Draft prospects you should know: Landon Sims, RHSP

When you have the No. 3 overall pick, it’s never too soon to take a quick peek into this year’s MLB draft. This year’s draft class is loaded with excellent hitting prospects, but is relatively weak on the pitching side.

Draft Prospects You Should Know is a new series that features prospects who the White Sox could pursue in this year’s draft. As the June draft nears, we’ll return to many of these athletes and provide updates on whether their stocks are rising (or falling).

Age listed as of Day One of the Draft (June 3).

Landon Sims

South Forsyth H.S. (Cumming, Ga.)
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 18
Bats Right
Throws Right

Rankings

Baseball America 98
MLB NA
FanGraphs NA

Landon Sims, while considered a solid prospect, may not be selected on the first day of this year’s MLB draft. The reason? Despite the success he attained at 2018’s East Pro Classic, consistency has been lacking. With that said, Sims may be worth a flyer in either the third or fourth round of the draft due to his projectability and fastball, which has reached 97 mph according to Perfect Game.

At six-foot-two and 215 pounds, Sims offers a simple turn-and-throw delivery with a fast- paced turn and 3/4 arm slot. His delivery is pretty fluid and low-effort, though it tends to fall off the first base side on release. His mostly-straight four-seam fastball typically runs 90-95 mph, but as mentioned earlier, has reached as high as 97. Sims also features a two-seamer which features decent cutting action, but he throws it rarely. He does have an inconsistent slider (75-81 mph per Baseball America) that has shown solid two-plane depth, but lacks the consistency needed at higher levels. The last pitch in Sims’s repertoire is a changeup, and as is the case for most prep prospects, it’s still in the rudimentary stage because he really hasn’t needed to use it at the prep level.

While Sims has solid stuff, he doesn’t have the polish or advanced repertoire yet to likely be drafted in the first two rounds. With his commitment to a strong program like Mississippi State, any team drafting Sims likely would have to pay over-slot cash if it plans on signing him, especially if he’s selected in the fourth round or later. Although the White Sox usually go with college athletes, it’s certainly not unprecedented that the team would select a solid prep arm in the third or fourth round. My gut tells me that the Sox would bypass Sims in the third round in favor of a college arm or bat, but if he were available in the fourth round, they could certainly do worse than taking a chance on him.

Here’s a video of Sims pitching in the Perfect Game National Showcase last June, courtesy of 2080 Baseball:

Previously, on Draft Prospects You Should Know

Hunter Bishop, Arizona State University OF
Cameron Cannon, University of Arizona 2B/3B
Matt Cronin, University of Arkansas LHRP
Tyler Dyson, University of Florida RHSP
Daniel Espino, Georgia Premier Academy RHSP
Ethan Hearn, Mobile Christian (Ala.) H.S. C
Rece Hinds, IMG Baseball Academy (Fla.) 3B
Jason Hodges, Marist (Ill.) H.S. OF-1B
Jack Leiter, Delbarton (N.J.) H.S. RHSP
Chris Newell, Malvern (Pa.) Prep H.S. OF
Quinn Priester, Cary-Grove (Ill.) H.S. RHSP
Adley Rutschman, Oregon State University C
Andrew Vaughn, University of California, 1B
Matt Wallner, Southern Miss University OF