Scouting grades 20–80
60Fastball
60Slider
45Changeup
55Control
Borthwick is a strong, physical player on both sides of the ball. At the plate, Borthwick is a power hitting third baseman with bat speed and sneaky bat to ball skills. He hit 3rd for a USA team that went on to win it all, and has consistently but up strong numbers on the summer circuit. With that being said, the stuff on the mound might be good enough to take the bat out of his hands.
On the mound Borthwick is a power arm, simply put. He gets down the mound well and shows off some truly explosive stuff. It can be an efforty, funky operation, but Borthwick has done a great time at limiting walks to this point in time. Borthwick lives in the low to mid 90s, getting up to 100 with explosive riding life through the zone. It's a low release height, and at its best the fastball gets plenty of swing and miss at the top rail. Borthwick also features a wipeout slider that lives in the mid 80's with short, late life. It's a plus pitch with strong spin rates and he's got good feel to command it. For the present moment it's a two pitch offering, as Borthwick will occasionally flash a changeup, but he'll go some starts without throwing the pitch at all.
Borthwick has the ceiling of a first round arm, as if he can show an improved 3rd offering and continuing strides in his development, there are very little in this class who can compete with his stuff.
