VanScoter began his college career at Binghamton, not too far from his home outside of Rochester. He had Tommy John surgery and redshirted his sophomore season in 2019 before transferring to Coastal Carolina, also sitting out the 2020 season between rehabbing and the pandemic. He returned as a swingman in 2021, and a move to the rotation full-time in 2022 made him an intriguing money-saving sign. The Mariners took him in the fifth round of that summer’s Draft and signed him for just $20,000. He’s already exceeded expectations by leading the organization in ERA, strikeouts and K/BB in his first full season, earning the organization’s Jamie Moyer Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors last year and advancing to Double-A to start the 2024 season.
The six-foot lefty is never going to wow anyone with pure stuff, but he really knows how to pitch. His best pitch is probably his slider, thrown in the 79-81 mph range. He tends to pitch off of that and his 86-88 mph cutter more than anything else, and he can land both of them for strikes. His ability to mix those pitches makes his relatively light 89-91 mph two-seamer play up a bit, and he’s shown an ability to get weak contact on the ground as a result.
While VanScoter missed a good amount of bats in 2023, that seems less likely to continue as he moves up the system and faces more advanced hitters. But he throws a lot of strikes and has proven thus far to be a reliable out-getter and innings-eater. His ceiling is limited to a No. 5 starter type of role should he land for an extended period of time in the big leagues.
