Fangraphs had a long story about the Anderson/Elder demotions and quoted their prospects guy Eric Longenhagen in the story when talking about Dodd and Shuster. Here's the link if you want to read it: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/ian-anderson-optioned-again-as-braves-rotation-battle-comes-into-focus/, but these are the most interesting parts that jumped out to me:
"A pair of 24-year-old lefty prospects, Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd, have emerged as the top candidates to start the season in the fifth spot. Eric Longenhagen has yet to complete this year’s list of the Braves’ top prospects, but he told me that the pair are likely the top two in the system."
"(Shuster) throws a ton of strikes, and good command helps his secondary stuff play up. His changeup is his best pitch, a plus, and his fastball, which sat 90–92 mph at last year, now touches 94. Via Eric, at last year’s velocity he would be considered a 45+ FV prospect, but with the two-tick increase, he might be up to a 50 FV. “If he throws harder, he’s an impact dude, and if he doesn’t he’s a no. 4/5 guy on the fringe of a contender’s rotation,” he summarized in the notes he shared with me."
"(Dodd) has plus command of his fastball, and both his mid-80s slider and changeup are pluses as well, inducing chases and whiffs at a 40% rate. Where his fastball sat 91–92 mph in college and last season, he averaged 93.7 in his March 2 start against the Mets, the only one for which there’s Statcast data. The velocity increase owes to a mechanical tweak, as the Braves have worked with Dodd to adjust his stride direction. (There's a picture in the article showing the change). He’s getting down the mound better, producing a more athletic delivery, and affecting the angle of his fastball as well as its velocity. “Everything looks the same coming out of his hand. If I’m grading everything it’s like 70 command of three average pitches,” Eric wrote, adding that Dodd is probably a 45+ FV prospect now but would be up to 50 if he sustains that velocity; sometimes a spring velo increase is just the result of a pitcher airing it out in pursuit of a job."
Also worth noting, Baseball America ran a story this morning where they talked to scouts about their breakout picks for this year. One of the scouts mentioned Schuster and had some really interesting quotes:
Scout’s Take: “He looks like he's made a big step since last season. In his whole minor league career he's had success, but the stuff has made a big jump to this year. He's sitting 91-93 mph (and) commanding both sides of the plate with it. The changeup is excellent as always. It may be a tick better than it's been in the past. And the breaking ball, which I thought in the past was slightly above-average, is now consistently plus with more depth and more sharpness to it. He looks right now to be a No. 3 or No. 4 starter. A lot of people had a No. 5 on him before and I’d thought he’d be like probably a No. 6. The stuff is better. The pitchability is better. The command is better.”
"A pair of 24-year-old lefty prospects, Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd, have emerged as the top candidates to start the season in the fifth spot. Eric Longenhagen has yet to complete this year’s list of the Braves’ top prospects, but he told me that the pair are likely the top two in the system."
"(Shuster) throws a ton of strikes, and good command helps his secondary stuff play up. His changeup is his best pitch, a plus, and his fastball, which sat 90–92 mph at last year, now touches 94. Via Eric, at last year’s velocity he would be considered a 45+ FV prospect, but with the two-tick increase, he might be up to a 50 FV. “If he throws harder, he’s an impact dude, and if he doesn’t he’s a no. 4/5 guy on the fringe of a contender’s rotation,” he summarized in the notes he shared with me."
"(Dodd) has plus command of his fastball, and both his mid-80s slider and changeup are pluses as well, inducing chases and whiffs at a 40% rate. Where his fastball sat 91–92 mph in college and last season, he averaged 93.7 in his March 2 start against the Mets, the only one for which there’s Statcast data. The velocity increase owes to a mechanical tweak, as the Braves have worked with Dodd to adjust his stride direction. (There's a picture in the article showing the change). He’s getting down the mound better, producing a more athletic delivery, and affecting the angle of his fastball as well as its velocity. “Everything looks the same coming out of his hand. If I’m grading everything it’s like 70 command of three average pitches,” Eric wrote, adding that Dodd is probably a 45+ FV prospect now but would be up to 50 if he sustains that velocity; sometimes a spring velo increase is just the result of a pitcher airing it out in pursuit of a job."
Also worth noting, Baseball America ran a story this morning where they talked to scouts about their breakout picks for this year. One of the scouts mentioned Schuster and had some really interesting quotes:
Scout’s Take: “He looks like he's made a big step since last season. In his whole minor league career he's had success, but the stuff has made a big jump to this year. He's sitting 91-93 mph (and) commanding both sides of the plate with it. The changeup is excellent as always. It may be a tick better than it's been in the past. And the breaking ball, which I thought in the past was slightly above-average, is now consistently plus with more depth and more sharpness to it. He looks right now to be a No. 3 or No. 4 starter. A lot of people had a No. 5 on him before and I’d thought he’d be like probably a No. 6. The stuff is better. The pitchability is better. The command is better.”
