2024 MLB Draft Profile: Michael Massey
Draft Profile: Michael Massey (Wake Forest)
Height: 6'5
Weight: 245
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Michael Massey, one of the better relief pitchers in college baseball in 2023 with Wake Forest, has been rising up draft rankings in anticipation of the 2024 MLB Draft.
After transferring from Tulane, Massey had a great season in relief at Wake Forest. Even though he was not afforded the opportunity to start as a result of the immense Wake Forest pitching depth, he will be a weekend starter for them in 2024, with a chance to pitch himself into the first round of the 2024 draft if he can build on his performance as a starting pitcher.
He has an incredibly consistent release point, which has made it more difficult for hitters to discern his pitch types, especially when discerning movement for his slider and fastball, or his occasional secondary pitches. He is a very effective pitch tunneler.
Massey’s primary pitch is his fastball, which can tough into the high 90s at 97 to 98 MPH. The movement profile is incredibly forceful, with an average Induced Vertical Break of over 20 inches. It has a powerful amount of ride that can overwhelm hitters with its movement profile in the top half of the strike zone.
He can also emphasize location on his Fastball rather than relying on the nature of his stuff.
He was able to generate a substantial amount of whiffs from either side, a 35 percent rate on LHH and a 45 percent rate on RHH. It was his frequent defense mechanism to expand the zone against LHH to get outs as his putaway pitch, especially when he was ahead in counts.
Neither side of the plate squared his fastball up much, with barrel rates of less than 4 percent from both sides and sustainable rates of hard-hit percentage (balls hit over 95 MPH). His ability to limit quality contact and to generate substantial swing and miss with his fastball was among the best in college baseball in 2023.
Massey’s slider is his other high-usage pitch. It was highly effective for him against RHH, who hit less than .130 against it with a chase rate of over 40 percent and a whiff rate nearing 50 percent. It also generated a whiff rate of over 40 percent for LHH, showing its demonstrative ability to generate swings and misses.
LHH hit better against his slider, but a lot of contact quality metrics are comparable to his statistics against RHH, which may be due to his limited opportunities in relief. He does have a discernable ability to generate swings and misses with this pitch in a convincing fashion.
Conclusion
I am excited to see how Massey builds on his discernable draft momentum as a weekend starter at Wake Forest. Akin to Chase Burns, he has two very dominant pitches with commanding movement profiles that he relies on, but I like a lot of his aura as a pitcher.
He can pitch against LHP effectively, his control and ability to throw strikes are evident, and has a fastball profile that will ensure that he has a home somewhere in the MLB. A slight uptick in his changeup usage would be nice to have progression on a third pitch that he can tunnel out of his release point with similar velocity to his slider would be nice to deceive hitters if he can learn to use it effectively.
He also has the physical profile of a pitcher that is very appealing with his bulky frame. It leaves room for progression and projection of what he can continue to grow into once he is in a farm system.
Massey is one of my ideal pitchers in this upcoming class and has a chance to cement that status as a back end first-round pick in an outstanding Wake Forest rotation that hopes to lead the way to a national title.
