Name: Tommy McCollum
Position: RHP
Born: June 8, 1999
Country: US
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6’5″ 265lbs
How Acquired: Non-drafted free agent signing by the Phillies with the 2021 Draft
Signed: July 20, 2021
Bonus:
Options Remaining: 3
Rule 5 Eligible: 2024
MiLB Free Agency: 2027
Stats
Pitcher Statcast
*Statcast data only available for FSL (2021-2023), AAA (2023), and isolated select games and locations.
| Pitch Type | Year | # of Pitches | Average Velocity | Max Velocity | Median Spin | VBreak | HBreak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-Seam Fastball | 2021 | 192 | 90.9 | 94.4 | 2200 | 14 | -9 |
| 4-Seam Fastball | 2022 | 361 | 94.6 | 98.0 | 2230 | 12 | -9 |
| Sinker | 2021 | 34 | 91.2 | 94.4 | 2152 | 18 | -14 |
| Sinker | 2022 | 27 | 94.5 | 96.6 | 2192 | 12 | -14 |
| Cutter | 2021 | 4 | 84.2 | 84.7 | 2138 | 27 | 4 |
| Cutter | 2022 | 40 | 86.2 | 89.5 | 2291 | 28 | 2 |
| Changeup | 2021 | 3 | 81.8 | 82.8 | 666 | 41 | -5 |
| Changeup | 2022 | 23 | 85.9 | 88.5 | 766 | 35 | -8 |
| Slider | 2021 | 45 | 81.2 | 84.2 | 2100 | 36 | 5 |
| Slider | 2022 | 62 | 83.3 | 86.1 | 2232 | 35 | 6 |
| Curveball | 2021 | 36 | 77.6 | 80.8 | 2083 | 48 | 4 |
| Curveball | 2022 | 4 | 78.9 | 80.6 | 2138 | 54 | 7 |
Pitcher Tracking
*Pitch tracking data sourced from Statcast, broadcasts, and individual reports
| Pitch Type | Year | Velocity Low | Velocity High | Velocity Max | Games Tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FA | 2023 | 91 | 96 | 96 | 2 |
| FA | 2022 | 90 | 97 | 98 | 23 |
| FA | 2021 | 87 | 93 | 94 | 10 |
| SL | 2022 | 81 | 87 | 87 | 16 |
| SL | 2021 | 77 | 92 | 92 | 7 |
| FS | 2023 | 85 | 88 | 88 | 2 |
| FS | 2022 | 83 | 88 | 89 | 11 |
| FC | 2022 | 83 | 88 | 88 | 9 |
| CB | 2022 | 77 | 79 | 80 | 3 |
| CB | 2021 | 74 | 80 | 82 | 6 |
| CH | 2021 | 82 | 0 | 82 | 1 |
Prospect Rankings
Role: Middle Reliever
Risk: High – McCollum struggled with his control with Jersey Shore and more so with Reading. His splitter gives him a major league pitch, but his fastball is not good enough to give him success without better command.
Summary: McCollum had a breakout 2022 cut short by an injury, and his 2023 season was more up and down. McCollum is a big righty who has struggled to repeat his delivery and command his pitches. McCollum has a fairly high release point and good extension which makes his pitches difficult to pick up. His fastball sits in the low to mid 90s, bumping up to 94-96 when he is at his best. His best pitch is a high 80s splitter that is his primary bat misser thanks to good deception and drop. He has been working on adding a cutter or slider that gives him a glove side weapon. Unsurprisingly for a splitter heavy pitcher in the low minors, McCollum dominated left handed batters who hit just .053/.260/.053 off of him. Given the velocity and splitter, it is hard to not see some shades of Hector Neris in McCollum, but he will need to actually consistently harness his splitter to hit that sort of ceiling.
2024 Outlook: McCollum should return to Reading where he can put himself on the Rule 5 protect radar for after the season and into the Phillies mix of right handed relief depth.
Role: 7th Inning Reliever
Risk: High – How McCollum was throwing right before the injury puts him not far off of where he needs to be. However, it was still a small sample size and we have not seen him put the results up vs high level batters.
Summary: The Phillies have taken big college pitchers in both the draft and non-drafted free agency. McCollum, in his pro debut in 2021 after the Phillies signed him out of Wingate, was not impressive. His fastball averaged around 91, topping out at 94 and primarily throwing sliders and curveballs as his offspeed pitches. In 2022, McCollum was good to start, showing a revamped splitter and scrapping most of the curveballs and sliders in favor of a cutter. Things then ramped from there to the point where he was averaging 95.5 mph on his fastball in June and topping out at 98. Unfortunately, June was also the last month he pitched in as an ankle injury on a comebacker on June 30 ended his season. Prior to the injury, McCollum had been one of the most dominant pitchers in the minors with a 13.1 IP 6 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 26 K line over his last 10 appearances.
Without the injury, it is easy to see a scenario where McCollum would have ascended very quickly through the organization and would have ended the year in AA. If McCollum can get back on track now that he is healthy, he should rise quickly and could reach the majors fairly quickly. Unless there is another leap, he doesn’t look like an elite shutdown reliever, but more along the lines of a Connor Brogdon type.
2023 Outlook: The Phillies could jump McCollum up to AA, but it makes some sense that they send him to Jersey Shore to put up some success before pushing him. He could move quickly, but given the Phillies bullpen depth in the majors and minors, it is more likely he ends the year in the upper minors poised for a 2024 contribution.
Role: Middle Reliever
Risk: High – McCollum struggled with his control with Jersey Shore and more so with Reading. His splitter gives him a major league pitch, but his fastball is not good enough to give him success without better command.
Summary: McCollum had a breakout 2022 cut short by an injury, and his 2023 season was more up and down. McCollum is a big righty who has struggled to repeat his delivery and command his pitches. McCollum has a fairly high release point and good extension which makes his pitches difficult to pick up. His fastball sits in the low to mid 90s, bumping up to 94-96 when he is at his best. His best pitch is a high 80s splitter that is his primary bat misser thanks to good deception and drop. He has been working on adding a cutter or slider that gives him a glove side weapon. Unsurprisingly for a splitter heavy pitcher in the low minors, McCollum dominated left handed batters who hit just .053/.260/.053 off of him. Given the velocity and splitter, it is hard to not see some shades of Hector Neris in McCollum, but he will need to actually consistently harness his splitter to hit that sort of ceiling.
2024 Outlook: McCollum should return to Reading where he can put himself on the Rule 5 protect radar for after the season and into the Phillies mix of right handed relief depth.|
Role: 7th Inning Reliever
Risk: High – How McCollum was throwing right before the injury puts him not far off of where he needs to be. However, it was still a small sample size and we have not seen him put the results up vs high level batters.
Summary: The Phillies have taken big college pitchers in both the draft and non-drafted free agency. McCollum, in his pro debut in 2021 after the Phillies signed him out of Wingate, was not impressive. His fastball averaged around 91, topping out at 94 and primarily throwing sliders and curveballs as his offspeed pitches. In 2022, McCollum was good to start, showing a revamped splitter and scrapping most of the curveballs and sliders in favor of a cutter. Things then ramped from there to the point where he was averaging 95.5 mph on his fastball in June and topping out at 98. Unfortunately, June was also the last month he pitched in as an ankle injury on a comebacker on June 30 ended his season. Prior to the injury, McCollum had been one of the most dominant pitchers in the minors with a 13.1 IP 6 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 26 K line over his last 10 appearances.
Without the injury, it is easy to see a scenario where McCollum would have ascended very quickly through the organization and would have ended the year in AA. If McCollum can get back on track now that he is healthy, he should rise quickly and could reach the majors fairly quickly. Unless there is another leap, he doesn’t look like an elite shutdown reliever, but more along the lines of a Connor Brogdon type.
2023 Outlook: The Phillies could jump McCollum up to AA, but it makes some sense that they send him to Jersey Shore to put up some success before pushing him. He could move quickly, but given the Phillies bullpen depth in the majors and minors, it is more likely he ends the year in the upper minors poised for a 2024 contribution.