Drafted in the 34th round (1,033rd overall) by the Kansas City Royals in 2016 (signed for $60,000).
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
Track Record: For those outside the Royals organization, Webb was a surprise addition to the 40-man roster in November. The Kansas City native, who worked on the Kauffman Stadium grounds crew as a teenager, boosted his stock in his first full season in 2021, when he split the year between Low-A Columbia and High-A Quad Cities. He struck out 13.5 batters per nine innings between the two levels with a walk rate of 3.2 per nine innings. Webb was on the mound to get the final out when Quad Cities won the High-A Central championship.
Scouting Report: A big bump in velocity during his first full season put Webb on the radar, with his fastball now sitting 97-98 mph, and touching 100 mph. Webb focused on staying behind his four-seam fastball to create more vertical break coming into 2021, and the results followed. It’s now a true swing-and-miss pitch that dominates the upper quadrants of the strike zone. His east-to-west slider improved during the season, a nice complement to the fastball. While his changeup will flash tumble and fade, it’s a work in progress and clearly a distant third offering. His high three-quarters delivery, which was slow and methodical before, now gets more efficient movement to the plate, contributing to the increase in fastball velocity.
The Future: Webb will head to big league spring training. His most likely starting point for 2022 is Double-A Northwest Arkansas, but continued refinement may lead to a major league opportunity at some point.
Scouting Reports
Track Record: For those outside the Royals organization, Webb was a surprise addition to the 40-man roster in November. The Kansas City native, who worked on the Kauffman Stadium grounds crew as a teenager, boosted his stock in his first full season in 2021, when he split the year between Low-A Columbia and High-A Quad Cities. He struck out 13.5 batters per nine innings between the two levels with a walk rate of 3.2 per nine innings. Webb was on the mound to get the final out when Quad Cities won the High-A Central championship.
Scouting Report: A big bump in velocity during his first full season put Webb on the radar, with his fastball now sitting 97-98 mph, and touching 100 mph. Webb focused on staying behind his four-seam fastball to create more vertical break coming into 2021, and the results followed. It’s now a true swing-and-miss pitch that dominates the upper quadrants of the strike zone. His east-to-west slider improved during the season, a nice complement to the fastball. While his changeup will flash tumble and fade, it’s a work in progress and clearly a distant third offering. His high three-quarters delivery, which was slow and methodical before, now gets more efficient movement to the plate, contributing to the increase in fastball velocity.
The Future: Webb will head to big league spring training. His most likely starting point for 2022 is Double-A Northwest Arkansas, but continued refinement may lead to a major league opportunity at some point.
Career Transactions
RHP Nathan Webb roster status changed by Indianapolis Indians.
RHP Nathan Webb roster status changed by Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent RHP Nathan Webb to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
RHP Nathan Webb assigned to Indianapolis Indians.
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