Scouting Report

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

In a relatively down year in Southern California, Cole Winn has separated himself as clearly the best high school arm in the region. While there’s quite a bit separating the pair, Champlain is generally thought to be No. 2 and is all about projection and future potential.

Champlain does have a big fastball now and a 6-foot-4 frame that could add strength, making it easy to dream on move velocity to come. His fastball sits in the low 90s, has touched higher at times, with some good life down in the zone. He has good feel for his breaking ball, a curve that should be a least an average secondary pitch for him. His changeup is very much a work in progress and it’s not a pitch he uses in games. 

Despite some issues with his delivery and arm action, Champlain is a decent strike thrower, but he has a way to go to develop from thrower to pitcher. Signability could be a concern, with a spot at Southern California waiting should he go the college route.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

Well-regarded as a pitching prospect at a Southern California high school, Champlain struggled for three years at USC, but he showed enough stuff for the Yankees to take him in the ninth round in 2021. A year later, he was traded to the Royals as part of a three-pitcher package for Andrew Benintendi at the ‘22 Deadline. Champlain had a tough first impression in High-A Quad Cities, but his 2023 season was much better. With 25 starts and 135 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Champlain posted a 3.33 ERA with a 22.8 percent strikeout rate and a 7.8 percent walk rate.

Champlain spins the ball extremely well and has a 91-94 mph cutting fastball that showed improved velocity last year. He can throw his upper-70s curveball for strikes, and it has above-average spin and good shape to it. His 83-86 mph slider shows some sweep and got better last year. He’s shown a feel for a changeup, but it needs more work. The split-finger grip he had last year on the change had moderate success in limited usage, but he struggled to master it, leading to a grip change this spring. The mental side of changing speeds is something that will be a focus for Champlain this year.

At 6-foot-5, Champlain has the look of a workhorse and he has been able to pitch innings. There is a little bit of effort in his delivery, but he has deception. Champlain profiles as a back-end starter, and without overpowering stuff, he will have to continue to locate well and keep working on his changeup to stick there. Otherwise, Champlain has the weapons and presence to fit in the bullpen.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

Champlain was a top high school pitching prospect out of California in 2018, but he went to USC instead, where things didn’t go quite as expected. He wasn’t a starter until his junior year, but the Yankees still saw enough to draft him in the ninth round in 2021, signing him for around slot at $150,000. He didn’t make his debut until last year and was solid for Single-A Tampa until the Royals acquired him as part of a three-pitcher package for Andrew Benintendi at the Trade Deadline. After some inconsistencies at High-A after the trade in 2022, Champlain returned to Quad Cities to begin 2023 and has taken off with Double-A Northwest Arkansas in the second half of the season.

Champlain spins the ball extremely well and has a cutting fastball that sits in the mid-90s with flashes of upper 90s when he’s fresh. His upper-70s curveball has above-average spin and good bite, while his slider also features tight spin and two-plane movement while sitting 82-84 mph. Champlain has shown feel for a changeup that could be an occasional weapon for him, but it needs more development. He is 6-foot-5 and sturdy, certainly looking the part. He has a quick delivery, which helps his deception off the mound.

Champlain has done a nice job of rebounding in 2023 and has been almost unhittable at times following his midseason promotion to the Minors' second-highest level. His ceiling is as a back-end starter if he can iron out his fastball command and develop another secondary pitch, but his weapons and presence could fit in a bullpen as well.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 40

Champlain didn’t become a full-time starter at USC until his junior year in 2021, and he put up mundane numbers: 5.06 ERA, 69 strikeouts in 74 2/3 innings. The Yankees still saw enough in the 6-foot-5 right-hander to select him in the ninth round last July and signed him for around slot at $150,000. He opened his first full season at Single-A Tampa, where he showed better stuff than his results, and the Royals acquired him as part of a three-pitcher package in a pre-Deadline deal for Andrew Benintendi. 

The former Trojan was on his way to becoming another Yankees mid-round developmental success before the trade. His fastball has been around 93-95 mph, and he touched 98 back in April, though his velocity has slowly slipped as he’s worked deeper into the summer. A mid-80s slider with good spin rates and two-plane movement is his most oft-used secondary, and it gets more raw whiffs than the heater. He has mixed in an upper-70s curve that also shows promising spin and good bite, but he has thrown it about half as much as the slider in Single-A.

Like many young Yankees pitchers, it’s been all about the spin for Champlain in the early stages in his career, and he'll carry that profile to Kansas City. He has thrown a good amount of strikes, helping his case to be a back-end starter, but at the time of the trade, he hadn’t used a single changeup in 2022, according to Statcast. The lack of a cambio could hurt him against lefties and might make him a safer bullpen option down the line.

Awards

TEX Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
05/19/2024
07/30/2023

MID Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
05/07/2023

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	05/20/2024	RHP Chandler Champlain assigned to Omaha Storm Chasers from Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
	03/07/2024	Kansas City Royals Prospects activated RHP Chandler Champlain.
	01/10/2024	Kansas City Royals invited non-roster RHP Chandler Champlain to spring training.
	06/20/2023	RHP Chandler Champlain assigned to Northwest Arkansas Naturals from Quad Cities River Bandits.
	06/20/2023	Northwest Arkansas Naturals activated RHP Chandler Champlain.
	06/20/2023	Northwest Arkansas Naturals activated RHP Chandler Champlain.
	07/29/2022	RHP Chandler Champlain assigned to Quad Cities River Bandits from Columbia Fireflies.
	07/28/2022	RHP Chandler Champlain assigned to Columbia Fireflies.
	07/27/2022	Kansas City Royals traded LF Andrew Benintendi to New York Yankees for RHP Chandler Champlain, LHP T.J. Sikkema and RHP Beck Way.
	07/27/2022	RHP Chandler Champlain roster status changed by Kansas City Royals.
	04/04/2022	RHP Chandler Champlain assigned to Tampa Tarpons.
	04/04/2022	Tampa Tarpons activated RHP Chandler Champlain.
	07/17/2021	New York Yankees signed RHP Chandler Champlain.
	03/03/2019	RHP Chandler Champlain assigned to USC Trojans.
	07/28/2017	RHP Chandler Champlain assigned to UA National.
	04/30/2017	RHP Chandler Champlain assigned to Santa Margarita HS Eagles.