SECAUCUS, N.J. – Northwest Mississippi freshman left-hander
Dalton Fowler has been named one of MLB Pipeline's Top 200 prospects in June's upcoming draft.
Fowler has been in contact with nearly a dozen major league teams and has worked out for several of them over the last week, including the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 6-foot-5, 190-pound southpaw was 6-2 with a 3.76 ERA, 88 strikeouts and .221 opponent batting average in 64.2 innings of work this season. He allowed two earned runs or less in 10 of his 13 starts and struck out a career-high 12 in his collegiate debut against Copiah-Lincoln.
Fowler was listed No. 150 overall in MLB Pipeline's Top 200 prospect list that features players in 35 different states, including a dozen players from Mississippi.
Northwest has boasted 18 all-time draft selections, including six selections in the last seven years.
Cody Reed is the highest draft pick all-time, going No. 46 overall to the Royals in 2013.
Scouting report on Fowler
He had a low-80s fastball as a Tennessee high school junior in 2017 and improved to the mid-80s as a senior before jumping to 90-93 mph at times as a junior college freshman. There were games when he operated more in the upper 80s, but he's still growing into his lanky 6-foot-5 frame and could sit in the mid-90s with sink once he's fully developed. He also shows an affinity for spinning a curveball, though he sometimes has trouble staying on top of it because he employs a lower-three-quarters arm slot.
Fowler also displays some feel for a changeup, giving him the potential for a nice three-pitch mix. He's still figuring out how to keep his long arms and legs in sync in his delivery, and he has trouble finding the strike zone when he can't. He needs a lot of polish but has more upside than most left-handers in this draft.