Brent Honeywell Stats & Scouting Report — College Baseball, Mlb Draft, Prospects

TRACK RECORD: If Honeywell's career had gone as planned, he would be arbitration eligible by now. Instead he ranks as a Rays Top 30 Prospect for the seventh time. Right before he was expected to join the Rays' rotation in 2018 he blew out his elbow. He fractured his repaired elbow in 2019. Then he had a further surgery in May 2020 to remove scar tissue that was compressing his ulnar nerve in that elbow. But he returned to the mound at the alternate training site, was added to the Rays' taxi squad for the playoffs and came close to making his big league debut.

SCOUTING REPORT: As hard as it may be to believe, Honeywell's stuff has returned to close to where it was before he missed three consecutive seasons. His average fastball is now more 91-93 mph rather than the 94-96 he flashed before his string of injuries, but his plus screwball and plus changeup are very close to what they were before. So too is his above-average mid-80s cutter. His command and control were not back yet to average in 2020.

THE FUTURE: Honeywell was able to get back to 90% of where he was pre-injury in an abbreviated 2020. If that's where he ends up, he will be a useful big league starter and could help the Rays in 2021. If he finds a little more as he puts distance between his last surgery, he could somehow still be a mid-rotation starter, though his durability is a significant question.