The first pitcher in this series, Eric Alder, was taken in the 6th round of the 2022 MLB draft from Wake Forest University. Since he was drafted in 2022, he was not able to play many games last season, as he appeared in only four games for the Cannon Ballers and two games in the Arizona Complex league. This year was a different story, as Alder appeared in 28 games, pitching 31 and 1/3rd innings.
This was a fantastic season for Alder, as he pitched to a 2.78 ERA over two levels. He started in Low-A Kannapolis, where he threw 11 innings, giving up six hits and seven walks, but would strike out 19 in those innings, pitching to a 3.18 ERA and a .158 opponents average. The strikeout numbers are fantastic, as he flat-out dominated the Low-A competition. The seven walks are a bit high, but he was able to work around most of the walks.
Once he got to High-A Winston-Salem, the domination continued. He would have a 2.70 ERA over 20 innings. In those innings, he would give up 17 hits and 11 walks, but he had 23 strikeouts and held the opponents to a .227 average. Again, fantastic numbers, as it is clear that his stuff played when he was promoted. The walks improved once he was promoted, but he still has plenty of room for improvement on that front.
He would have five saves over the two levels, so he has shown the ability to close out games, which is very important as closers are hard to come by. It remains to be seen if he can be a closer at the major league level, but he should be the closer on the minor league teams he plays for, as it will be a valuable experience once he gets promoted to the White Sox. Promotion could be sooner rather than later, as college pitchers, especially relievers can fly through the minor leagues.
According to MLB, all of his pitches are graded out as above average, with his fastball and curveball being his best two pitches. They also grade him to have an above-average slider, so scouts clearly love his stuff. The only issue is they grade him decently below average with his control. This is a bit of a concern, as it was reflected in his stats this year. It doesn’t matter what kind of stuff you have if you can’t control it, so he will definitely have to work on cutting down the walks and controlling his pitches better. If he can do that, he will be an absolutely dominant reliever for the Sox.
Control is important, especially for relievers, as they come in close games and every baserunner counts. He seemed to work on that once he was promoted, but he will need to continue to work on it in the offseason and next season. I give him a B for the season, only because of the walks. Otherwise, he would easily be in the A range.
