UNKNOWN, UNDRAFTED ELLIOTT MAKING MARK
Ethan Elliott was not on major league radars as he graduated from Knoxville Catholic. The lanky lefthander began to add more velocity at Lincoln Memorial, but didn’t really become a must-see on scouting trails until his senior year after turning more than a few heads during a game against Team USA in a summer wood-bat league. He was hoping his phone would ring in June 2019, but it was far from a certainty.
He set a school record with 402 strikeouts in 3582⁄3 innings but for an NCAA Division II program.
His 91 mph fastball still didn’t light up radar guns. And he was a senior. “I can’t say I was expecting to go anywhere,” Elliott recalled. “I mean for a senior sign, you’re just hoping for an opportunity. You don’t really care what round it is.”
The Padres ultimately gave Elliott that call for a mere $10,000 bonus, he said. A year removed from a lost season to the pandemic, the 24-year-old Elliott is making the most of the opportunity at high Single-A Fort Wayne.
Through eight starts, Elliott has struck out a systembest 57 batters, walked eight and posted a system-best 1.94 ERA through 412⁄3 innings. He already earned High-A Central Pitcher of the Month honors in May, when his punchout total and rate (42 percent) paced the circuit, as did his opponent average (.131) and WHIP (0.69).
Efficiency in the latter category is especially important as Elliott’s four-seam velocity — 88-91 mph — certainly isn’t off the charts. He pairs his fastball with a change-up and a work-inprogress slider under the guidance of pitching coach Jimmy Jones. It didn’t hurt getting a few pointers from Blake Snell this spring in his first invitation to big-league camp.
Command, though, appears to be a carrying tool.
The best example, to date, was the 13 batters that Elliott struck out over six shutout innings of one-hit ball in his third start of the season. He didn’t walk anyone in that game. Two starts earlier, Elliott capped nine strikeouts over four shutout innings on opening day with an immaculate inning: Nine pitches, nine strikes, three at-bats ending with whiffs.
Eight of the nine runs that Elliott has allowed all year have scored via solo homers.
“The main goal I strive for is command, attacking the zone and putting up zeros,” Elliott said. “I know walks kill people and kill innings. They always tend to end up scoring. The more I can minimize that and just get after guys, the better the outcome.”
Around the farm
El Paso (AAA): LHP Ryan Weathers struck out six over five shutout innings on Saturday in his Triple-A debut. He scattered four hits and a walk while throwing 52 of his 77 pitches for strikes. … LHP MacKenzie Gore (5.85 ERA) allowed six runs — two earned — in 11⁄3 innings in his second start back from a blister that sidelined him for nearly three weeks.
San Antonio (AA): OF Jack Suwinski has hit six of his 11 homers in the first 16 games of June (.321/.426/ .768).
Lake Elsinore (A): OF Robert Hassell III is hitting .290/.371/.484 with four homers, 32 RBIs and 15 steals in 16 chances in his first 37 games as a pro.