Imposing WooSox reliever with 'electric' stuff and premium velocity needs more consistency before becoming a weapon in the bullpen
WooSox reliever Melvin Adón is a menacing presence on the mound. He’s built like a linebacker, standing in at 6-foot-3 and 246 pounds, and he can hit triple digits on the radar gun.
There’s no doubting the stuff; his plus-fastball regular sits in the high 90s while offering a tantalizing slider that rides in on right-handed hitters. He is an imposing figure on the mound, but he has struggled to put it all together throughout his career.
“His stuff is electric,” said WooSox manager Chad Tracy from Polar Park.
Boston signed Adón right before camp broke back in late January. The minor-league deal was viewed as a low-risk, high-reward type of signing. There’s a chance that the Red Sox and their new pitching program can figure out a way to harness his stuff and get the big right-hander to consistently hit the strike zone.
Adón was assigned to the WooSox during spring training and through five games to begin the Triple-A season. His numbers are rough, but he’s shown signs the last two outings that the flame thrower is turning the corner.
The Dominican Republic native is 0-1 with an 11.81 ERA while striking out seven and walking five over 5 1/3 innings.
“His big focus is getting the ball in the square,” Tracy said. “He throws up to 100 mph; he threw some nasty-cut sliders. He’s got good stuff; we just need him to get it into the strike zone. If he is in the strike zone, he is going to be very difficult to handle.”
The issue has been hitting the zone consistently for Adón this season. Of the 107 pitches he’s thrown, 64 have been strikes, while 43 have been balls. He’s struck 25.9% of the batters he faced while walking 18.5%.
Over the last two games, Adón has pitched well, tossing three scoreless frames and no hits while striking out six batters, including four over two clean innings on Sunday.
Adón was cutter-heavy on Sunday, topping out at 90.7 mph and generating 11 swings and seven whiffs. Ten of the 23 pitches thrown were in the zone; however, the pitches out of the zone hovered from the inside of the plate to righties and down and away to force left-handers to chase out of the zone.
“He throws upper 90s, and it’s not straight. It’s got an arm-side run into a righty, so that’s not going to be a fairly comfortable at-bat if your hitting righty.”
Adón profiles strictly as Triple-A depth with a very small likelihood of getting time with the Red Sox 26-man roster. If the Red Sox pitching lab can reel the big hurler in and get him to consistently throw strikes, it could be an intriguing option later in the season out of the bullpen.
