Luis Patino ranked 5th best RHP prospect by MLB Pipeline

The prize of the deal that sent Blake Snell to the San Diego Pades, Luis Patino is among the best pitching prospects in all of baseball.

As they build up to their 100 prospect rankings being released, MLB Pipeline has listed their top ten right-handed pitching prospects in the gam entering the 2021 season. Coming in at 5th on the list is none other than the 21 year old pitcher whom the Rays acquired from San Diego.

Patiño’s velocity has ticked up as he’s gotten stronger, and he sat around 97 mph with his heater while touching 99 mph regularly with the Padres. He throws the pitch with explosive life that nets him swinging strikes both inside and above the zone, and he should miss even more bats as his command improves. A mid-80s slider with late biting action gives Patiño a second plus pitch, and he can also flash plus with an upper-80s changeup when he locates it down in the zone. He threw his two secondary offerings at a nearly equal clip in the Majors, posting above-average whiff rates with both, and hitters generally struggled to square them up.

The complete top ten right-handed pitching prospects, according to MLB Pipeline are as follows:

1. Nate Pearson, Blue Jays
2. Casey Mize, Tigers
3. Sixto Sánchez, Marlins
4. Ian Anderson, Braves
5. Luis Patiño, Rays
6. Matt Manning, Tigers
7. Grayson Rodriguez, Orioles
8. Max Meyer, Marlins
9. Emerson Hancock, Mariners
10. Logan Gilbert, Mariners