. The pitch has plenty of life in the form of arm-side run and natural sink, and he pairs it with an impressive slider that scouts say flashes plus at times. He has also shown a changeup that has solid arm-side movement, but he’s primarily pitched off of his fastball/slider combination. Despite Jensen’s intriguing stuff, he hasn’t struck out as many batters as evaluators would expect. His 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings through his first 15 starts in 2019 is a career high, and he struck out 8.2 batters per nine innings during his first two seasons. This likely stems from Jensen’s control, which is scattered at times. Jensen struggles to spot his fastball due to the amount of movement on the pitch, and batters tend to see the ball well as Jensen has some length in the back of his arm stroke and throws from a standard three-quarter slot. Jensen should get a chance to start at the next level thanks to a viable third-pitch changeup, but some scouts believe he’d thrive in a bullpen role, where his fastball and slider could tick up and his fringe-average control wouldn’t be as much of an issue.