Prospect Profile: Jordan Foley

Jordan Foley | RHP

Background
Foley was born and raised in The Colony, a suburb of Dallas, and he played baseball at The Colony High School. (The name of the city is literally The Colony.) He was not very highly regarded out of his school — Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked Foley as the 112th best prospect in Texas for the 2011 draft — and opted to follow through on his commitment to Central Michigan after the Yankees made him their 26th round pick (809th overall).

As a freshman with the Chippewas, Foley had an ugly 8.20 ERA with more walks (34) than strikeouts (25) in 37.1 innings spread across six starts and seven relief appearances. He moved into the rotation full-time as a sophomore and was much better, pitching to a 3.08 ERA with 90 strikeouts and 44 walks in 15 starts and 90.2 innings. After the season, Foley had a 3.00 ERA with 34 strikeouts and ten walks in 27 innings for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod League.

Foley had another strong season as a junior this spring, throwing 97.2 innings across 15 starts with a 3.69 ERA. He struck out 81 and cut his walk total down to 28. Baseball America (no subs. req’d) ranked Foley as the 128th best prospect in the 2014 draft class while Keith Law (subs. req’d) did not rank him among his top 100 draft prospects. The Yankees selected Foley again, this time in the fifth round with the 152nd overall pick. He signed quickly for a straight slot $317,500 bonus.

Pro Debut
After a quick tune-up appearance with the rookie level Gulf Coast League Yankees, Foley was bumped up to Short Season Staten Island, where he had a 4.46 ERA (3.15 FIP) in 34.1 innings. He made five starts and six relief appearances as pair of the team’s tandem-starter system. Foley allowed just one homer and posted an excellent strikeout rate (9.70 K/9 and 24.8 K%) with a workable walk rate (3.67 BB/9 and 9.4 BB%).

Scouting Report
The first thing everyone seems to talk about with Foley his unconventional follow through. His leg kick and everything else is fairly standard, but he has a big head whack after releasing the ball and it’s not the prettiest thing you’ll ever see on the mound. Check it out:

Foley struggles to repeat that delivery and it’s why his command is spotty at best and many project him as a reliever down the road. You don’t see many starters with a delivery like that throwing 100+ pitches every fifth day. Despite the delivery, Foley hasn’t had any injury problems since getting to Central Michigan.

Foley has a classic pitcher’s frame at 6-foot-4 and 215 lbs., and he sits in the 90-94 range while touching 96-97 as a starter with his four-seam fastball. He hit 96-97 more regularly when working out of the bullpen this past summer. Foley is one of the rare pitchers who comes to pro ball with a splitter — he uses the mid-80s offering as a changeup to combat left-handers. A promising low-80s slider rounds out his repertoire.

2015 Outlook
Because he’s not as refined as many college pitchers, I expect Foley to open next season in the Low-A Charleston rotation, and he just might stay there all year and focus on repeating his delivery and improving his location. If he does that, he can move up to High-A Tampa in 2016 and get on the fast track. I would be very surprised if Foley opened 2015 with Tampa unless he’s moved into the bullpen full-time, and it’s way too early in his career to do that.

My Take
I like Foley and was pleasantly surprised the Yankees were able to get him in the fifth round. He was considered more of a third rounder heading into the draft. That delivery is kinda scary and I’m not sure he’ll be able to start long-term without some serious cleanup, but he has a nice power repertoire — I dig the splitter, it’s a devastating pitch when thrown properly — that misses bats and the control issues are a little easier to stomach in short one-inning relief outings. I think Foley has a chance to be an impact high-strikeout reliever down the line.