Player Breakdowns: May 3rd

Notable Performances & Jonah Tong

Notable Performances:

Jesus Rivero (MIL) - Low-A: 5IP 1H 1ER 1BB 6K

Here is what I wrote about Rivero in the offseason in my 18 pitchers to target outside the top 100 post:

First things first, Rivero has to hone his command and limit the walks. Besides that, he’s a great arm to know as he has a ton of breaking stuff that all work well for him. He throws his fastball from an almost goofy low arm angle and gets a lot of carry on it sitting 90-92. It’s paired with a nasty cutter that sits 86 mph. All in all, Rivero has an arsenal, it’s just a matter of him mastering his command to get the results he desires. Rivero is an arm I’m keeping an eye out for in 2024 because if he does improve his command, he’s going to be a name to watch — and the results will follow.

He still pitched to a 3.00 ERA last year in Low-A despite a 16.4% BB rate. An ideal rate for him would be 10-12% for his stuff to be truly effective — as 2024 will be known as Jesus Rivero BB rate watch.

Rivero has mound presence and reminds me a bit of Luis Castillo because of his delivery and mechanics. I’ll be interested to see Rivero’s leap into High-A because he is going completely underrated compared to some of the other breakout names at the level.

Moisés Chace (BAL) - High-A: 4IP 1H 0ER 1BB 4K

I went over Chace in a Player Breakdown at the beginning of April and he’s been a popup arm since. Here is a bit of what I wrote about him in my breakdown.

I’ve been very impressed with Moisés Chace’s command to start the year. He’s even made gains in the velocity department and he’s showing he can throw his breakers in any count. It does help getting ahead of batters with the 4-seamer and 2-seamer but Chace looks like a completely different pitcher this year than he did last year. If he’s a newfound control freak, I’m going as far as to say this is a pop-up prospect and breakout arm in the Baltimore system. He’s a 21-year-old in High-A and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him get a dip at AA before the season is over if he keeps this up.