Tate Scioneaux

TATE SCIONEAUX, RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
Born: December 14, 1992
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 200
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Drafted: 39th Round, 1177th Overall, 2015
How Acquired: Draft
College: Southeastern Louisiana University
Agent: N/A

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILES

Scioneaux was a starter for three seasons at Southeastern Louisiana University.  He was 22 when drafted, but was still a junior.  He put up excellent stats all three years in college, with a low WHIP and a decent strikeout rate each season.  In 2015, he made 15 starts and threw three shutouts.  He had a 2.53 ERA and a strong 18:96 BB/SO ratio in 110.1 innings.  Scioneaux also held the opposition to a .228 BAA.  He hasn’t been a pitcher that long; during high school, he spent most of his time catching until his senior year, when he showed an increase in velocity.  He reportedly reached the mid-90s by the time he got to college, but as a pro he’s thrown mainly in the upper-80s to low-90s. He seems to rely instead on deception.  Coming into the 2015 season, Baseball America rated him as the tenth best prospect in the Southland Conference, although he didn’t make their top 500 list.  Scioneaux signed a month after the draft.

2015
A-:  1-0-2, 1.99 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 22.2 IP, 1.2 BB/9, 11.1 K/9

Because he signed late, Scioneaux didn’t get into action until late July.  Once he did, he put up impressive numbers out of the Morgantown bullpen, especially the walk and K rates.  In small sample sizes, right-handed hitters were helpless against him, with a .317 OPS, while left-handed hitters did much better at .741.  (For some reason, he faced one more lefty than he did righties, a mix you don’t see much.)  Opponents overall hit just .198 against him.

2016
A:  1-0-3, 1.12 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 16.0 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 13.5 K/9
A+:  4-3-2, 3.06 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 67.2 IP, 2.4 BB/9, 8.5 K/9

Scioneaux seemed like a candidate to go to Bradenton, but the Pirates sent him to West Virginia.  After seven dominant outings, they moved him up to Bradenton.  Scioneaux pitched well there, but post the extreme numbers he had at lower levels.  Much of that was the result of one bad month, as he had a 5.19 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in June.  His worst figures in any other month were 2.65 and 1.04.  He had a reverse platoon split, with an opponents OPS of .473 against left-handed batters and .635 against right-handed batters.

2017
AA:  6-5-14, 2.39 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 83.0 IP, 1.6 BB/9, 7.3 K/9

Scioneaux will move up to Altoona and, for much of the season, pitched mainly in two-inning stints.  When Montana DuRapau got promoted in July, Scioneaux became the closer.  Scioneaux got impressive results without being overwhelming, as the low K rate implies.  In fact, the advanced metrics weren’t as impressed as ERA; his xFIP was 3.95.  Scioneaux benefited from a low BABIP of .257.  He had no platoon split and didn’t give up many long hits, holding opponents to a .314 slugging average.  He was an extreme flyball pitcher, with a groundball rate of 28.5%.

2018
AA:  2-3-7, 4.87 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 61.0 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 10.2 K/9

Back in Altoona, Scioneaux, like fellow reliever Sean Keselica, took a step backward.  With Keselica it was control problems, but Scioneaux just got hit hard.  He pitched well in April and May, but struggled after that.  Opponents put up a 283/332/482 line against him, including a home run every six innings.  Right-handed hitters did a little better against him than left-handed hitters.

Scioneaux will be back in Altoona in 2019.

CONTRACT INFORMATION
2019: Minor League Contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: N/A
MiLB Debut: 2015
MLB Debut:
MiLB FA Eligible: 2021
MLB FA Eligible:
Rule 5 Eligible: 2018
Added to 40-Man:
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
June 10, 2015: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 39th round, 1177th overall pick; signed on July 10.