Another solid depth arm for Seattle who has flourished in the Mariners’ player development system
As spring training draws nearer, we continue to count down the Mariners top prospects. If you missed #14, Brandyn Garcia, you can find that here; to catch up with the whole list so far, plus our honorable mentions, click here. Today we’re covering our #13 prospect: righty starter Logan Evans.
It’s a story you’ve probably heard before: the Mariners draft a late-round college pitcher and shape that player into an MLB-quality pitcher. Drafted in the 12th round of the 2023 draft as a senior signing, Evans made a quiet entry to professional baseball. However, he has been a quick mover through the Mariners system, as a polished, coachable collegiate arm who went from being the Sunday starter at Pitt to one of the better-regarded pitching prospects in the Mariners’ farm system, anchoring the Arkansas Travelers rotation on their championship run last season in just his first full year of professional baseball.
As an experienced pitcher tailor-made for the Mariners’ development system, Evans has been speed-running the traditional development track. He started by adding a couple of ticks to his fastball, maximizing the power potential in his strong, 6’4” build. Evans’s fastball has natural downward tilt, leading it to be more of a groundball-getting weapon than a whiff-inducing one, which partially explains his high (six-plus) college ERA; with a professional-caliber infield behind him, the pitch has performed better, especially with the extra velocity. But Evans’s biggest steps forward have been with his repertoire of secondary pitches.
At the organization’s behest, prior to last season, Evans focused on perfecting his pitch shapes, working to distinguish his slider and curveball, with the slider gaining more sweep and the curveball more depth. He also worked on getting his cutter to have more glove-side movement. Adding to all of this a changeup that shows good fade, Evans has the kind of deep, sum-more-than-the-parts arsenal that makes up a classic back-of-the-rotation starter. A slightly elevated walk rate in Arkansas should not be cause for concern given the jump in workload and competition (as well as negotiating a new slate of pitches), as he’s traditionally showcased average to above-average control. And while Evans isn’t going to be an eye-popping strikeout social media star, keep in mind that his overall season numbers are somewhat influenced by a month-long ill-advised stint where the Mariners toyed with the idea of converting him to a reliever to prop up their beleaguered big-league bullpen. The nine strikeouts he had in all of June are equal to his season high on May 4 against San Antonio, a number he again matched in the Texas League playoffs.
We should point out that other outlets consider Evans to be a top ten prospect organizationally thanks to his deep repertoire of MLB caliber pitches. However, Evans struggled to get back to his old self after the bullpen experiment and pitched to an ERA just under five for the better part of two months. His end of season numbers were still excellent due to his utter dominance early in the year, but it’s a trend we took into consideration when splitting hairs between pitchers. More of a cause for caution than concern, Evans still possesses well above average stuff, solid control, and a frame built for a big league starters workload that should have a role at the highest level.
Expect to see a heavy dose of Evans this spring, as the Mariners challenge him again, this time seeing how his stuff plays against big-league hitters. If he passes this latest test with flying colors, the Mariners will have at least yet another worthwhile depth option they can stash in Triple-A in case of injury to the starting rotation…and maybe much more.