{"id":4358,"date":"2026-07-13T07:07:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4358"},"modified":"2026-07-13T07:07:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:07:54","slug":"yankees-prospect-ben-grable-has-no-major-leaguer-like-him-thanks-to-dynamic-fastball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4358","title":{"rendered":"Yankees prospect Ben Grable has no major leaguer like him thanks to dynamic fastball"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 There is nothing unique about the Yankees developing a hard-throwing and effective reliever, the type the club regularly churns out (and regularly deals at the trade deadline).<\/p>\n

Read more Lindsey Graham: The senator, soldier and statesman who never backed down<\/a><\/p>\n

There is nothing unique about the Yankees finding a gem later in the draft, a recent organizational strength that is on display this week with first-time All-Stars Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler.<\/p>\n

So maybe Ben Grable, an 11th-round pick out of Indiana University last year who has sawed through competition at High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset, making him a late addition to Sunday\u2019s All-Star Futures Game, is not unique.<\/p>\n

On the mound, though, there really is no major leaguer like him.<\/p>\n

Grable said he is averaging 96.1 mph with his four-seamer and about 20.5 to 21 inches of induced vertical break \u2014 essentially the movement generated from how the ball spins. The more vertical break, the more the ball seems to rise (and the more hitters tend to swing under the pitch).<\/p>\n

There are three qualified major leaguers (Alex Vesia, Tobias Myers and Dylan Lee) whose four-seamers average 20 inches of vertical break. None has a fastball that buzzes at even 94 mph.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of pitchers whose fastball are as fast as Grable\u2019s, but none fight gravity like his four-seamer. The closest comparison might be the Padres\u2019 Jeremiah Estrada, whose heater has averaged 95.8 mph with 19.8 inches of vertical break this year. In the past three years in San Diego, Estrada has often been untouchable with a 3.26 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 154 \u00b2\/\u2083 innings.<\/p>\n

That is as close to company as exists for Grable, whose fastball\u2019s combination of velocity and spin makes it like no one else\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got to Indiana, they sort of taught us the metrics and all that,\u201d Grable said before throwing two pitches and recording one out in a brief appearance at the Futures Game. \u201cI didn\u2019t really know how good it was until I got into New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-4 right-hander was not the first choice to represent the organization at Citizens Bank Park \u2014 George Lombard Jr. and Carlos Lagrange were scratched with injuries \u2014 but he was a worthy choice in what has been a quietly incredible season.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Jurassic Park\u2019 star Sam Neill dead at 78<\/a><\/p>\n

His 2.61 ERA is good. His peripheral numbers are better. Among the 1,602 affiliated minor leaguers who have thrown at least 30 innings (Grable has thrown 31 innings in 28 relief appearances), Grable ranks fourth in WHIP (0.77), 16th in strikeout percentage (40.2 percent) and eighth in opponents\u2019 batting average (.127) while walking 2.90 per nine innings.<\/p>\n

A Southern California native who pitched two years at Northwestern and one at Indiana, Grable underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024. He returned to start and relieve for the Hoosiers, posting a 4.31 ERA in his final collegiate season before becoming one of 10 pitchers the Yankees drafted last year (and the first to shoot through the system).<\/p>\n

He is a different pitcher than he was at college, where he said his fastball averaged 92 mph at Indiana and where he threw a different slider.<\/p>\n

He said he \u201ccleaned up my mechanics,\u201d now pitches exclusively from the stretch, worked on a fastball the Yankees believed \u201ccan be a whole lot better\u201d and watched his velocity spike.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a unique profile and shape in comparison to a lot of other fastballs out there,\u201d said Somerset manager James Cooper, who was the AL\u2019s third base coach. \u201cJust when teams were starting to figure that out, that\u2019s when he started landing the secondary stuff, and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s been making him special.\u201d<\/p>\n

His tight slider is not unique, but that is kind of the point: Seeking a different grip about a month and a half ago, Grable wound up watching a Pitching Ninja online interview with Reds All-Star Chase Burns. He scrolled through the video feed, found the grip and tried it because, \u201cI figured he\u2019s got a pretty good slider, similar heater shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next day Grable threw it during a touch-and-feel bullpen session. He then took the mound that night and \u201cpunched [out] three,\u201d he said, with what would become his new slider.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been able to dominate the game with those two pitches,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n

The domination brought him to a showcase and a seventh-inning face-off with star Brewers prospect Luis Pe\u00f1a, who flied out on the second pitch and first slider he saw.<\/p>\n

Read more Michigan AD\u2019s future in doubt with school set to review probe into department\u2019s culture<\/a><\/p>\n

Grable\u2019s takeaway?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty fun to pitch in a big league stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So maybe Ben Grable, an 11th-round pick out of Indiana University last year who has sawed through competition at High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset, making him a late addition to Sunday\u2019s All-Star Futures Game, is not unique.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-new-york-yankees"],"yoast_head":"\nYankees prospect Ben Grable has no major leaguer like him thanks to dynamic fastball - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4358\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yankees prospect Ben Grable has no major leaguer like him thanks to dynamic fastball - 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