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, but he has a lot of starter attributes, and I wonder if he could be developed as a starter instead.

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’ 185 lbs now. He has a medium density fill with wide hips for his height and good functional strength. 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? How would he employ his arsenal facing a hitter for a 3rd time through the order? I am very high on this kid – believe in leverage pen potential and would love to see him given a chance to start as well.