Mason Black

A sinker/slider righty whose shallow arsenal may limit his upside, Black is knocking on the door of the majors after making 13 starts at Triple-A. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound burgeoning workhorse built up to 123.2 innings while striking out 155 and walking 52. His 94-mph sinker can touch 97 mph and his slider sits in the mid-80s. Black has dabbled with a curveball, cutter and changeup, but he is mostly a two-pitch pitcher. Generally sinker/slider types generate groundballs at high clips, but Black had a 41.7 percent groundball rate at Double-A and a 39.9 percent groundball rate at Triple-A. Fortunately, Oracle Park ranks 27th in Statcast's home run park factor, so a flyball approach isn't the worst thing. Black could be a useful streamer in favorable home starts as a rookie, but he projects as a No. 4 or No. 5 starter long term. Read Past Outlooks