Padres prospect Kruz Schoolcraft has electric stuff and one obvious problem to fix

Kruz Schoolcraft is the opposite of boring. It’s easy to talk yourself into the build. And obviously, the expectation is that the frame will continue to fill out over the next couple of seasons.But once we move past the prospect sales pitch, the early red flags are hard to ignore.

Through 24 2/3 innings with Single-A Lake Elsinore, Schoolcraft has piled up 32 strikeouts. That’s the fun part. But our guy is a wild child.

The numbers are chaotic: an 8.03 ERA, a 2.23 WHIP and 24 walks over those same 24 2/3 innings. The command is beyond a small hiccup. A lot of towering pitchers start off with command issues. And honestly, that should make him even more interesting.

Padres prospect Kruz Schoolcraft shows why patience is still required

Schoolcraft’s last outing was the perfect snapshot of the entire experience. On May 29, he struck out a career-high nine batters in just 3 2/3 innings for Lake Elsinore against Inland Empire. Final line: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 9 K.

So, we can get excited. But we also cannot pretend this is clean yet.

It’s a whole push and pull with Schoolcraft right now. He can miss bats in bunches. And he can absolutely dominate an inning. One second, he looks like the kind of left-handed arm the Padres could dream about for years. The next, he’s giving away traffic and forcing himself to pitch out of self-inflicted trouble.

It should come as no surprise, that’s usually where young pitchers live. Especially premium arms out of high school. The arm is ahead of the strike-throwing. And the ceiling is ahead of the floor. 

But that isn’t the entire conversation with Schoolcraft. At least not yet.

The Padres probably care less about him throwing more strikes so far this season. They’re trying to find out what this body looks like over a real professional season. Schoolcraft told MLB.com during the spring that he hoped to make 22 starts this year, and that number matters more than anything in the box score right now.

He’s no longer splitting his time as a two-way player and focusing only on pitching gives him more time to recover, more time to learn hitters and fewer things pulling him in different directions.  

The movement part plays an even larger role. He’s working on finding a “less sweepy” shape on his slider. Extending his fastball life while making sure he’s got strong secondary pitches. 

So, with that explanation. The walks are probably going to continue. But this season is bigger than the walk rate. It’s about whether Schoolcraft can keep taking the ball, repeating the delivery and shaping the slider into something that gives hitters a different problem than just trying to catch up to the fastball.

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