Gregory Soto

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Detroit Tigers #15 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: Soto has long had big league stuff, albeit with little idea of where each of his pitches are going. He’s racked up 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings over the course of his six-season career, but has mitigated those whiffs with 5.4 walks per nine innings. Still, the Tigers believe enough in the arm that they added him to their 40-man roster before the 2018 season.
  
  Scouting Report: Soto works from a three-quarter arm slot and generates an electric fastball that has touched as high as 96 mph and profiles as a plus pitch. Soto’s slider sits in the low 80s and is below-average, but shows promise of become an average offering down the line. His changeup lags behind, and he will have to work hard in order for it to get to an average grade. His body and frame are built to accrue innings, which shows in back-to-back seasons of 23 starts in the minors.
  
  The Future: While Soto needs to develop a better changeup and greatly improve his control in order to start, his fastball and slider are good enough for him to profile as a low-leverage reliever in the relatively near future.
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  Ranked Detroit Tigers #10 prospect in 2018
  There's little question that Soto has a big league arm, but he's yet to do much to quiet the speculation that in the long run he'll end up pitching out of the bullpen. Soto has one of the best arms in the Tigers' farm system. Soto sits 95-96 mph from the left side and his slider has enough power and shape to project as at least an above-average pitch as well. But Soto doesn't have a great idea of where the ball is going when it leaves his hand. His cross-body delivery helps contribute to his below-average control--he's walked 4.6 batters per nine inning over the past two seasons. Soto's changeup has a long way to go and its rudimentary nature leads more talk of relieving in the future. Soto has learned how to work out of trouble because he has had a lot of trouble he's worked out of already. Soto most likely ends up as a valuable bullpen arm with two pitches that can eat up lefties and enough stuff to be able to face righthanders. But there are enough glimpses of more for the Tigers to keep working on developing him as a starter when he returns to Lakeland.
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  Ranked Detroit Tigers #30 prospect in 2017
  The Tigers signed Soto out of the Dominican Republic in 2012 and has slowly matured into an impressive young lefthander with potential waiting to be harnessed. Pitching at short-season Connecticut this year, Soto showed a lively fastball in the low-90s that peaked at 95-96 at times. Particularly, the Tigers are impressed with the way Soto can spin a breaking ball. He throws two types of curveballs--one with traditional deep break and a harder, shorter version that looks like a slider. The Tigers believe his breaking balls can be plus with repetition and consistency. They also were particularly pleased with the way Soto improved his pitchability this season. When he struggled in the middle of games he was able to make adjustments without letting things snowball on him. Scouts who saw him in the New York-Penn League would like to see him trust his stuff instead of aiming it, and they noticed that he has a tendency to slow down his arm when throwing the curveball. Soto has a chance as a starter if he continues making strides with his overall game. He will start 2017 with low Class A West Michigan.

• December, 2017 Scouting Report
  Track Record: Few question that Soto has a big league arm, but he hasn't done much to quiet speculation that in the long run he'll end up pitching out of the bullpen in the majors. He spent four years in short-season ball before making it to low Class A West Michigan in 2017. Scouting Report: Soto has one of the best arms in the Tigers' system. He sits 95-96 mph from the left side, and his slider has enough power and shape to project as at least an above-average pitch as well. But Soto doesn't have a great idea of where the ball is going when it leaves his hand. His cross-body delivery helps contribute to his below-average control, and he has walked 4.6 batters per nine innings over the past two seasons. Soto's changeup has much farther to go, and its rudimentary nature leads further to reliever talk. Soto has learned how to work out of trouble because of his poor control. The Future: Soto most likely ends up as a valuable bullpen arm with two pitches that can eat up lefthanders and enough stuff to be able to face righthanders. But the Tigers see enough glimpses of more to continue working to developing him as a starter when he returns to high Class A Lakeland in 2018.