Mack's Mock Pick - #76 - RHP - Ryan Cusick

 

Ryan Cusick

Mack's spin - 

Cusick is coming on strong lately. His fastball is topping off at 99 and his best pitch, an 83 slider, is nasty as hell.

I have moved him up mu board from the 15th RHP to the 10th.

 

RHP      6-4     220     Wake Forest

 

2020 Wake Forest stat line - 4-starts, 0-2, 3.22, 22.1-IP, 43-K, 18-BB

3-30-21 - Prospects Worldwide -

 

14. RHP Ryan Cusick | School: Wake Forest | B / T: R / R | Ht: 6’6 | Wt: 225 | Age: 21.7

 

Wake Forest has slowly been turning into a Pitchers hotbed with a quick rising developmental program, Jared Shuster to the Braves in Round 1 in 2020, Ryan Cusick is next in line ticketed for the 1st Round. Cusick works from a 3/4 arm slot with a 3 pitch mix. A heavy Fastball approach, that grades as a future Plus, 95-98 MPH T99 with 2450 RPM, has ride with some arm side run when working glove side. His best pitch? That would be the Slider, although inconsistent and tendencies to leave some over the plate. It’s 84 MPH tight, with 2 plane break. The potential is there showing true wipeout. Rounding out the 3 pitch mix is a rarely used Below-average Changeup in the 86-88 MPH range with some vertical drop to it, mostly used vs LHH. The control will need to improve, as well as getting those secondaries more involved which will only make his fastball that much better. So there is some reliever risk here you cannot deny. But Cusick has the look, the stuff, and the continued development to see it all coming together in 2021. 

 

3-19-21 - Joe Doyle @JoeDoyleMiLB

 

That'll probably do it for Ryan Cusick. Easily the best he's been this season. Fastball settled in 94-97/t99. Control was very good, command is still a work in progress. Curveball was plus, thrown for strikes all night. Worked in a cutter.

 

5 IP, 7K, 3 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 89 pitches 

 

2-22-21 - BA - Stock Watch -

 

Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest (No. 33)

 

6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K

 

Cusick had a solid opening game against Northeastern, striking out nine batters and walking just two over six innings of work. The big, physical righthander pitched in the 94-98 mph range and pumped 97 mph bullets without much effort at all fairly deep into the game. His go-to secondary was a 78-82 mph breaking ball that looked slurvy in this outing and was inconsistent. The pitch occasionally showed good power and late bite, but it would just as frequently hump out of his hand and look like more of a change-of-pace offering than a true out-pitch. A majority of the whiffs he generated came via the fastball, which is hard enough that the curveball likely plays up in tandem with it. Cusick broke out a firm, 91 mph changeup in the sixth inning against a lefthanded hitter and got a swing & miss with the pitch, but it was used rarely. In terms of control and command, Cusick was efficient through three innings and didn’t get to a three-ball count until the fourth inning. He issued his first walk in the fifth. At times he would overthrow and he likely benefited by getting plenty of whiffs out of the zone as well.

  

2-15-21 - CBS - Top 50 -

 

29. Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest

 

Wake Forest's pitching lab is said to be as good, if not better than most big-league parallels. The lab was where Jared Shuster, the No. 25 pick in last year's draft, reworked his breaking ball and improved his stock. It wouldn't be too surprising to see Cusick do something similar this year. He'll enter the year regarded as a big-bodied right-hander with a good fastball-changeup combination in need of a more consistent third pitch. Should Cusick find one, he'll go earlier than this. 

 

1-20-21 - D1 Baseball's top 100 College Prospects -

 

40 Ryan Cusick RHP Wake Forest ACC 

 

1-20-21 - prospect live -

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#11

Washington Nationals

Ryan Cusick

RHP, Wake Forest

 

We make it easy on the Nationals, allowing them the opportunity to select one of the best collegiate fastballs in the class. In 2020 it was Cade Cavalli and Cole Henry. Cusick bolsters continues to bolster a system famous for going big on the college arm side. On the bump, Cusick is a free and easy 95-98, touching 101. It's arguably the only 70-grade fastball by a starter in this class as it stands right now. A massive 6-foot-6-inch frame, Cusick creates elite extension and couples that with a very low release point and a close to flat vertical approach angle. It's hell for hitters. You add in the fact he can really spin it and it's a heater that simply won't last long come draft day. Cusick is now throwing a true 12-6 power curve that mirrors the fastball, and mixes in a changeup that he's flashed some feel for. A former cold weather arm who has limited wear on his arm could end up being a steal here at 11. So long as Cusick throws strikes in 2021, which he's never had a problem doing, he figures to be a factor this early on draft day. 

 

1-14-21  -  Baseball America

 

Ryan Cusick

 

Wake Forest RHP

 

Ht: 6-6 | Wt: 225 | B-T: R-R

Commit/Drafted: Reds 2018 (40)

Age At Draft: 21.7

 

Cusick ranked as the No. 235 prospect in the 2020 draft class in 2018 out of high school as a big-bodied righty with plenty of arm strength and flashes of a good breaking ball, but inconsistent control that held him back. That’s largely the pitcher Cusick is today, though he’s ticked the fastball velocity up a bit, touching 97 mph and sitting in the 93-95 mph range now. He looks like the sort of pitcher who will throw 100 mph one day, but scouts want to see him take steps forward with his command and his breaking ball consistently to feel good about his chances to start at the next level. Cusick posted a 6.44 ERA as a freshman over 65.2 innings—mostly as a starter—and walked four batters per inning, but his walk rate was even worse in a brief 2020 season, where he issued 18 free passes in 22.1 innings—a 7.3 per nine rate. Cusick’s slider flashes plus enough for evaluators to believe it could be a consistent pitch one day, but for every 60-grade breaking ball he spins, he’ll throw several 30-grade offerings. He has enough talent to make the first round if he takes a jump forward just like former teammate Jared Shuster did last year, but there’s plenty of risk here at the moment.

  

12-26-20  -  Baseball Prospect Journal Mock Draft 1.0 -

 

17. Cincinnati Reds: Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest

 

Cusick is a 6-foot-6, 225-pound right-hander who has improved his craft in his time at Wake Forest after the Reds drafted him in the 40th round of the 2018 draft. His best pitch is his high-90s fastball that has reached triple digits. This spring, Cusick has to show improved command and control of his pitches to solidify himself as a first-round pick.

12-23-20 - prospect live -

 

Given all the information we’ve been provided, Wake Forest righty Ryan Cusick seems destined to go early in the draft. The data is excellent. The model characteristics are about perfect. The knowledge to pitch is there. So long as Cusick is throwing strikes this season, we’re confident he’ll be one of the first handful of arms off the board.

  

12-18-20 - Future Sox Mock Draft -

 

22. Chicago White Sox: Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest

 

The White Sox go back to the college pitching well and they’re very familiar with the Wake Forest program. Cusick is a 6-foot-6, 225-pound righty that displays a high spin rate fastball. He struck out 43 batters in 22 1/3 innings last spring, but his secondary offerings need some work. Cusick shows a low effort delivery. There is some reliever risk, but he could be dominant in that role if it’s deemed necessary down the road. 

 

12-18-20 -

 

college baseball info - top player from each school -

 

17. Wake Forest

 

Ryan Cusick, RHP (2021): Wake Forest is quickly developing a reputation as one of the nation’s most progressive pitching schools (see Shuster, Jared), and the strapping Cusick may very well be the next success story with his mid-90’s, metric-friendly fastball.