Mariners draft RHP Levi Stoudt with pick No. 97

Four top-100 picks, four college pitchers. RHP Levi Stoudt comes out of Lehigh University. His profile hinges on his size as much as anything - at 6’1, 195, Stoudt is exactly 21.5 years old today. The profile is one that fits with the Mariners trends since Dipoto has been in charge - good control, decent strikeout numbers. Stoudt was an ace for Lehigh in the Patriot League for three years and held his own in the Cape Cod League as well.

The pitch mix is interesting, especially if he can add strength and stay in the rotation.

FB 91-95 with a breezy, low-effort motion, and a split-change that is his best secondary. He’s reportedly worked a few different varieties of curveball and slider with some success but less consistency. Some scouts see him as a back end starter or a solid bullpen guy, others see No. 3 starter upside. As tough as anything is that Stoudt’s conference work came against lesser competition relative to many of the players in this draft, but coming from a colder-weather area like Pennsylvania could easily make him an under-scouted option.

Stoudt was MLB Pipeline’s 129th ranked prospect, 112th for Baseball America, and 123rd for FanGraphs. Regardless, he’ll easily help bolster the thinnest area of the Mariners farm system along with the first three picks of the day.