2023 MLB Draft Profile: Travis Sykora
The Washington Nationals have used their third-round pick to draft high schooler Tavis Sykora out of Texas. So what exactly can they expect from the 19-year-old kid? Well, let’s take a deeper dive and put together his 2023 MLB Draft profile.
Scouting grades: Fastball: 70 | Slider: 55 | Splitter: 60 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50
Let me preface this whole thing by saying I think this is a great pick, especially this late in the draft. The value is amazing and I really do think Travis Sykora has serious MLB potential.
Let’s start with his fastball: It jumps off the page, and in the third round, you kill to bring in a kid who has a tool like that. It sits in that 96-98 mph, but has gotten up into the triple digits.
To pair with that velocity is some serious arm-side movement making it almost more of a two-seamer. It generates a lot of swings and misses and his 6-foot-6 frame allows him to effortlessly repeat his motion. This in turn allows him to do a rather good job at finding the strike zone, especially with that deadly fastball.
The splitter is the better of his two offspeed pitches which both sit in the mid-80s range. It has late dive to it which leads to a of swings and misses and weak contact. His slider is still a work in progress, but the foundation for it is clearly there and can be a big-league pitch with a little bit of work.
Although the control grade is his lowest, it’s not something I’d be too worried about. As previously stated, he has the ideal frame for a pitcher that makes it look effortless when going through his motion. So far, this has served him well allowing him to stay around the strike zone.
That is subject to change against increased competition but as of now, I wouldn’t say it’s too big of a weakness for Travis Sykora.
Overall, I love this pick for the Nationals. Sykora could have easily gone in the first two rounds and, frankly, probably should have. He has an MLB-ready fastball at just 19-years-old with the potential to develop some devastating off-speed.
I expect to be hearing the name Travis Sykora sooner rather than later, which still means three years at the absolute best for MLB. The Nationals needed pitching help, I believe Travis Sykora will be that help.
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