BC Uncommitted Spotlight: Josh Fluet

Fluet pitched his way to a decent 2019 campaign with the Tritons, starting 8 games and averaging about a strike out per inning. He commanded a respectable 3.19 ERA through 52.2 innings and walked only 16. An emerging shortcoming with Fluet against high-level hitting was that his fastball velocity (80-82 mph) did not overpower enough to let his off-speed stuff play the way it should. Fluet has shown decent feel for his change up, commanding at the bottom of the zone with some arm side movement and an over the top curve. He has shown flashes of dominance, like his two 8 strike out complete game outings against the Mariners last summer.

Over the winter, according to the Triton’s Twitter page, Fluet has undergone a disciplined strength gaining program through Driveline, and has jumped his fastball from 80-82 to 84-86 and touching up to 88 in a recent bullpen in December. If Fluet’s gains continue throughout the remainder of the offseason, we could see his off-speed pitches increase due to the added spin-rate and velocity in his pitches. At the least his off-speed stuff should play better off his higher velocity with the fastball. He will be interesting to watch heading into the 2020 season and could be a dark horse stud if his work ethic continues to drive his fastball up. Fluet is currently ranked 9th by position as an RHP (24th overall), but could see an upward progression on the coattails of his fastball.