Rockies agree to terms with Sam Weatherly

Today, the Rockies announced that they had signed pitcher Sam Weatherly, a left-handed pitcher from Clemson.

Weatherly was selected in the third round (81st overall). As a junior, he went 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA (22 ²⁄₃ IP, 2 ER), 14 walks and 43 strikeouts across four starts for the Tigers in 2020. He spent the 2019 season exclusively as a reliever and went 2-0 with a 3.37 ERA (29 ¹⁄₃ IP, 11 ER), 30 walks and 46 strikeouts. In the course of his college career, Weatherly went 39 appearances with nine starts, combined to go 4-0 with a 3.48 ERA (72 ¹⁄₃ IP, 28 ER), 61 walks and 106 strikeouts.

The Rockies are uncertain if Weatherly will be a starter or work out of the bullpen. According to Bill Schmidt, “We think he has an opportunity to start. There’s some work to be done with him still in terms of the mechanics and delivery, and when you’re starting, you have the off days between the starts to be able to get some things accomplished. As his career moves down the path, decisions will be made on where he has the chance to give us the biggest impact — and what’s good for him.”

Weatherly’s best pitch is his slider. According to Schmidt, Weatherly has “a good arm. He’s got a good fastball — he’s learned to command it — but his slider is his out pitch.”

Weatherly’s signing bonus was not made available, though the draft pick had a slot value of $755,300.