Manuel Colon 7/3/26

You come to the backfields to see kids like Manuel Colon - Friday night was an electrifying look at the largely unknown 19-year-old righty. Colon has big arm speed, a compact/deceptive arm action, mid-90s heat, and two secondary pitches flashing plus or better. The ACL Royals have used him in 1-2 inning relief appearances as a closer.

The arm talent is special/undeniable. Colon pumps mid-90s heat with ease and topped out at 97. The fastball has cut life and jumps out of his hand; it got a lot of uncomfortable swing/miss up in the zone and is especially hard on LHH, boring in on their hands. He also showed a 2sm variant with some tail life. The slider is his top secondary, featuring deep/tight depth and tilt; Colon has some feel to land in zone and pitch backwards with it. The power changeup (88-90) was less consistent but flashed deep/late splitter-esq dive and really fell off the table. I saw a rarely thrown curve too, but it was a similar velo band to the slider and didn’t add much to the mix.

Physically, Colon isn’t a huge kid. He is listed a 5’11” 148 lbs; I would guess something like 6’ 170 lbs now. He has a medium density fill with wide hips for his height. Shorter than average length arms might make it easier to repeat his arm action. The mechanics are sound: good balance and easy finish. He should throw a lot of strikes. The amount of velo he generates with a loose/easy arm action is very impressive.

The changeup development is a big factor for Colon. It is very inconsistent right now but has a chance to be special. I would also be curious to see what Colon looks like in longer stints. Can he maintain velo deep into a start? I am very high on this kid – believe in leverage pen potential.