Grice Will Get A Shot To Play Both Ways
A few days after his first meeting with D-backs player development staff, Caden Grice made a request.
The club had informed the 2023 second-rounder out of Clemson he would be sent out as a pitcher only. Grice told then-farm director Josh Barfield he wanted to give hitting a try, too, a request he said he would have regretted had he not made it.
The first-team All-American is going to get his chance to show he can hit, but the D-backs seem convinced the two-way star’s future is on the mound.
“He’s a prospect as a hitter,” D-backs scouting director Ian Rebhan said. “I just think he’s a better prospect as a pitcher.”
Grice is a lefthander with starter traits.
He sits in the low 90s with his fastball. He has a feel for both a breaking ball and a changeup. He showed better strike-throwing tendencies and higher-quality strikes than the club’s amateur staff expected in his draft year.
He also has a prototypical frame at 6-foot-6, 250 pounds and earns high marks for both his athleticism and makeup, leading evaluators to believe there is plenty of room for growth.
“The more people saw him last year, the more it kept coming back that it wasn’t just this big, physical lefthander,” Rebhan said. “He was a more complete pitcher.”
There are things to like about Grice in the batter’s box, namely his plus power from the left side. However, his tendency to swing and miss raises questions about how often he is likely to tap into that juice.
Rebhan said Arizona likely will develop Grice primarily as a starter while letting him DH a handful of times a week.
“The agreement was basically as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the pitching development, you can do it until either you show you can do it or we say this isn’t working,” Rebhan said.
—NICK PIECORO
Schwellenbach Proves To Be Worth The Wait
Righthander Spencer Schwellenbach returned from Tommy John surgery last season and showed why the Braves are enthusiastic about the 24-year-old’s potential.
Schwellenbach recorded a 2.49 ERA in 16 starts, most of them at Low-A Augusta, while striking out 55 and walking 16 in 65 innings. He took on a greater innings load as the season progressed, covering at least five in five of his final six outings.
In his final two starts for High-A Rome, Schwellenbach logged 11 scoreless innings and fanned 11 hitters without issuing a walk. His last outing featured six perfect innings.
The Braves drafted Schwellenbach out of Nebraska in the second round in 2021. He did not pitch professionally that season or in 2022 as he recovered from TJ.
Schwellenbach was a two-way player at Nebraska who worked as the Huskers’ shortstop and closer.
