In last year's draft we saw teams in a land rush to draft college relievers. While some clubs saw projectable arms they could try as starters, other clubs drafted college closers in order to fast track them into the big leagues. Out of the five college relievers taken in the first round, Ryan Perry was the first to land a big league gig. Considering Perry flashed 100 MPH velocity back in his days at Arizona and the dearth of relief depth in Detroit, maybe we shouldn't be surprised.
In a nutshell, the scouting report on Perry is big-time velocity in the form of a relatively straight fastball, a decent slider and change-up. Arizona used him both in starting and relieving, but Perry enjoyed much more success relieving. His command can be inconsistent and because of the straightness of his fastball, the Tigers have asked Perry to add a 2-seam fastball to his arsenal.
Perry has three big league appearances with Detroit, so for what it's worth in the early going, here is a look at his pitches' movement (or lack thereof with some of the fastballs).
Perry can bring the heat, on average his fastball start speed is 95.84 and 98.4 at its fastest. The scouting report is right on the money, the pitch can be as straight as an arrow -- it breaks in on right-handed batters just 3.8 inches on average. Farther left you can see some indications of that two-seam fastball he is experimenting with. You can also see how reliable he is on his fastball to this point, as he's thrown the pitch nearly 90% of time. He's only thrown a few sliders and the movement on the pitch has been varying.
Let's see how he's locating -
52.6% of his pitches have been called balls, so yeah, that's a little inconsistent.
Finally, here's his release point.
Say what you will about the Tiger farm system, at least their top two pitching prospects are already making a big league impact. I'm not overly concerned about the lack of movement on the fastball considering Perry throws insanely hard, but it bears some watching. Perry has all kinds of opportunity with the Tigers considering the scraps they have in their bullpen and should be in line for some high leverage innings as he gains his manager's trust.