Ruben
Rivera

Positional Profile: OF/LHP

Body: 5-10, 175 lbs. Medium athletic build with a strong lower half. Maturing upper half.

Hit: Open and upright in stance with lower hanging hands. Toe tap trigger. Hands load into a higher elbow and slight barrel tip. Slight hip coil. Some front side drift in his swing. Compact steep swing that stays tight and connected. Below-average bat speed. Let the ball get deep during BP which resulted in some inside-out and jam shots. Had an LD single to left during game action. 

Power: 88mph max exit velo. 316ft max distance. Current singles hitter with flashes of gap to gap. 

Defense: Comfortable actions. Stays low to the ball. Comes through it well and gets to release quickly. Average arm strength. Armside tail on his throws from the outfield. accurate one hops.

Run: 7.22 laser timed 60. 

Mechanics: Athletic up-tempo delivery. Medium knee lift that wraps towards the 1B side of the mound and back in line with home which creates some crossfire. Rotational pitcher. Downhill shoulders. Twirls around landing leg. Whippy quick arm. Longer in the back that you can see out the back. Comes out of the slot. 

FB: Decent spin for velo as he got it up to 2250 rpm. Some heavy ASR shown with horizontal break #’s of 18.5 inch average and 25 inch max. Doesn’t get him many K’s but makes it hard to square up. 

SL: Sweeping break due to lower vertical break. Had some trouble locating but has some sharp break that when thrown for strikes will produce whiffs. 

CH: Similar HB break as the fastball but with some added depth. Thrown with same armspeed which adds deception. Works real good off the FB.

vs Granada HS - Uncommitted; Athletic body type, came in as reliever, good tempo, has strong mound presence, wobbled a bit early with location before finding the zone and did so with steady diet of good sliders. FB velocity obviously not overwhelming but when pitching off the slider he was very effective. Sharp bite with ability to use to both RHH and LHH hitters, quick break under RHH bats and toward the back foot. Some fading action on the change-up, high-3/4 slot, easy compact arm action.

PBR N CA Top Prospect Game - Max FB 79, FB 75-77, CB 67-68, SL 71-72, CHG 67-68
Lean lithe body type on 5-foot-11, 145-pound frame, he’s able to manipulate the baseball on the mound throwing four different pitches; athletic delivery and pitching with tempo going right at hitters. FB 75-77 T79 with run and understanding how to set hitters up. CHG 66-68 being able to turn it over for late sinking run. CB 67-68 with late depth from 1/6 shape. SLD 71-72 with small lateral break running off barrels. Controlled all pitches throughout outing leading to little hard contact. High level of pitchability and trusts his stuff/approach. Getting more separation between CB and CHG is an area to improve on.

PBR CA STATE GAMES - Long slender frame with length in the limbs; space to keep adding girth and strength. Flashed two way-skills standing out on the mound going three innings striking out three and walking three with two hits. On the hill has an athletic delivery with gradual, high front knee lift having his hands work with the front leg; solid bracing and landing. Arm has full, long swing showing wrist wrap deep before getting to H-3/4 release point; extension down the hill has ball jump on hitters. Moved all three pitches around the zone with good idea of how to pitch. FB 74-78 cutting and running using on both sides of the plate. CB 66-69 1/6 shape occurring late at the plate showing small depth and ability to throw for strikes. CHG 68-71 with arm side bottom; ability to turn over and have dive or throw for strikes. Keeps a high hands set up wider from the back shoulder with level path through the zone; showed ability to stay on pitches and loose hands on his way to picking up multiple hits. Impressive player who has a chance to make leaps with added strength/maturity.

BAWS 2019 - Long, medium frame, athletic build and lean with length in arms. Simple side step with toe tap getting high front leg as he keeps hands at chest. Drives down the hill with back leg getting some extension; glove side comes out high as long arm has some wrist wrap to H-3/4 release. Intent in his pitches with the head bouncing a bit affecting the control during the outing. FB 75-78 T79 with run and cut having life up through the zone; pitch has late action. CHG 67-70 with dive and bottom having ability to get through the zone. SLD 72-74 cutter actions with life at the plate. Control will need to make improvements; stuff is solid when in the zone.

PBR N CA Underclass ID - Long, medium frame, athletic build and lean with length in arms. Simple side step with toe tap as he gets front leg high keeping hands at chest. Athletic lower half with inline actions including landing with foot pointing to Catcher; big lift over straight front leg from backside. Arm is compact with pronounced wrist wrap and high front glove adding some deception. Intent in the arm action getting some extension down the mound before 3/4 release; athletic and repeats his delivery fairly well. FB 76-78 showing arm side run and being used well to both sides of the plate. CB 65-68 from short overhand break with light depth; projectable pitch. SLD 68-70 with cut at the plate; flashes of tilt. CUT 69-70 having similar cut to SLD; blends with the other pitches. Athletic frame with chance for more velocity as he adds weight and maturity.

PBR N CA Underclass Games - 5-foot-11, 142-pounds, thin build on a young tall body, size and strength gains will tell more of a story for Rivera in the coming years. Offensively he was a bit uphill with his swing path during batting practice, with a tendency to hit off the back foot. Game at-bats did produce a well hit ball that ended in an E4. Defensively moved to the ball well with fluid actions, loose arm with some life in what came out as average arm strength that very likely will continue to evolve into an above average arm. On the mound he pitches with a high-3/4 slot with an easy arm action that has quite favorable projectability. Good direction down the slope, does pitch with a slower tempo and actions. Quite a few of his pitches were up but when he got to a good release point and finish there was movement/sink/run with the fastball. Curveball with rolling action and 1/7 shape. Projects more favorably as a pitcher at this time.